New York Taiwan Center (紐約台灣會館)

Identity Snapshot

• English: New York Taiwan Center
• Chinese: 紐約台灣會館
• Era: Contemporary
• Geography: Taiwanese American community
• Core roles: Community organization (TAH directory)

New York Taiwan Center (紐約台灣會館) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1987 in Flushing, Queens, by donations from Taiwanese Americans in the Greater New York area. It is recognized as the first community center established by Taiwanese immigrants in the United States and is one of the largest Taiwanese American non-profit organizations in the country. The center serves as a hub connecting the Taiwanese diaspora with both the broader New York community and Taiwan, and is home to the Greater New York Taiwanese American Organizations Alliance, which links nearly thirty Taiwanese American organizations across New York and New Jersey.

Role in the Community

• Self-published anniversary chronicles are held in the corpus: 227. 台灣會館十周年紀念特刊 (July 1996) and 228. 台灣會館二十週年紀念特刊 (2007). The 10th-anniversary excerpt (via Our Journeys 9) recounts the fundraising “train” running thirteen years by 1996, over 400 donors, and volunteers who handled fundraising, purchasing, construction, and decorating. HOLD: era-of-origin conflict — directory says established 1987, the 1996 retrospective counts the effort as beginning ~1983; never auto-merged.
• Runs a senior center: 30. 紐約台灣會館老人中心 (2017-06-26).
• Hosts community performances: 117. Hello Taiwan 喂台灣, at the Center in Flushing, NY on 2017-11-05, co-listed with the Taiwanese American Council; the record also names Dr. Tu Chen, Morisan Lu, Maurice Hsu, Patrick Huang, and Martin Tsai.
• Leadership is in the TAH oral history record: 183. President of NYTC – 蘇春槐 Chun-Hwai Su’s Journey (band A, 2025-08-01) — 蘇春槐 served as NYTC president 2024–2025; see 蘇春槐.
• The Center’s own community organ is held in the corpus: Taiwanese American Community Newsletter (2015-07-28).
• The movement memoir record includes institutional histories of the Center: Chia-lung Cheng’s “紐約台灣會館: 在困境中更新 / Rebirth in the Midst of Hardship” (band A, 2014-09-05), Our Journeys 27, and the 社團篇 excerpt “紐約台灣會館” from 咱要出頭天, Our Journeys 181 (2015-10-19), which names 劉蘇多惠 and 賴清德 in connection with the Center. See also the directory record New York Taiwan Center 紐約台灣會館.
• A further corpus chronicle of the Center is held: 1986, and the 26th-anniversary special issue 382. 台灣會館26周年紀念特刊 (2012). HOLD: the 1986 title date is a third origin-era claim alongside the directory’s 1987 and the 1996 retrospective’s ~1983; never auto-merged.
• A second senior-center record: 林炎誠, 2017-10, alongside the institutional sketch 19. Brief History of Taiwanese American Senior Center 紐約台灣會館老人中心簡介 (2017).
• The Center’s own early history is told from the inside by Chao-ping Huang: Longing for a Place — Early Years of New York Taiwan Center (band A, 2017) — a first-person account of the founding generation’s “longing for a place” that complements the retrospective fundraising narrative above.
• Anniversary chronicles continue through the corpus: 381. 台灣會館2000年感恩暨整修特刊 (2000-10), 375. 台灣會館25周年紀念特刊 (2011), and 1047. Taiwan Center’s Special Commemorative 30th Anniversary Edition 台灣會館30週年紀念特刊 (2016-11). A historical photo album is held as 天下第一館 — 紐約台灣會館 (2016).
• The Center’s performing-arts record documents its fundraising function directly: 112. 紐約台灣會館鋼琴募款演奏會, three piano benefit concerts at the Flushing center on 1999-05-30, 1999-06-02 and 1999-06-19, and 96. 張清郎、黃醒民台灣歌曲演唱會 (Flushing, 1998-04-11).
• The Center also served as a venue for the wider movement’s commemorative calendar: the 1993-06-22 memorial gathering for the tenth anniversary of 陳文成 was held there, remembered in the 美東文成杯 tennis memoir Our Journeys 329.
• Co-hosts 台灣海外留學生新年聚餐晚會 with the 宜蘭同鄉會 (75. 留學生新年聚餐, 2017-02-02), and hosts club-level events such as the 中秋節乒乓球友誼賽 (中秋乒乓球友誼賽, 2017-10).
• 蔡明峰, founder of 台灣海外網, is remembered in the 紐約筆會 decade memoir as 紐約台灣會館前董事長 who repeatedly praised the pen association (Our Journeys 12, 紐約筆會十年).
• The founding generation is named in the press record: Flushing lawyer 陳隆豐 (NYU law, 台大法律系) co-founded the Center in 1986 as its first 理事長, serving ten years, and remained active at its fundraising events into his later years; he died 2024-03-28, and the Center issued its own tribute on his passing (CNA, 2025-03-31; see 陳隆豐). The Center also served as venue for movement political organizing: the 海外信賴後援會 supporting 賴清德’s 2024 presidential campaign held its founding press conference there on 2023-03-18 (CNA, 2023-03-18).
• The founding generation’s own essays are held in the memoir corpus: 樊豐美 Fon-may Fan’s “紐約台灣會館的成立與展望” (28. 紐約台灣會館的成立與展望, 2014-09), and the tribute “吳連火拋磚引玉 紐約台灣會館圓夢” (647. 吳連火拋磚引玉 紐約台灣會館圓夢, 2018-08-20), which credits 吳連火 with a pioneering donation toward the Center’s dream — see 吳連火 and 樊豐美.
• The Center’s institutional programs are documented in the corpus: the 紐約台灣會館合唱團 (4. 紐約台灣會館合唱團, 2014-10) and the 台灣文化語言學院 language academy (5. 紐約台灣會館-台灣文化語言學院); a general activities record is held as Taiwan Center-New York (紐約台灣會館的活動) (2019-02-12) and the Center’s eNews as New York (紐約台灣會館) (2018-09-30).
• The 911 memorial plaque donated to the community — hung at the Center for Taiwanese Americans to view — is remembered in the 2002 donation record 5. 9_11 Donations (2002) 台美人展現愛心, honoring the NY community’s relief donations after 2001-09-11.
• Anniversary record continues: 王政卿’s 26th-anniversary essay 29. 紐約台灣會館二十六周年感言 (2012), the 30th-anniversary fundraising feast 23. New York Taiwan Center 30 Anniversary Feast, 2016-06-19, and the activities photo album 42. Taiwan Center Flushing, New York City (2015-01).
• Venue record adds: 8. Concert at Taiwan Center by CYCNY Youth Orchestra 紐約幼獅青少年管弦樂團, Flushing, 2015-04-18.
• Leadership transition of record: on 2021-04-07 蘇春槐 assumed the 理事長 chair from 方秀蓉, who had served two four-year terms since 2017 and became vice-chair; the incoming board established a sustainability donation fund (cash, stock, retirement accounts) intended to finance the Center’s future building renovation (CNA, 2021-04-07; see 方秀蓉, 蘇春槐). HOLD: the 2021 press record dates 蘇春槐’s 理事長 tenure from 2021, while the TAH oral-history record dates his NYTC president term 2024–2025; the two terms of office may be distinct roles — never auto-merged.
• The Center speaks as part of the diaspora’s institutional voice: 理事長 方秀蓉 joined the 理事長/董事長 of the 洛杉磯, 聖地牙哥, 北加州 and 華府 centers in a joint statement opposing the politicization of the 萊豬 science debate (CNA, 2021-01-12). 方秀蓉 also spoke at the online memorial for 洪哲勝 (CNA, 2021-01-02).
• The Center co-signed the 大紐約地區支持台灣參與WHO共同宣言 with the 大紐約區台灣人社團聯合會, 同鄉會, 台灣商會 and other groups ahead of the 74th WHA; the draft statement as first reported listed 30 co-signing groups, the Taipei office’s thanks listed 31 (CNA, 2021-05-18; CNA, 2021-05-20). HOLD: 30 vs 31 co-signers — never auto-merged.
• As 理事長, 蘇春槐 organized New York community groups’ 賴清德 supporter breakfast during 賴’s 2023-08-13 transit stop in New York, appearing with him at the Lotte New York Palace (CNA, 2023-08-13); the 2023 report titles him 理事長, corroborating the 2021 dating of that tenure above.
• The Center’s institutional history is also held as its own historical sketch: New York (2019-02-12).
• During the 2020 pandemic the Center’s president 方秀蓉 (Patsy Fang Chen) was among the Taiwanese Americans organizing relief donations to Taiwan, a role the press record ties to the community’s turn to “create own narrative” (2020).
• The Center figures in the post-Sunflower student-movement record as the Flushing “local hometown place association” that New York Taiwanese students collaborated with — alongside elders who had been political-blacklisted under the authoritarian period — for Taiwan-related organizing (2021).

From the record

• The Center’s Thanksgiving fundraising dinner is held on record: 17. Thanksgiving Fundraising Party of New York Taiwan Center 臺灣會館感恩募款餐會, Flushing, NY, 2018-12-07.
• 黃兆平’s institutional memoir 304. 心心念念一間厝 紐約台灣會館起家 (2017-07-21) recounts the Center’s founding: the building in Flushing, Queens — formerly a disco hall — was bought in 1986 through pooled donations from the Greater New York Taiwanese community, and an earlier deal on the Bowne Street veterans’ club had collapsed the day before signing when the seller backed out after a New York Times piece on rising Flushing real estate. It notes the Center’s 31st anniversary, its three renovations, and founder and first 理事長 陳隆豐’s recollection of the early years as “辛酸一大堆”. HOLD: this record’s 1986 purchase corroborates the 1986 title date above against the directory’s 1987, but conflicts with the 1996 retrospective’s ~1983 origin; never auto-merged.
• The Center’s arts programming is held on record: 156. Taiwan Center First Annual International Pastel Open Juried Exhibition, New York Taiwan Center, 2005-05.
• The arts program continued as a recurring event: 157. Taiwan Center Second Annual International Pastel Open Juried Exhibition, New York Taiwan Center, 2006-05.

Sources

• TAH organization directory

Related Pages

• |TAH Foundation
• |taiwaneseamericanhistory.org