Chinatown Store Owners Hope Lunar New Year Brings Good Fortune To Pandemic-Impacted Businesses

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Get ready for the year of the tiger.

The start of the Lunar New Year is just hours away.

READ MORE: Business Slow At Chinatown Restaurants Despite Lunar New Year Celebrations

In Chinatown, store owners hope the new year can help jump start their businesses, CBS2’s Christina Fan reported Monday.

The firecrackers are off and lanterns are up across Chinatown, as families pick up last-minute essentials to ring in the year of the tiger.

At New Confucius Florist, auspicious arrangements signified luck and good fortune that the Lau family hopes will smile upon their business, too.

“Before today, it’s very slow, not very good,” Malen Lau said.

READ MORE: Lunar New Year Celebrations Underway With Hope For Brighter Days In Year Of The Ox

The Lunar New Year also marks new beginnings, which is especially important for Chinatown this year. Officials say 87% of the neighborhood’s 1,200 storefronts have returned, but tourists have not.

At the Golden Unicorn restaurant, community leaders threw a huge banquet Monday, letting New Yorkers know the pandemic wasn’t all bad news. It also brought opportunity, ushering in new businesses with new visions.

“For example, we used to eat dim sum only in the lunchtime, but now you can eat in the morning, the lunch, the dinner. You can even eat at midnight,” said Justin Yu of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association NY.

There is no better time to rediscover the neighborhood than now. The two-to-three week celebration kicks off Feb. 1 and will feature fireworks, lion dancers and end with a parade.

“The year of the tiger for us is very, very lucky. Tiger is strong and we are just as strong as tigers,” Yu said.

MORE NEWS: Chinatown Struggling To Survive As Lunar New Year Approaches, Efforts Underway To Help Community

They are preparing to roar back, just like this year’s Zodiac.