Chinatown faces uncertain future in economic crisis

            On the brink of a global economic crisis, superstitious symbols are everywhere. Perched in storefront windows, beside cash registers, and on the shelf behind the vendor who sells stacks of cigarettes and Chinese newspapers, is the ceramic cat. It clutches a golden tablet with the Chinese characters “happiness and wealth” and its motorized right arm swings up and down, supposedly “waving in” good fortune.

            The lucky cat is usually a best-seller and a fixture for Chinatown businesses, but it hasn't been selling all too well the last two weeks in Kin Li's good luck trinket store on Worth Street. It may be one of many signs, said Li's wife who would only identify herself as “Mrs. Li,” that business is going downhill. Ten blocks south on Wall Street, business is already at its worst. Still, many workers and business owners in Chinatown agree -- it's still too early to tell how Chinatown businesses will be affected.

            The lack of lucky cat sales isn't just a sign that the Li business is suffering, said 40-year-old Andy Luo, who owns Jade Feng Shui, a store across the street.

            “It means people don't want to spend on good luck charms,” he said. “People aren't purchasing as much because business is bad all around.”

            While the turbulent stock exchange has sent some worried investors to seek advice from psychics in New York City, the Chinese seem to be more conservative, said feng shui master Tin Sun.

            In a basement office on Chatham Square, Sun practices an East-Asian craft that's more than 2,000 years old. Feng shui, which means "wind" and "water" in Chinese, is a mix of Eastern philosophy, astrology and design. Sun, who has worked with several high-profile New York businessmen including Donald Trump, gives advice on topics ranging from helping to foster a happy marriage to arranging office space to improve business.

            Over the last week, he's received just a few calls from worried clients. Most people in Chinatown, he guessed, are sitting tight for now.

            “If they don't have money, it's not affordable to have a feng shui consultation anyway,” said Sun, who charges at least a few hundred dollars each session, the norm for most consultants in Chinatown.

            Volunteers at the Mahayana Buddhist Temple on the Bowery and at the Chinese Presbyterian Church on Mulberry Street said parishioners have not expressed anxiety about the recent economic turmoil. They said the fall of big businesses wouldn't immediately affect locals, who make and spend very little money.

            At Hsin Wong restaurant on Bayard Street, which specializes in Cantonese barbecued meats, 47-year-old butcher Man Chan was serving a takeout line while coordinating service for a capacity lunchtime crowd Wednesday afternoon.

            “There are less ties” on the businessmen in the restaurant, he said. “But we're open every day and whether business is good or bad, I still have to come to work. It hasn't changed for me and I don't think it will.

            Meanwhile Mrs. Li on Worth Street said while she sells lucky charms, she's not superstitious herself.

            “You're selling hope to people,” she said. “If they believe in it and if they feel it really works, then that already puts them at ease and that's a good thing,” she said.

            The telephone rang. Mrs. Li took the call and immediately began scribbling down notes: A business owner on Mott Street just put in an order for 12 lucky cats.