Mike Botula reports on a joint session of the Los Angeles City Council and the Board of Directors of the Community Redevelopment Agency. The session is being held to conduct a public hearing on a proposed Chinatown Redevelopment Plan, which includes provisions to increase housing in the area. In the session, several Chinatown residents offer statements of concern that the plan may not meet the critical needs of low and middle-income families and elderly residents in the community. Issues of increased traffic and related public safety problems as a result of the plan are also raised. The clip includes Chinatown street scenes and some segments with only Botula's voiceover (no picture).
Al Williams of the Los Angeles Police Department explains how the protection racket works, and that it has been successful because the business owners are afraid of gang reprisals against their businesses or families if they contact police. He credits two Chinese officers who live in the community with gathering evidence that has led to the indictments of some gang members and he expects more to follow. Williams also touches on the assimilation problems some Chinese immigrants face that limit their opportunities and may lead them to join gangs. Includes silent footage featuring numerous shots of storefronts in Chinatown’s central plaza.
Commercial block with a two-story brick building in Chinatown. There are three wooden balconies, one with a sign in Chinese, on the 2nd floor facing the unpaved street. The balcony on the left has the address numbers 410 and 403. A little girl walks on the sidewalk.
In an alley with brick commercial buildings on either side is an open wooden building. Articles of clothing hang on the left and a man is seated, working, on the right.
View of a two story brick commercial building on an unpaved street in Chinatown. A woman stands in front of a business with a sign on the awning reading "341 Kim Ling 341." A faded painted sign on the building reads "Branch Store / Johnson & Musser Seed Co."
Chinese lion on a street in Chinatown with spectators on the sidewalk. A sign on a commercial building reads: "The Asiatic Costume Co., Chinese Wardrobe & Props, Sold & Rented."
A Chinese lion positioned on a platform on an unpaved street is readied by 9 men for the February 5 New Year celebration in Chinatown. A crowd of spectators held back by a rope partition watches. Two photographers are positioned in front of the partition.
View of an unpaved area behind two-story, brick commercial buildings in Chinatown. There is a neglected wooden structure with scrubs growing through it. The top of Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928, is visible in the skyline.
Dancing Chinese lion during festival in Chinatown on unpaved street with spectators on the sidewalk. The man supporting the front holds the lion's head high above his own head and is smiling. There is allot of dust or smoke in the foreground. A sign on a commercial building reads: "Eastern Grocery Co."
A group of 4-5, young, Chinese-American men are grouped together at center and look to the camera as they play a variety of percussion instruments. The leftmost young man beats a floor drum decorated with Chinese characters. At the center of the group, another man crouches low to the ground while playing cymbals. The man to the right of him holds a small gong. Rightmost, a man in a white, ceremonial outfit also holds cymbals. Another young man behind him is dressed in the same garb. Between the floor drum player and the crouching cymbal player, a man stands with crossed arms. A large crowd surrounds this group and everyone appears to look to camera. People wrap around the group along the left edge of the image. A rope extends in front of the spectators standing behind the group at right. Storefronts line the background at left and recede back as they extend towards center. A sign at left reads: "[GR]OCERY CO. [Chinese characters] 512."
Little Mary Jane Fong holding a gong stick and standing next to a Chinese lion. The lion was being prepared for the February 5 New Year celebration in Chinatown. (Although it is identified as a dragon in the newspaper article, another photograph taken on the same occasion identifies it as a lion and shows the shorter lion's body, ark no. 21198/zz002d9cvb).