Surveying the Odds

As a task force readies to release a study about how slot parlors would affect the city, opinions in Chinatown are varied.

by Helen i-lin Hwang

WATCHFUL EYES: Chinatown residents don't want a return to the times of nude models posed near Friendship Gate. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Sitting inside a grimy Arch Street gambling parlor, a Chinese man slams his mahjong tile onto a green felt table and exclaims in Mandarin, "This is very good news!" The self-proclaimed video-gaming fan has just learned that slot-machine parlors could soon be cropping up just a couple of blocks away on Market Street.

His enthusiastic reaction — it came as a surprise, as the local Chinese papers hadn't reported the potential development — is just what Gov. Ed Rendell is looking for. As the state legislature approved plans last month to scatter 61,000 slot machines across the state — including two gaming licenses in Philadelphia that would clear the path for 5,000 slots here — it'll take gamblers like him to fill the state coffers with gambling proceeds. While those plans have received some ink, there's been little attention paid to how a potential slot parlor somewhere between Eighth and 12th streets on Market would affect neighbors, particularly those in Chinatown.

Nonetheless, the proposed development has worried board members of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. (PCDC), the nonprofit housing-advocacy organization that helped lead the charge to keep a Phillies stadium out of its back yard.

PCDC's executive director, John Chin, says he is not only concerned about a potential increase in crime but worries about parking problems, traffic jams, the negative impact upon neighborhood kids, and how Buddhist and Christian churchgoers won't want to see gambling. He points out that 4,000 residents live in Chinatown and the area is not just a business district.

"One block can make a difference," notes PCDC vice chairman Andy Toy. He adds that PCDC wants some input as to where any nearby parlors would be, a decision that Rendell's office says has yet to be made.

Chin recalls growing up in Chinatown in the 1970s with dark, dingy bars on every corner and a studio underneath Chinatown's Friendship Gate where people would pay to take photographs of nude models. He doesn't want to see a return to those days.

With casinos coming so close, he frets that there will be an increase in prostitution but, unlike what happened during Atlantic City's gambling development, doesn't predict a boom in pawnshops because they're already established near Jewelers Row.

Laura Lau, a program manager at AIDS Services in Asian Communities (ASIAC) who does outreach in massage parlors, says it's still unclear whether prostitution would grow should the slots arrive.

When it comes to overall crime, however, others in Chinatown fear the worst. Harry Leong, director of the Chinese Christian Church and Center at 10th and Cherry streets, thinks the monetary influx would likely invite robberies on neighborhood streets. A University of Illinois study of more than 3,000 counties with legalized gambling found that, in 1996, casinos contributed to 30 percent of auto thefts and 20 percent of robberies.

"The church has decided we will not support such an idea," says Leong. But he concedes that it might be tougher uniting the community in this fight than against the stadium because the "culture has a lot to do with making money." Leong says, "Gambling is such an accepted practice within the Asian culture. They see it as a way out of poverty a way to get away from daily life. It takes them out of their world and their problems."

To that end, others worry about what effect accessible gambling will have on families.

Yang Ying Chun, a 45-year-old North Philadelphia restaurant owner, is concerned for the children who live in and go to school around Chinatown. Although two children are running around the mahjong parlor as he speaks, Yang asserts that growing up around casinos provides a negative environment. Other men concur, predicting that teenagers will try to sneak into the casinos instead of going to school. Another man adds that some "immigrants will spend money [in the casinos] and this will cause fights at home."

These aren't issues, however, that have gone ignored in Harrisburg.

"Certainly putting a major thought-out operation will have an impact, and the governor has expressed his desire that the slot-machine parlors are put in an area that can support the casinos," says Rendell spokeswoman Kate Phillips. "Legislation has provided money so that we can handle any impact on the municipalities. There are provisions in the legislation for more police coverage."

Gambling, however, is not a new diversion for locals. Last year, the Dragon Coach depot at 11th and Race was shut down by the Department of Licenses and Inspections for having a video gambling machine. These days, one needn't look any further than the Greyhound bus depot on Filbert Street where, on a typical Saturday morning, people line up for its Lucky Streak Casino Service that'll take them directly to Atlantic City. Justin Chin, 35, waits tables six days a week but goes to the Shore on his day off. He says he plays the nickel slots, spending no more than $30 on each trip. He's aware that the slots bill had passed, but thinks he'll only visit the city's slots once a month.

"Atlantic City is a mini-vacation because it has beaches, shopping and shows," he explains.

Alice Lee, who owns Downstairs @ North Sea on 10th Street, is another frequent Atlantic City daytripper. She says a nearby gambling hall would be "awesome" not only for convenience's sake, but because it'd likely mean more business for her parents' North Sea Seafood Restaurant. Agreeing that there could be a potential boost in business is restaurateur Josephine Wang, who owns Serendipity Cafe and H.K. Golden Phoenix. She suggests that people in the Asian community should attempt to get licensing rights to the slots. But, she cautions, "There are pros and cons to how comfortable we feel about gambling coming next door."

Though there are a litany of opinions about gambling in Chinatown, there's of yet no report on the tangible effects that residents could expect. That's about to change.

Harris Steinberg is heading a task force within the Design Advocacy Group to scrutinize the impact of gaming on Center City. With 40,000 people a day expected to arrive, he says the potential bus and car traffic would have a major effect on Chinatown.

His organization plans to release a report in a few days outlining information that the gaming commission should consider when selecting the sites. They include the environmental impact on the public, the physical context, the suggestion of mixed-use development and the recommendation that site selection be vetted through a public process.

"This," explains Steinberg, "will be much more significant than the baseball stadium."