I traveled to the heart of the epidemic one day in July to find out for myself what kind of peril we’re in.
July 25, 2014 | addiction, business clash, Chinatown Fair, policing, souvenirs, trading card game, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Parents, lock your doors and hide the kids, because a new danger stalks the streets of Manhattan. It’s an addiction, mostly known to afflict males, and it’s been spreading its tentacles westward from Japan since 1999. Its name is Yu-Gi-Oh! and it lies at the center of an ongoing conflict between business owners and young men on a one-block stretch of Mott Street in Chinatown.
I traveled to the heart of the epidemic one day in July to find out for myself what kind of peril we’re in. Standing on the sidewalk, I met André Holly, who explained how it works.
André Holly buys, sells, and trades Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. The game is based on a Japanese manga of the same name, and was listed by Guinness World Records as the most popular trading card game in the world in 2009. In it, players use “monster” cards to attack opponents. They can also use “spell” or “trap” cards to boost the strength of a monster, draw more cards, or redirect an attack back at their opponent.
The 20-year-old Holly is one of 10-30 young men who stand outside of Chinatown Fair, a video arcade on Mott Street, every Friday afternoon, clutching binders filled with Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
“I’ve made a lot of friends through this. Like him – he’s one of my best friends,” said Holly, and gestured at the guy standing next to him.
The other guy looked away, his hands in his pockets. “I don’t play this that much anymore,” he said.
Holly rolled his eyes then gave me a look that said: not true.
The curls belonged to Ralphie Reyes, a restaurant worker who, at age 27, is the default den father to the group. When Holly’s friend began blasting loud music, Reyes frowned and made a neck-level “cut it out” gesture. The music stopped.
Lonnie Sobel, the manager of Chinatown Fair, has a different take on this scene.
“These kids took Chinatown Fair out of business,” said Sobel in a phone interview. He was referring to 2011, when the arcade closed. Sobel bought and reopened the business in 2012. Initially, he tried to make the teen hangout more of a family destination, but said that families were put off by the crowd of young men.
None of the men I spoke to knew of any recent clashes involving police. But several of them remembered an incident from years before when several people had been arrested.
Meanwhile, Sobel regularly attends a monthly Fifth Precinct police-community meeting hosted by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, where he says the Yu-Gi-Oh! issue is often discussed. A Chinese-language paper, the World Journal, has covered the conflict. Sobel also said it’s discussed by the neighborhood association.
Sobel’s greatest hope now is for the police to repeat a tactic they used once before: get someone who looks young to go undercover, and catch some kids taking money for the cards.
Tags: addiction, business clash, Chinatown Fair, policing, souvenirs, trading card game, Yu-Gi-Oh!
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