Chinatown, Manhattan

Did You Know?

• In 1900, the US Census reported 7,028 Chinese males in residence but only 142 Chinese women in Chinatown.
• The historic core of Chinatown is bounded by Chatham Square/Bowery, Worth, Baxter, and Canal, with Mott, Mulberry, Bayard, Pell, Doyers, and Worth settled by Chinese immigrants starting in the 1870s.
• The local branch of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association was founded at 10 Chatham Square in 1883 and later moved to 16 Mott Street, now considered the 'City Hall of Chinatown'.
• A new and rapidly growing Chinese community in East Harlem, Uptown Manhattan, nearly tripled in population between 2000 and 2010, according to U.S. Census figures.

History

Ah Ken is credited as the first Chinese person to permanently immigrate to Chinatown, arriving in the area during the 1850s. A Cantonese businessman, he eventually founded a successful cigar store on Park Row after first arriving around 1858. According to author Alvin Harlow in Old Bowery Days: The Chronicles of a Famous Street (1931), Ah Ken was likely one of those Chinese mentioned in 1860s gossip as peddling cigars from stands along the City Hall park fence.

In the 1850s, the California Gold Rush brought about 25,000 Chinese immigrants to the United States seeking gam saan, or gold mountain. In New York, immigrants worked as cigar men or carrying billboards, and Ah Ken's success encouraged cigar makers William Longford, John Occoo, and John Ava to ply their trade in Chinatown, eventually forming a monopoly on the cigar trade. Ah Ken may have kept a small boarding house on lower Mott Street, renting bunks to early Chinese immigrants, and used profits from that to open his smoke shop.

The Long Depression of 1873 increased competition for jobs and led to racial discrimination and anti-Chinese riots, prompting many Chinese immigrants to move to East Coast cities.

Demographics and culture

In 2000, most of Chinatown's 84,840 residents were Asian, comprising 66% of the population. By the 2010 census, the population had fallen to 47,844, a decrease of 9.5% from 2000. The racial makeup in 2010 was 63.9% Asian, 16.3% White, 4.8% African American, 0.1% Native American, and 13.4% Hispanic or Latino of any race. From 2000 to 2010, the White population increased by 42%, while the Asian population decreased by 15% and the Hispanic/Latino population decreased by 15%.

Chinatown lies in Manhattan Community District 3, which had 171,103 residents as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 82.2 years. Most residents are adults, with 35% between ages 25 and 44, 25% between 45 and 64, and 16% aged 65 or older. The neighborhood was historically Cantonese-speaking, but in the 1980s and 1990s, Fuzhounese-speaking immigrants formed a sub-neighborhood called Little Fuzhou east of The Bowery. Many residents now also speak Mandarin.

Economy

If you’re looking for fresh produce or fish, the streets around Mott, Mulberry, Canal near Baxter, and East Broadway are where you’ll find the greengrocers and fishmongers. Jewelry stores cluster on Canal between Mott and the Bowery. West of Broadway, Canal Street’s north side is packed with vendors hawking knockoff perfumes, watches, and handbags—an area that used to be full of surplus electronics and hardware warehouses. Tourism and restaurants drive the economy, with over 300 Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood, including well-known spots like Joe’s Shanghai, Jing Fong, New Green Bo, and Amazing 66.

Factories still play a role, especially garment work tied to the nearby fashion industry, though most production has shifted to China; what remains focuses on quick, small-volume jobs often done at home. The 9/11 attacks hit Chinatown hard, slowing tourism and business because of its proximity to Ground Zero and the closure of Park Row. Recovery took time, but the economy and tourism have since bounced back. A business improvement district was created in 2011, despite pushback from local business owners.

Satellite Chinatowns

Manhattan's Chinatown was long the most concentrated Chinese population in New York City, where 6% of the overall population is Chinese American. However, growing Chinese populations in the outer boroughs have outnumbered Manhattan's Chinese population. Other New York City Chinese communities include Flushing in Queens, particularly along Roosevelt Avenue to Main Street through Kissena Boulevard; Sunset Park in Brooklyn along 8th Avenue from 40th to 65th Streets; and newer Chinatowns in Elmhurst and Corona, Queens, on Avenue U in Homecrest, Brooklyn, and in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Outside New York City, suburban Chinatowns are developing in Edison, New Jersey, and Nassau County, Long Island. The political factions in the original Manhattan Chinatown—Tongs, Republic of China loyalists, People's Republic of China loyalists, and those apathetic—have led to factionalization in the satellite Chinatowns. The Flushing Chinatown was spearheaded by many Chinese following the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and by Taiwanese who bought out land from former residents.

Flushing is now the largest Chinatown of New York City and has become the main Chinese cultural center due to its diverse Chinese immigrant population.