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Asian American Federation unveils new mural in
Flushing to celebrate Asian small business ownersFlushing has become a booming community,”
Tsai said. “Even though this
wall could be rented for commercial advertising,
I wanted to help beautify the
community with some artwork, like this
mural. My wish is to continue to make
Flushing a cleaner and safer place for
the people to live and to do business.”
Local elected officials including
Councilman Peter Koo and Senator
Toby Stavisky expressed gratitude to
AAF and the EDC for installing another
mural on Union Street.
Stavisky said she hopes the mural
serves as a “reinvigorating symbol of
hope and a bright future ahead,” as the
neighborhoods and small businesses
work to rebuild in the wake of COVID-
19.
“Seongmin Ahn did a magnificent
job capturing the beautiful, rich cultural
diversity that makes our community
one of a kind. The mural depicts individual
AAF’s mural was conceived as a reminder and celebration of the Asian American
flowers, and when they become
community’s important contributions to New York City. Photo by Dean Moses
part of a beautiful bouquet, the flowers
blend together to become one, similar to
to prosperity and a bright future,” said
our community,” Stavisky said.
Ahn, who is an immigrant and received
According to Koo, public art is a
her B.F.A and M.F.A in Asian traditional
great way to enhance and beautify communities,
painting from Seoul National University
such as Flushing.
in Korea.
“Union Street is known for its vibrant
When Jentai Tsai, the owner of the
diversity of mom-and-pop stores
building on Union Street, moved to
and restaurants, and it’s only natural
Flushing 50 years ago, she described
that the facades of this strip begin to
it as a “ghost town” filled with vacant
reflect the unique character, color, and
stores.
beauty of what you can see once you
Tsai was the first Asian-American
venture inside,” Koo said. “It is something
to open an oriental supermarket called
that infers to passers-by that they
Daido on Main Street.
are in a community of new and exciting
“Thanks to Asian immigrant efforts,
ideas.”
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BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The Asian American Federation
(AAF) unveiled a new colorful mural in
downtown Flushing on Wednesday, Oct.
7, that will serve as a reminder and celebration
of the Asian American community’s
important contributions to New
York City.
The mural, Harmonious Differences,
was created by visual Korean artist
Seongmin Ahn, who used acrylic exterior
paint and spray paint on the brick
wall of a building located at 39-02 Union
St. The mural is the second in a series of
public art projects by AAF’s small business
program created to beautify Union
Street and enhance the shopping experience
for customers.
The project is supported in part by
the New York City Economic Development
Corporation (NYCEDC).
Small business owners on Union
Street have seen a dramatic decrease
in foot traffic and customers since early
January when misconceptions about the
pandemic field anti-Asian sentiment,
according to Ahyoung Kim, associate
director of Small Business Programs,
AAF.
“Their pleas for help have not been
answered; small businesses in this area
had the lowest approval rate for the Paycheck
Protection Program,” Kim said.
“AAF will continue to advocate for the
needs of our small business owners’ and
ensure that they are met with culturally
relevant assistance and language
access.”
Union Street is home to diverse immigrant
communities and businesses
and the mural is a tribute to their rich
contributions that have influenced the
vibrant culture of the area. The array of
flowers represent the people from different
ethnic backgrounds and traditions
who arrived in Flushing from different
parts of Asia and then blended together
into a bouquet to grow as a highly productive
community, Ahn said in a statement.
“The visual represents the invigorating
force of the community that comes
together as one to nurture our great city
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