NY1 first met jeweler Bobby Satin in 2000 at his shop inside the New York Jewelry Exchange, located in Chinatown’s jewelry district. Business was good, but he knew it could’ve been better if more shoppers actually knew about the area, where dozens of jewelry shops line a section of Bowery and Canal Street.<\/p>\n
12 years later, Satin says the district remains a diamond in the rough in some ways.<\/p>\n
“It’s always a struggle,” he says. “People say ‘Oh, you’re in the jewelry district.’ I say yeah. ‘What, on 47th Street?’ I say no. It’s just the nature of what it is.”<\/p>\n
Satin, who’s been working in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, isn’t the only one who says the younger Diamond District in Midtown outshines them. Jeweler Dennis Dalton says it’s a shame, given what he says are the area’s better prices and rich history.<\/p>\n
“This is one of the original jewelry districts here in New York,” he says. “The area actually goes back to the ’30s. When you came down here, this place was really jumping back then.”<\/p>\n
Today, businesses owners and community leaders are working to reclaim that luster .<\/p>\n
“We feel by re-branding the area, it would get the popularity it once had,” says Dimas Vargas, a property manager with the NY Jewelry Exchange.<\/p>\n
Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership, says one of the first steps is to market the district as a reputable one.<\/p>\n
“One of the things that we need to establish is the credibility,” he says. “I think there is the loss of that recognition. This is real.”<\/p>\n
Increasing security is also on the agenda. There is talk of putting a marquis sign on the corner of Hester and Bowery to distinguish the area, not unlike what the Diamond District has.<\/p>\n
With the city’s marriage bureau just blocks away, community leaders are also looking to evoke the more romantic side of Chinatown to attract customers.<\/p>\n
“If you’re getting married, you obviously need to buy a piece of jewelry,” Chen says. “We would like to connect that with the Little Italy outdoor cafes, with the banquet halls of Chinatown.”<\/p>\n
With a proposal like that, it’s hard to not say “I do.”<\/p>\n