September 11 Digital Archive

Koreans demonstrate against Con Edison moving to Midtown: Korea Town will disappear if Con Edison co

Title

Koreans demonstrate against Con Edison moving to Midtown: Korea Town will disappear if Con Edison co

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-10-31

VTMBH Article: Edition

41

VTMBH Article: Article Order

1

VTMBH Article: Title

Koreans demonstrate against Con Edison moving to Midtown: Korea Town will disappear if Con Edison comes

VTMBH Article: Author

JooChan Kim

VTMBH Article: Publication

Korea Times New York

VTMBH Article: Original Language

Korean

VTMBH Article: Translator

Jeongwoo Han

VTMBH Article: Section

briefs

VTMBH Article: Blurb

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

On Oct. 30, about 200 people, including Koreans and neighboring residents and business owners, demonstrated against a proposed move of Con Edisons transformer station to Korea Town in midtown Manhattan.

This demonstration, presided over by the Herald Square South Civic Association and several Korean associations, lasted an hour and a half in front of the Empire State Building.

Korean small businessmen who have shops in Korea Town were joined by neighboring businessmen, and demonstrators from the Korean Association of New York, New York Society of Korean Businessmen, The Korean American Association of NYC, Nara Bank, and Liberty Bank. All demonstrators unanimously opposed the plan, many holding picket signs written in Korean.

Demonstrators marched from the Empire State Building down 32nd Street to the proposed site of the new Con Edison transformer station, a 31st Street parking lot. There, protestors distributed tickets printed with statements against the move.

Even in the cold weather, demonstrators chanted loudly, distributed information and collected petition signatures from passers-by.

Jae-Kun Jung, executive coordinator of the New York Society of Korean Businessmen contends that, if [Con Ed moves the transformer] to this place, traffic jams will become worse and real estate prices will go down, and the economic atmosphere in this area will deteriorate, which will result in a big shock within Korean businesses in Korea Town.

Henry Justin, chairman of the civic association, strongly urged Con Edison to move the transformer to different place. Justin warned, If the Con Edison transformer is built near such large commercial buildings as the Empire State Building, Macys Department Store, and Penn Station, it could be the target of terrorist attacks.

Some politicians, including New York State Rep. Richard Gottfried and State Senator Liz Kreuger, participated. Mainstream media outlets such as the New York Times, the Daily News, NY1, and WNBC also reported on the demonstration.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-10-31

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

233

Citation

“Koreans demonstrate against Con Edison moving to Midtown: Korea Town will disappear if Con Edison co,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 23, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1551.