Mayor Parker has expressed support for the 76ers Arena

Members of the Save Chinatown Coalition vowed to continue their fight to defeat the project.

“Mayor Parker hasn't even met Chinatown in so long, yet feels like he might have a position on whether our community should live or die. It's never been about one person and this fight isn't over. We're going to fight this, And we're going to the mat. It's on,” longtime Chinatown activist Debbie Wei said in a statement.

Protesters against the proposal gathered outside City Hall Wednesday afternoon and expressed their displeasure with Parker's decision.

“The fact that this shirt has no stadium and no casino on top of it is Chinatown has thrown it so much,” said Mohan Seshadri, executive director of the Asian Pacific Islanders Political Alliance (APIPA).

“We had the Vine Street Expressway, which split our community in two…we had two casinos thrown at us. We had a federal prison thrown at us,” he continued. “We had Phillies Stadium thrown at us in 2000… We sure as hell are going to fight this battle, to close this arena that is not just Chinatown, but the heart of our city. would threaten Jefferson. [Hospital]All these neighborhoods around Washington West, too.”

Jenny Zhang, an organizer with APIPA, said the majority of 76ers fans are happy to have the team in South Philadelphia.

“Stay in South Philly,” he said. “We have a really great situation going on there with our stadium district and that's something that most cities don't have. Philadelphians see through. They know these billionaire owners don't really care about Philadelphia.”