16 Mott
Hoy Yen Association / Tak Ming Alumni Association / Hop Lee Restaurant
Built ca. 1820, raised to three stories by Kurtzer & Rohl in 1888 and cast iron storefront added by Chas. Reid in 1899
2024
16 Mott
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
Yat Bun Sing Restaurant
Built ca. 1820, raised to three stories by Kurtzer & Rohl in 1888 and cast iron storefront added by Chas. Reid in 1899
1940s
16 Mott
Chung Wa Gong Shaw Society (Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association)
Built ca. 1820, raised to three stories by Kurtzer & Rohl in 1888 and cast iron storefront added by Chas. Reid in 1899
1900s
Interview
WITH ERIC NG (PAST PRESIDENT OF THE TAK MING ALUMNI ASSOCIATION)
+ Tell me about your past tenures as president. When were you president of the Tak Ming Association?
In 1994-1995, I became the president of the Eng Family Association.
In 1996 to 1997, I was the president of Hip Sing Association.
From 1998 – 1999, I became the president of the Chinese Freemasons Association.
From 2000 to 2004, I became the president of the Hoy Sun Ning Yung Association.
I became the president of the Tak Ming Alumni Association from 2002 to 2011. I held the title for too long.
From 2004-2007, I became the (international) president of the Eng Family Association.
From 2006-2008, I became the first president of the CCBA. By that time, I had become the president of many associations already. Then, from 2014 – 2016, I held the second term of being president of the CCBA.
From 2012-2013, I was the national president of the Eng Family Association.
Eric Ng shows a photograph of himself and young members of the Tak Ming Alumni Association, renovating 16 Mott in the 1970s. Photograph taken during our interview, May 2022.
From 2016 to 2020, I became the national president of the Hip Sing Association.
From 2018 to 2020, I held a third term as the CCBA president.
From 2016 to 2020, I became the national president of the Hip Sing Association.
From 2018 to 2020, I held a third term as the CCBA president.
So, I’m the guy who’s been involved in community business since I stepped in in 1994. I never stopped. I like to use whatever formula we use. I don’t want to change it because when a new president comes in and uses a new rule, this mixes up all the associations. I hate it. That’s why I talk to everybody: Follow the rules. When you follow the rules, no one complains about you. That’s why we call this the traditional association.
+ Tell me about the Tak Ming Association. How long has the association been in this building?
We started the association 50 years ago in 1962. Every holiday, we had a banquet and were party animals! We all came from the same elementary, high school from Hong Kong. The school is no longer there.
It used to be on number seven or number nine East Broadway.
In 1971, we were renting the space from Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) at 16 Mott. I found the old checks; we used to pay $80 per month in rent. I used to be treasurer and I wrote out the checks! Originally, the CCBA owned the building. (This was the office of the CCBA before they moved to 62 Mott.)
In 1911, Dr. Sun Yat Sen gave a speech here. We have documents here to prove this – this is a document from the CCBA dated March 29, 1911: Dr. Sun Yat Sen gave a speech here at the CCBA. That’s why, sixty years later, we rented the place. That’s history! “Tak Ming” is also the name of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. Our school was in memory of him.
A postcard from Yat Bung Sing Restaurant, likely from the 1930s, 1940s. Courtesy of the Eric Y. Ng collection.
Yat Bun Sing Restaurant in New York’s Chinatown [Card]. (1930). Retrieved from https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/8623j271f
+ Who are the current users or tenants of this building?
On the ground floor is a restaurant.
On the second floor is one of the branches of The Lee Family.
On the third floor is the Kuomintang [Association].
On the fourth floor, the front is the Hoy Yen Association and the Tak Ming Association is in the back.
+ When you moved to 16 Mott in 1971, you and your alumni members directly renovated the space yourselves? Tell me about these renovations.
We had fun… at the time, everybody was young. We were 22 or under – still young!
We worked on it every Sunday. We started in the summertime and opened in November.
We put up sheetrock and painted the walls and did the electrical wiring – because one of the alumni worked in an electric company. Everything, we did by ourselves.
After the renovation, I remember seeing an old ping pong table. We could play over there. We had enough room to have one table of mahjong and one small office space.
+ What are your fondest memory of this building?
My favorite memory is that I know this is a historical site because Dr. Sun Yat Sen spoke over there. A lot of people say that I can talk about history; I tell you the truth because we have documents and photos to prove everything.
16 MOTT - HISTORIC IMAGES
Bain News Service, P. (ca. 1910) Chinese Revolutionary ? Hdqrts. , ca. 1910. [Between and Ca. 1915] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014689840/.
Bain News Service, P. Chinese Joss House in Mourning. [No Date Recorded on Caption Card] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014681519/.
16 MOTT - BUILDING PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs taken between 2022-2024.
HOY YIN ASSOCIATION - BUILDING PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs taken in 2022.