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| For decades, the Lee Family Association, one of the oldest civic groups in Manhattan’s Chinatown, has helped countless Chinese immigrants, working from its six-story building on Mott Street. | 几十年来，作为曼哈顿唐人街最古老的公民社团之一，李氏公所一直从它在莫特街的六层大楼为无数华人移民提供帮助。 |
| Its latest campaign: a makeover, starting with moving the mahjong tables. | 李氏公所最新的活动是全面翻新——从搬走麻将桌开始。 |
| “That’s just temporary — for the elders,” said Sonny Lee, 49, the head of the group’s newly formed youth chapter, looking past the well-worn game sets. He pointed instead to the new karaoke disco light, the billiard table and exercise bikes. | “时间不会太久了——服务老年人，”现年49岁的桑尼·李说，他是公所新设立的青年部负责人。他指给记者看了新的卡拉OK迪斯科灯、台球桌和健身自行车。 |
| The Lees, like many traditional Chinese associations based on family, profession or region, need new blood — and the future of Chinatown, one of the few remaining working-class neighborhoods in Manhattan, could hinge on replenishing their aging ranks. | 与许多基于姓氏、行业或家乡的传统华人团体一样，李氏公所也需要新鲜血液。而唐人街作为曼哈顿仅存的几个工薪阶层社区之一，其未来可能取决于老龄人口的更新。 |
| The groups’ importance is linked to their coveted real estate portfolio, amassed over decades to serve members of the Chinese diaspora, from restaurant and shop owners to longtime low-income renters. | 这些团体的重要性与它们拥有的令人垂涎的房产相关，这些几十年时间里积累起来的房产，用来服务海外华人——从餐馆和商店老板，到长期的低收入租户。 |
| Though demographic changes in Chinatown have thinned the clubs’ membership, they remain one of the last bulwarks against gentrification in an area of Lower Manhattan surrounded by luxury development. | 尽管唐人街人口结构的变化已导致这些华人社团的成员人数下降，但在曼哈顿下城这个被豪华楼盘包围的地区，它们仍然是抵御对该地区进行士绅化改造的最后中坚力量之一。 |
| The New York Times identified at least 42 buildings owned by dozens of associations — a collection of commercial walk-ups and tenement buildings that are home to scores of small businesses and hundreds of rent-stabilized tenants. In total they are worth at least $93 million, according to city estimates, but perhaps two or three times as much on the open market. | 《纽约时报》找到了分别由数十家华人社团拥有的至少42栋建筑，这些没有电梯的商业楼和公寓楼为数十家小买卖提供经营场所，为数百名租户提供租金管制公寓。据纽约市对这些房地产的估值，至少值9300万美元，但如果在市场上公开出售的话，它们可能卖出估值的两到三倍。 |
| While many groups have held on to their property for decades, the pandemic has heightened challenges, with rising taxes, unpaid rent and mounting maintenance costs that could force owners to sell — and upend a delicate neighborhood balance. | 尽管许多华人社团几十年来一直保留着自己的房地产，但新冠病毒大流行加剧了挑战，不断上涨的房地产税、租户拖欠的租金，以及不断增长的维修费用，可能会迫使业主出售房产，打乱微妙的社区平衡。 |
| “When we lose them, who takes over?” said Jan Lee, a board member of the Small Property Owners of New York, an advocacy group. “It’s not another Chinese property owner. It’s likely a corporate entity.” | “如果我们把这些房产出手，谁来接手？”倡导团体纽约小房地产业主协会的董事会成员简·李（音）说。“不会是另一个华人业主。接手者可能是企业实体。” |
| Now, the clock is ticking for many groups to come up with a turnaround plan, said Fang Wong, 74, a former president of the local Wong Family Benevolent Association. | 现在，许多华人社团都需要抓紧时间拿出复兴方案，纽约黄氏宗亲会前主席、现年74岁的黄方（音）说道。 |
| “We’re at a critical curve,” he said. “Unless we change, it’s going to go out in the next 10 years.” | “我们正面临一个关键的转折，”他说。“除非我们改变自己，否则这些社团将在未来10年里消失。” |
| ‘This area has to be next’ | “这个地区一定会成为下一个目标” |
| Unlike affluent neighborhoods like SoHo and sections of the Lower East Side, where real estate investors have helped fuel a wave of luxury developments, Chinatown has been shielded from most speculative deals. That’s partly because of longtime property owners, said Bob Knakal, the chairman of New York investment sales at JLL, a commercial real estate firm. | 在纽约的SOHO和下东区部分地块的富人区，房地产投资者对开发豪华楼盘起了推波助澜的作用。但唐人街与那些地块不同，尚未受到大多数投机交易的影响。一定程度上是因为唐人街的房地产有长期的业主，商业地产公司仲量联行的纽约投资销售部主席鲍勃·纳卡尔说道。 |
| “A lot of owners there either don’t speak English, or pretend not to speak English, so it’s very hard to cold call property owners in Chinatown,” he said. “From a brokerage perspective, it is one of the areas that is very difficult to break into.” | “那里的许多业主要么不会说英语，要么假装不会说英语，所以很难给唐人街的业主们打推销电话，”纳卡尔说。“从经纪人的角度来看，这是个很难打入的地块。” |
| Zoning rules that favor low-rise construction and a large concentration of rent-regulated buildings have also deterred investors, said Michael Tortorici, an executive vice president of Ariel Property Advisors, a commercial real estate brokerage. | 商业房地产经纪公司阿里尔置业顾问的执行副总裁迈克尔·托托里奇说，唐人街喜欢低层建筑的分区规划，还有大量受租金管制的建筑，这也让投资者望而却步， |
| Recent developments — including a nearly 850-foot-tall luxury condo tower in nearby Two Bridges, a largely lower-income neighborhood — have tested price records and renewed interest in Chinatown. | 最近的开发项目——包括在双桥附近一个主要以低收入者为主的社区盖的近260米高的豪华公寓楼——已在挑战价格纪录，重新激起了开发商对唐人街的兴趣。 |
| “I’ve always thought, even before Covid, that this area has to be next,” Mr. Tortorici said. | “甚至在新冠病毒大流行之前，我就一直认为，该地区一定会成为下一个目标，”托托里奇说。 |
| No civic association has sold property in decades, but the pressure is intensifying, said Thomas Yu, a leader at Asian Americans for Equality, a housing and social services group in Chinatown. | 住房和社会服务组织亚洲人平等会的负责人俞思亮说，虽然几十年来，唐人街没有华人社团出售过房地产，但出售的压力越来越大。 |
| “Some of them are sitting on 100-year-old buildings with significant capital needs, and they just don’t have the deep pockets,” he said. | “有些华人社团拥有的是有百年历史的老建筑，需要大量的维修经费，而这些社团没有雄厚的资金，”他说。 |
| A change in ownership among the many small commercial and apartment buildings could be harmful for tenants, many of whom have worked out reduced rents with their landlords during the pandemic. | 小型商用楼和公寓楼的所有权变化可能对租户不利，许多租户在疫情期间与房东达成了降低租金的协议。 |
| Ting’s Gift Shop, on Doyers Street, has had the same landlord since it opened more than 60 years ago: the Sun Wei Association, a club headquartered above the store whose members are from a district in Guangdong province. | 宰也街的丁氏礼品店自从60多年前开业以来一直是同一个房东：新会同乡会。这家店就位于同乡会所在建筑临街角的一层，同乡会成员的老家是广东省的新会。 |
| The shop was forced to close for six months because of the pandemic, but the association agreed to cut its $3,000-a-month rent in half for a year while the store recovers, said Eleanor Ting, one of the owners. A building manager for Sun Wei confirmed the arrangement. | 店主之一丁明明说，新冠病毒大流行期间，这家店被迫停业了六个月，但新会同乡会同意将每月3000美元的租金减半一年，让商店的经营喘过气来。新会同乡会大楼的管理员确认了这个安排。 |
| “They’re being human about it — they’re willing to work with us,” Ms. Ting said, adding that some nearby businesses have closed permanently because of inflexible landlords. | 丁女士说，“他们很人性化——愿意配合我们。”她还表示，附近有几家店因为房东在租金上不灵活而永远停业。 |
| Most associations rely on rent from commercial tenants simply to cover expenses. “The buildings are not an investment, they’re for the associations,” said Eric Ng, 72, a retired accountant who also owned fortune cookie and coffee businesses and is a past president of Hoy Sun Ning Yung, one of the more prominent neighborhood groups. | 大多数华人社团靠商业租户的租金来支付运作费用。“它们拥有建筑不是为了投资，而是让社团有个活动场所，”现年72岁的退休会计师伍锐贤说。他还拥有一家幸运饼干和咖啡生意，并曾任历史悠久的台山宁阳会馆的主席。 |
| For most longtime members, the properties represent the sacrifice and labor of their predecessors and, above all, a home, said Justin Yu, 76, a recent president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, or C.C.B.A., an umbrella organization for many clubs. “They have a place to gather.’’ | 对这些华人社团的大多数长期成员来说，这些建筑代表着前辈们的牺牲和劳动，最重要的是，它们是家，现年76岁的于金山说，“它们是聚会的地方。”于金山不久前曾任纽约中华公所主席，中华公所是许多华人社团的综合机构。 |
| During the pandemic, some groups became a neighborhood lifeline. The C.C.B.A. hosted food banks and coordinated coronavirus testing and vaccinations. Several of its member groups have rallied against a rise in anti-Asian violence across New York. | 新冠病毒大流行期间，一些华人社团成了社区的生命线。中华公所曾举办食物赈济处，还协调过新冠病毒检测和疫苗接种工作。中华公所下属的几个地方公所还组织过抗议纽约各地针对亚裔暴力事件上升的集会。 |
| Some association headquarters remain essential campaign stops for candidates, including Mayor Eric Adams when he was running for office. The groups have also been vocal in opposing new homeless shelters and the building of a local jail as part of the city’s plan to replace the troubled Rikers detention complex. | 有些华人社团的总部是参加纽约市竞选活动的候选人必去拜访的重要场所，包括竞选市长的埃里克·亚当斯。这些社团也在为无家可归者建新收容所、在当地建一座监狱（这是纽约市取代问题众多的赖克斯监狱计划的一部分）等问题上大声表示反对。 |
| The origins of the associations | 华人社团的起源 |
| The associations began in the late 1800s, during a period of intense discrimination, to protect Chinese immigrants — mostly men who had emigrated with the goal of sending money back to family in China, said Charlie Lai, a community organizer who helped establish the Museum of Chinese in America. | 华人社团始于19世纪后期，目的是在一个歧视严重的时期为华人移民提供保护，当时大多数移民是男性，他们来美国是为了挣钱寄给国内的家人，社区组织者黎重旺说道，他帮助创建了美国华人博物馆。 |
| Many groups were formed in the wake of laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which effectively banned or limited Chinese immigration until 1965. | 许多华人社团是在1882年的《排华法案》等法律出台后成立的，《排华法案》有效地禁止或限制了华人移民，直到1965年。 |
| United by shared surname, village of origin or profession, the groups functioned as de facto governments, adjudicating disputes, levying fees and deciding where businesses could open, along with lending money and helping members find jobs. | 这些建立在同姓、同乡或同职业基础上社团，曾发挥着事实上的政府作用，它们裁决纠纷、征收费用、决定哪里可以开店，也为社团成员提供贷款，帮助他们找工作。 |
| The early immigrants “were not welcome anywhere,” Mr. Lai said, and had to “create their own sense of place and create this rule of law.” | 早期的移民“在所有地方都不受欢迎”，黎重旺说，他们不得不“创造自己的归属感，创造出这种法治的方式”。 |
| The Wong association provided that space for Mr. Wong’s family, he said: “I remember when I was very young, my father, every free moment he had, this is where he spent it.” | 黄氏宗亲会就曾为黄先生的家人提供过这种空间，他说：“我记得我很小的时候，我父亲的几乎所有空闲时间都是在宗亲会度过的。” |
| That spirit persists, said Amy Chin, a genealogist and the president of the board at Think!Chinatown, a nonprofit community group. “You can go there and get a meal,” she said. “Some of these family associations always have a rice cooker cooking.” | 这种精神仍在，系谱学家、非盈利社区组织心目华埠主席陈雪媚说。“人们还可以去那里吃上一顿饭，”她说。“有些宗亲会的电饭锅总在煮饭。” |
| Today, the associations’ struggles are partly tied to demographic changes in Chinatown. | 这些华人社团今天的困境在一定程度上与唐人街的人口结构变化有关。 |
| New York City’s Chinese population has increased 60 percent since 2000, to 570,000 from 357,000, but the growth is mostly outside Manhattan. In Chinatown, the Chinese population declined by around a third over that same period, to 34,000 from 51,000. Indeed, many association members no longer live in Chinatown. | 自2000年以来，纽约市的华裔人口增长了60%，从35.7万增至57万，但增长主要集中在曼哈顿以外的地方。曼哈顿唐人街的华裔人口在同一时期下降了约三分之一，从5.1万降至3.4万。事实上，许多同乡会成员已搬离唐人街。 |
| Part of the decline is driven by high housing costs. In the first quarter of 2022, the median asking rent in Chinatown was $3,000 a month, compared with $1,950 in Flushing, a Chinese hub in Queens, according to the listing website StreetEasy. | 下降的部分原因是高昂的住房成本。根据房源网站StreetEasy的数据，2022年第一季度，唐人街的租金中位数为每月3000美元，而皇后区的华人聚集地法拉盛则为1950美元。 |
| At the same time, functions that the associations once provided are increasingly offered by Chinese-speaking social service and nonprofit organizations, which tend to be more left-leaning than the traditional groups and appeal more to younger people. | 与此同时，曾经由华人社团提供的服务越来越多地由讲中文的社会服务和非营利组织提供，这些组织比传统社团更加左倾，对年轻人的吸引力更大。 |
| Chinese immigration has also shifted. Most of the associations are run by Taishanese speakers, while many newcomers, from regions like Fujian, speak different dialects. | 中国移民的构成也发生了变化。大多数华人社团由讲台山话的人经营，而来自福建等地区的许多新移民讲的是不同的方言。 |
| And there are political divisions. Several associations still fly the flag of the Republic of China — the flag of Taiwan — because of their reverence for the statesman Sun Yat-sen, who delivered a speech in Chinatown in 1911 supporting the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. But some recent Chinese immigrants view Taiwan as a breakaway province. | 而且还有政治分歧。一些社团仍然悬挂中华民国国旗——这是台湾的旗帜——因为他们崇敬政治家孙中山，他于1911年在唐人街发表演讲支持推翻清朝。但一些新近的中国移民则将台湾视为一个分离的省份。 |
| Many associations are also selective about who they will admit. Family groups limit membership to people with the same surname; regional associations require family origins in a particular Chinese village or district; and most require an endorsement from a current member. Several groups still do not offer full membership to women. | 许多社团对成员也有选择。宗亲会将成员资格限制为具有相同姓氏的人，同乡会要求家族来自某个特定的中国村庄或区域，并且大多数入会者都需要现任成员的认可。一些社团仍然不向女性提供正式会员资格。 |
| But despite their aging rolls, many groups are wary of relaxing rules. | 但是，尽管成员的年龄越来越大，许多社团对放松规则持谨慎态度。 |
| New members might question the need to hold on to properties, said Tak Wong, 76, a former president of the Lin Sing Association, which owns a walk-up apartment building on Mott Street with ground-floor souvenir shops. | 联成公所在勿街拥有一栋无电梯公寓楼，底层是一家纪念品商店，76岁的公所前任主席黄达良说，新成员可能会质疑坚持留住房产的必要性。 |
| “They have no passion for the property,” Mr. Wong said, repeating a common refrain among longtime association members. “They just join and wait until they have enough power, and then they vote, ‘Let’s sell it!’” | “他们对房产没有热情，”黄达良再次提起了公所老成员当中的一个共同想法。“他们只是加入，然后等到他们有足够的权力后投票，‘把它卖掉！’” |
| Some associations have adopted rules making it harder to sell or refinance property, including requiring approval of most of the board. (In 2010, a New York State court canceled the transfer of an association’s property as fraudulent, and association leaders have sued each other over the handling of rental agreements and payments.) | 一些华人社团已经制定了办法，加大了出售房产或对房产再融资的难度，包括要求大多数董事会成员的批准。（2010年，纽约州法院取消了一家社团的财产转让，认定其为欺诈。社团领导人就租赁协议和租金的处理问题把彼此告上了法庭。） |
| A youth drive | 年轻化趋势 |
| It is a slow evolution, but some groups are trying to update their practices. In 2018, Hoy Sun Ning Yung, one of the largest Taishanese groups, elected its youngest and first American-born president, Raymond Tsang, a 38-year-old funeral home director from Staten Island, who doesn’t speak Taishanese. | 这是一个缓慢的过程，但一些社团正在尝试与时俱进。2018年，最大的台山社团之一的台山宁阳会馆选出了其最年轻的、也是第一位美国出生的主席曾伟康。现年38岁的他是斯塔滕岛一家殡仪馆的负责人，不会说台山话。 |
| He has found that modernizing the group is a challenge. “We don’t even do emails,” Mr. Tsang said. | 他发现，使这个社团现代化是一项挑战。“我们甚至不用电子邮件，”曾伟康说。 |
| In March, he also became president of the C.C.B.A, and one of his first acts was to create a C.C.B.A. Twitter account. | 3月，他还成为了中华公所的主席，他上任后的行动之一就是为中华公所建立一个Twitter帐户。 |
| Virginia Wong, a retired New York City civil servant who has long been active in Chinatown, became one of the first female members of the Wong association a few years ago. While she and others have talked about ways to draw younger members, her first assignment has been more prosaic: digitizing the musty membership lists. | 长期活跃在唐人街的纽约市退休公务员维吉尼亚·黄（音）几年前成为黄氏宗亲会的首批女性成员之一。虽然她和其他人讨论过如何吸引年轻成员，但她的第一项任务却单调乏味：将会员名单数字化。 |
| Still, maintaining the support of older members is crucial. “You cannot say, ‘Oh, I want to do this or that,’” Ms. Wong said. “It takes time.” | 尽管如此，获得年长成员的支持仍然至关重要。“你不能说，’哦，我想这样或那样，’”黄女士说。“需要慢慢来。” |
| After becoming president of the Lee Family Association in 2015, Wade Li, 40, a health care executive from Long Island, said he met resistance from older members over seemingly straightforward proposals: replacing the building’s dated elevator or expanding the pool of recipients for student grants. | 来自长岛的医疗保健主管李国威在2015年成为李氏公所主席，现年40岁。他表示，一些提议在他看来是显而易见的，却遇到了年长成员的抵制，比如更换大楼老旧的电梯或扩大学生助学金的接受者范围。 |
| “Most of my ideas were not being supported,” he said. | “我的大部分想法都没有得到支持，”他说。 |
| But Li eventually prevailed, and the group’s latest effort, a new youth chapter complete with a refurbished club room, is aimed at luring more like-minded young professionals, said Sonny Lee, 49, a chemist who will lead the new group. | 但李国威最终占据了主导地位，公所的最新动作是新建了一个青年组，包括一个翻新的俱乐部房间。将领导这个新团体的是49岁的化学家桑尼·李（音）说，这样做旨在吸引更多志同道合的年轻专业人士。 |
| “It’s like an incubator,” he said. | “这就像一个孵化器，”他说。 |
| The group had already created a “junior” committee. The average age: 60. | 该团体还建起了一个“青年”委员会。平均年龄：60岁。 |
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