‘We won’t be displaced’: Thousands march through Center City Philadelphia protesting proposed Sixers arena

More than a month before the basketball season even begins, the Philadelphia 76ers – and their underdog adversary – continued to be the talk of the town on Saturday as opponents to the NBA team’s Center City arena proposal marched from City Hall through Chinatown Saturday. The event was the culmination of a week when the arena and its potential impacts were front and center. 

The $1.55 billion arena proposal, called 76 Place – which would develop a large parcel of the city’s Market East section adjacent to its vibrant Chinatown – has drawn both criticism and excitement since it was first announced in 2022. 

Hundreds of organizations, including POWER Interfaith, Philly Thrive and the Philadelphia Suns took part in the demonstrations Saturday, with public school teachers, medical students and even the Apache Stronghold native group braved an afternoon downpour as they stood with the coalition arrayed against 76 Place. 

Chinatown “has served as a critical place of living (and a) home for residents, business owners and workers. It’s a cultural home for more than 20,000 people,” Bobby Chang, general secretary of the Pennsylvania United Chinese Coalition, told the crowd outside City Hall.

State and local lawmakers also made an appearance, with state Reps. Chris Rabb and Rick Krajewski, state Sen. Nikil Saval and City Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke joining speakers onstage. 

“This is where every elected (official) should be right now,” O’Rourke said. “I’m here with you, encouraging (you to) put our feet to the pavement and put our fist in the air and say, ‘Power to the people – not another arena in Chinatown.’”

Saval told City & State that the city’s impact studies raised many concerns with the proposal related to traffic congestion and gentrification and that opponents of the arena proposal aren’t against development but instead support an equitable approach to community building. 

“What people are demonstrating here is that they don’t want their neighborhood and community – one of the oldest Chinatowns in the country – to be destroyed,” Saval said. “We’ve seen Chinatowns in other cities get destroyed by development projects exactly like this…Economic development in our city needs to be equitable, and it can’t come at the expense of an entire community.”

Saturday’s rally, organized by Asian Americans United and the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, surpassed the size of the June 2023 rally that shut down Center City streets with roughly 3,500 protestors. Organizers said more than double that number of people signed up for the Saturday rally. 

The gathering took place just days after the city released four impact studies for the project and the state of New Jersey floated massive tax incentives to the team to develop an arena in Camden, leading to more outcry from the public and discussion during City Council members’ return to legislative session. 

Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson told reporters Thursday that although the offer from New Jersey – and the $800 million in tax incentives the state put forward – has to be taken “seriously,” the Sixers leaving the city “shouldn’t be an option.” 

Activists also held a press conference outside City Hall before Thursday’s session to voice opposition to 76 Place. Residents of Chinatown and medical providers expressed concerns about the impact an arena would have on the Chinatown community and businesses, as well as the congestion and potential life-threatening traffic delays a Center City arena could cause around Jefferson Hospital. 

The Save Chinatown Coalition has touted a citywide poll it conducted of 704 registered voters that showed 57% of respondents strongly opposed a Center City arena. The same poll showed 80% of respondents were concerned that increases in traffic would negatively impact access to the emergency room at Jefferson Hospital.