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Brooklyn Ink — Eighth Avenue was a natural destination for the first Chinese entrepreneurs who came to Sunset Park three decades ago and created Brooklyn’s bustling Chinatown. Eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture.

But stuck with an old zoning code capping the expansion of commercial activities above the ground floor, store owners who want to grow are now being pushed by city planners to try their fortunes on other streets. The owners’ sense of luck is being sorely tested, though for now, luck may be winning out.

Chen Xiaojuan, 53, who runs a grocery market on the corner of 58th St and Eighth Ave is typical when he says he would “never give up” his doubly-enviable address. Chen is convinced that the presence of 8s surrounding his store has helped him tremendously in his success.

“Look at this corner compared to 57th or 56th Street. It’s always busier here. Maybe you don’t know why,” he says with a grin, “but I know why.”

The enticement to move began in 2009, when the city put into place a 128-block rezoning plan that expanded the commercial use of blocks on

Third, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Avenues. The only main commercial street in Sunset Park that was omitted from the plan, and glaringly so, was Eighth, the very heart of Chinatown.

The street wasn’t included for the simple reason that it straddles the borders of two community boards–the west side of Eighth Ave is part of Community Board 7 and its east side falls under Community Board 12–and would have required time-consuming coordination between both councils to push the rezoning plan forward. Eighth Avenue thus remained zoned C1-1, which allows for commercial businesses only on the ground floor. The other streets, such as neighboring Seventh Avenue, were rezoned into C4-3A, which allows businesses on second and third floors.

Two years later, the feeling that Chinatown is outgrowing its Eight Avenue britches is tangible. Chinese immigrants continue to pour in to the neighborhood. A walk down the street during the day requires quick and aggressive maneuvering, and jutting elbows. Goods displayed by stores spill out from the actual shops and out onto the sidewalks.

But the crowded conditions have thus far been trumped by the ingrained belief that the number eight leads to more prosperity. The word for eight–“ba”–and the word for prosperous–“fa”–are near homophones. It’s not uncommon for Chinese to pay more to have an “8” in their address or on their car license plates.

Though there have been casual talks to rezone Chinatown, including one joint community board discussion in April of this year, no proposal has been drafted, nor are further joint meetings scheduled, according to Kenny Guan, a CB7 board member.

Even if a proposal could be hashed out and submitted to the city, any plan would take a year and a half before implementation, he adds.

Guan predicts that, despite tradition, Chinese business owners will start looking over to Seventh Avenue, which has the added advantage of being cheaper than Eighth Avenue, whatever the luck.

“Businesses pay $10,000 a month for the ground floor,” he says. “It’s $4,000 a month on Seventh Ave. That’s a big difference.”

There’s another reason Chinese business owners may want to overcome their fondness for the number eight: subway stops. Although there is a 60th St subway station on Eighth Avenue, in the center of Chinatown, another one doesn’t appear until 39th St (and technically one block over on Ninth Avenue). That is far away.

“People aren’t going to walk twenty or so blocks,” says Guan. “Having a business on Seventh Ave and 58th Street may be more desirable than being actually on Eighth Avenue but in the mid-forties. A lot of people don’t have cars or parking garages so they prefer walking distance from the subway station.”

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who represent the plaintiffs in the rezoning lawsuit, would rather see that kind of dispersion than commercial businesses going skywards. Bethany Li, a staff attorney for the group claims that the 2009 rezoning of the rest of Sunset Park will bring in large chains and jeopardize local jobs and businesses.

“Once you account for all the changes due to the rezoning, the amount of affordable housing and commercial space will significantly decrease,” she maintains. “We hope the court will rule in favor of the Asian and Latino immigrants who want to preserve their Brooklyn neighborhood.”

Guan is still pushing to rezone Eighth Avenue. He believes allowing the second floor of buildings on the street would be good for the area’s small businesses but he recognizes the concerns in the lawsuit. “It’s a question of density. It’s always a balance,” he says. By Tiffany Ap

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