Last Ones Left

"The Last One Left" showcases the experiences and homes of the residents of Museum Square, the last rent-controlled building left in Northwest Washington, D.C.

In the 1980s, D.C.’s Chinatown boasted a population of 8,000 Asian-Americans. Today less than 300 Asian-Americans live there, and half live in a single apartment building — Museum Square One. It is 3/4 Asian-American and 1/4 African-American, housing predominantly elderly and/or low-income minorities. In 2015, residents were informed by Bush Companies, the building proprietor, that their homes would be demolished, and a billion-dollar condominium built in its place. Many residents unknowingly left, but others recognized Bush Companies' actions as illegal. After winning two court battles, many residents still wonder if their eviction is inevitable, feeling abandoned by their commercial and residential neighbors who encourage the very gentrification that is forcing them out and a mayor who once campaigned on affordable housing.

Museum Square is surrounded by luxury apartments on all sides, costing upwards of $2,000 for a studio apartment. Residents here pay an average of $400, partially paid with Title XIII vouchers.

Jenny Tang, an activist and resident in the building, leans against the security window as she enters her building. Because Bush Companies wants to remove residents, they are often unresponsive to any issues in the building, including violence from security guards. "Security guards always pick on the residents that speak no English," Tang said. "(One) picked up a tenant last year - he tackled him to the ground. He was not working for two weeks. And because he didn't speak English."

"That red building there," Tang said, gesturing outside of her window. "It used to be a black person’s restaurant. Maybe they will say similar about our building one day… When Mayor Bowser started her administration, she mentioned to help the homeless and the low-income, but she did not help.”

“They said a whole lot of things – we had to move. They wanted the apartment. But I’ve been here too long - 18 years. They sent letters to us. Some of them moved. But we still hanging on, we still staying," shared Ms. Knight, 84, sitting in her one-bedroom apartment she shares with a live-in nurse.

Notes from attempted deliveries to empty homes are plastered to many doors throughout Museum Square. In court it was argued that Bush Companies purposefully sent demolition notices - complicated legal documents - in English to residents who did not have the means to understand them.

"White people moved in, and black people moved out," Jian Zi-Ying, 70, said while shuffling through documents verifying his eligibility to live in Museum Square. He is 70 and has witnessed the changes in Washington, D.C. throughout the last decade.

Zi-Ying keeps a small collection of flags, photographs, and tokens from his family, who live now near New York City now. "I've been happy living in Museum Square, and I plan to live here much longer," he said.