A group of residents and business owners in Chinatown and the Lower East Side jointly signed a letter to the mayor, asking him to halt the city's attempts to control the re-zoning process of Lower Manhattan.

Organizations representing locals, among them many Latinos, and small business owners of the Chinatown Working Group affirm that the city has tried to interfere in the process via the selection of a key agent: the planner.

"This planner has a lot of power because he decides how to interpret the document that we are going to create. We don't want the city to have the majority of votes when it comes to choosing this person," explained Michael Andrade of the National Mobilization Against Sweat Shops (NMASS).

In the election, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has four votes, and the community only has three. That is fine for the Chinatown Working Group, but local residents don't agree.

The community fears that the NYCEDC will elect someone keen on serving the interests of the city. According to the community, that means economic interests that favor large construction companies over small business and affordable housing.

"What the community sees happening is residents getting displaced. They currently pay $3,000 a month in rent, and the leases of small businesses are becoming unaffordable. And the city says that the neighborhood needs to be revitalized," said Bethany Li of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Andrade added that the community is fighting for control of the neighborhood's future. The community does not want the city to kick out low-income tenants and replace them with luxury condominiums.

The spokeswoman for the NYCEDC said in a statement that their "role has been to help the Chinatown Working Group to obtain funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and to make the financing process run more smoothly."

More than 10 different groups signed the letter to the mayor. According to Andrade, they represent the majority of the community and nearly half of the Chinatown Working Group. The city created the Chinatown Working Group to incorporate the community into the re-zoning process.