PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Leaders in Chinatown and the City of Philadelphia are trying to figure out how to move forward after millions of federal funding dollars were scrapped for a major project in Chinatown.
The Chinatown Stitch Project was created to connect two sides of the neighborhood that are divided by a highway. The $207 million project has now lost $105 million in federal funds after President Donald Trump rescinded the grants as part of his so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Now, leaders are looking for a solution.
“I would cross this (street) almost every day,” said Chinatown Development Corporation Executive Director John Chin of the Vine Street Expressway.
Chin grew up in Chinatown and had to navigate the busy expressway from the time he was a kid. It’s the reality of growing up in a neighborhood that’s divided by a highway.
“That’s what I lived with growing up in Chinatown,” said Chin.
It’s been a decades-long struggle for Chinatown residents ever since the Vine Street Expressway was built. That’s why residents like Chin were happy with the idea of the Chinatown Stitch: a cap with lots of green space that would reconnect both sides of Chinatown across I-676 between 10th and 12th streets.
“Even I couldn’t believe that we had this opportunity,” said Chin of the 2024 announcement.
In March of last year, it was revealed that the Chinatown Stitch Project would receive $158 million in federal grants, but now just about all of that money is gone.
“It was $150 million that we lost in that decision,” said Christopher Puchalsky, director of policy and strategic initiatives at the Philadelphia Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems.
Under his recently passed tax plan, President Donald Trump rescinded $150 million in construction funds for the Chinatown Stitch. Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems acknowledged the loss of funds this week as they presented the city’s Art Commission with markups of the Chinatown Stitch Project for the first time.
“It’s definitely a setback to the project, but we want to stay positive,” said Puchalsky.
Officials say even with the loss of federal funds, the Chinatown Stitch Project is not dead. City officials presented an updated plan in that same meeting to the Art Commission this week.
“It’s a beautiful park,” said Chin of the project.
The goal now is to find the funds.
“We’re trying to finalize the preliminary engineering, enter the final design phase of the project. We need to find about $12 million to complete that,” said Puchalsky.
Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle led the fight against the tax law that rescinded the funding. In a statement to Action News, he said, “Trump has stolen this historic opportunity from our city in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires. I won’t stop fighting to restore this funding for Philadelphia.”
Chin says the Chinatown Stitch will continue its already-funded planning phase. They’ll do so while looking for new public and private sources of funding in hopes of finding a way forward to reconnect Chinatown.
“If we find the right support with our federal elected officials, we can actually bring some of this funding back,” said Chin.
The planning phase of this project continues, with the goal to get it shovel-ready in the next year and a half while advocates of the plan work on new funding sources.
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