Kris
January 10th, 2004, 01:44 AM
January 10, 2004
Ethnic Friction Over Signs That Lack Translations
By COREY KILGANNON
Should stores in ethnic neighborhoods be allowed to have signs with no English on them?
That delicate issue was revisited yesterday in Flushing, Queens, which has received an influx of Koreans in recent years; a bustling stretch of Northern Boulevard could briefly be mistaken for a commercial strip in Seoul. Most of the businesses have signs emblazoned with large Korean letters. Some have no English words, and some have messages in fragmented English that give no clue to a business's nature.
A task force led by City Councilman John Liu of Flushing announced yesterday that the problem was not serious enough to warrant a new city law requiring some English on signs. The task force, which includes other local elected officials and civic leaders, surveyed 293 businesses along a stretch of Northern Boulevard from Main to 162nd Street. It found that only 5 percent of the stores had signs bearing no English. Twelve percent had English words that were not descriptive of the businesses.
But some people disagree.
"Look at that sign," said Ken Westerfield, 38, of Whitestone, who stood on the boulevard yesterday pointing to a large Korean-language sign next to a supermarket. Its only English words were "Now" and "24 Hours." "You tell me what that sign is for," Mr. Westerfield said. "I can't figure it out." He added that the sign controversy has highlighted ethnic discord between Korean immigrants and longtime white residents of Queens.
"A lot of white people who've grown up here resent Koreans setting up businesses that sell only to other Koreans, buy from other Koreans and do business only with other Koreans," he said. "They ruin the economy for regular Americans."
City law does not require storefront signs to be written in English, a spokeswoman for the City Buildings Department said yesterday. But Councilman Tony Avella, who represents part of the Korean area of Flushing, said he was preparing a bill requiring all signs in the city to be "at least half in English."
In September, Mr. Avella set off a controversy by opposing a Korean-language billboard in Flushing advertising a car service. At the time, he cited a 1909 state law requiring some English on signs. Yesterday, task force members called the law unenforceable. Mr. Avella agreed. He was not at the news conference yesterday, but in a phone interview, he said, "I have no intention of backing off" and called signs with no English "a form of discrimination."
"There's an awful lot of people who feel very strongly about this," he said. "I don't think there's racism here, but people really feel discriminated against when they suddenly see a store sign in the neighborhood they grew up in, and can't understand it. The obvious response is to say, `They don't want me in their store; they don't want me here.' "
Mr. Liu said his office had received hundreds of calls complaining about signs with no English, as well as complaints about all-English signs with no Korean. Instead of legislation, he advocated educating and assisting business owners regarding their signs. He compared the issue to Yiddish signs on the Lower East Side a century ago and Russian signs in the Brighton Beach neighborhood in Brooklyn today.
Most larger businesses on Northern Boulevard, like the Seoul Plaza shopping center, have signs with English translations.
In the Tipperary Arms, an Irish pub nestled among many Korean businesses on Northern Boulevard, a group of customers grumbled about how their families had to Americanize when they immigrated. But Koreans avoid mingling outside their community, they said.
"You don't see a Gaelic sign on this bar, do you?" said Al Antretter, 63, a veteran and longtime Flushing resident. "It's not about the signs themselves. It's about the Koreans coming to this country and starting their businesses, but they don't want to deal with us or our language. They don't even want our business. I say, `You're in America, speak English.' "
Asked about such attitudes yesterday, one task force member, State Assemblyman Brian M. McLaughlin, said, "Change is often hard for many people to accept."
Nyung Park, an owner of Jangsoo Stone Bed and Furniture, which sells beds made of heated onyx and jade and has descriptive English on its sign, said she welcomed customers of all ethnicities.
"I think all store signs, it's good to have English," she said. "You get more customers."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Ethnic Friction Over Signs That Lack Translations
By COREY KILGANNON
Should stores in ethnic neighborhoods be allowed to have signs with no English on them?
That delicate issue was revisited yesterday in Flushing, Queens, which has received an influx of Koreans in recent years; a bustling stretch of Northern Boulevard could briefly be mistaken for a commercial strip in Seoul. Most of the businesses have signs emblazoned with large Korean letters. Some have no English words, and some have messages in fragmented English that give no clue to a business's nature.
A task force led by City Councilman John Liu of Flushing announced yesterday that the problem was not serious enough to warrant a new city law requiring some English on signs. The task force, which includes other local elected officials and civic leaders, surveyed 293 businesses along a stretch of Northern Boulevard from Main to 162nd Street. It found that only 5 percent of the stores had signs bearing no English. Twelve percent had English words that were not descriptive of the businesses.
But some people disagree.
"Look at that sign," said Ken Westerfield, 38, of Whitestone, who stood on the boulevard yesterday pointing to a large Korean-language sign next to a supermarket. Its only English words were "Now" and "24 Hours." "You tell me what that sign is for," Mr. Westerfield said. "I can't figure it out." He added that the sign controversy has highlighted ethnic discord between Korean immigrants and longtime white residents of Queens.
"A lot of white people who've grown up here resent Koreans setting up businesses that sell only to other Koreans, buy from other Koreans and do business only with other Koreans," he said. "They ruin the economy for regular Americans."
City law does not require storefront signs to be written in English, a spokeswoman for the City Buildings Department said yesterday. But Councilman Tony Avella, who represents part of the Korean area of Flushing, said he was preparing a bill requiring all signs in the city to be "at least half in English."
In September, Mr. Avella set off a controversy by opposing a Korean-language billboard in Flushing advertising a car service. At the time, he cited a 1909 state law requiring some English on signs. Yesterday, task force members called the law unenforceable. Mr. Avella agreed. He was not at the news conference yesterday, but in a phone interview, he said, "I have no intention of backing off" and called signs with no English "a form of discrimination."
"There's an awful lot of people who feel very strongly about this," he said. "I don't think there's racism here, but people really feel discriminated against when they suddenly see a store sign in the neighborhood they grew up in, and can't understand it. The obvious response is to say, `They don't want me in their store; they don't want me here.' "
Mr. Liu said his office had received hundreds of calls complaining about signs with no English, as well as complaints about all-English signs with no Korean. Instead of legislation, he advocated educating and assisting business owners regarding their signs. He compared the issue to Yiddish signs on the Lower East Side a century ago and Russian signs in the Brighton Beach neighborhood in Brooklyn today.
Most larger businesses on Northern Boulevard, like the Seoul Plaza shopping center, have signs with English translations.
In the Tipperary Arms, an Irish pub nestled among many Korean businesses on Northern Boulevard, a group of customers grumbled about how their families had to Americanize when they immigrated. But Koreans avoid mingling outside their community, they said.
"You don't see a Gaelic sign on this bar, do you?" said Al Antretter, 63, a veteran and longtime Flushing resident. "It's not about the signs themselves. It's about the Koreans coming to this country and starting their businesses, but they don't want to deal with us or our language. They don't even want our business. I say, `You're in America, speak English.' "
Asked about such attitudes yesterday, one task force member, State Assemblyman Brian M. McLaughlin, said, "Change is often hard for many people to accept."
Nyung Park, an owner of Jangsoo Stone Bed and Furniture, which sells beds made of heated onyx and jade and has descriptive English on its sign, said she welcomed customers of all ethnicities.
"I think all store signs, it's good to have English," she said. "You get more customers."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company