Gentrification in Manhattan’s Chinatown

 

By Andrew Marcus and Shima Tafreshi

Since the 1970’s Chinatown has been expanding due to increased immigration from areas like Fujian Province in China. However, in recent years increased development and demand for real estate are changing the dynamics and demographics of this historic immigrant enclave. In 2000 the population of Chinatown was 79.5% Asian, but in 2010 it was 74.3%. At the same time the White population of the Chinatown area has increased by 27.93%. ((US census data http://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/ReportData/htmlresults.aspx?ReportId=R10063163&Page=7))

After investigating the physical and demographic changes going on in Chinatown through both field work and research, we concluded that gentrification affects all sections of Chinatown, but the changes are more prevalent further away from the center.

This map shows sites of new development – the physical effects of gentrification.

View Gentrification in Manhattan’s Chinatown in a larger map

==Plan==

Our plan was to focus on observation as our major form of research. We decided to look at new construction because this is one of the most visible signs of gentrification. We knew it would be especially important to find out what was located at these places before new condos or other structures were built, and try to find out why these businesses left. We also planned on looking for more high-end or boutique stores in the greater Chinatown area, and talking to business owners (of both new and old stores) about the costs of rent and changing demographics of their customers. Banks, Starbucks, 99 Cent stores, and other chains are be strong indicators of social change. Cleanliness of the streets was also  a factor that we took into account, because as a neighborhood becomes more affluent, the living conditions improve too.

We also planned on doing research on gentrification in Chinatown. Newspaper articles, reports, Census data, and other sources would be able to help us see any trends in changing demographics and possible increases in income level.

Because Chinatown is so much bigger than it was decades ago, we took take special care to note differences within our borders of Chinatown and compare any similarities or differences in gentrification among different areas.

==Observations==

In our visit to Chinatown, we walked along most of the borders of Chinatown and compared our observations along the borders to that of the  center of Chinatown (the old Chinatown).

On 52 Mott St we saw an upscale chopsticks shop, called Yunhung chopsticks, which sold expensive and well-packaged chopsticks. Prices ranged from a few dollars to more than $120 for a set of wood or crystal chopsticks.

Next we went into a Citibank on Chatham Square to see if we could talk to any of the workers, but the bank was too busy and the employees could not talk to us. However, from our observations of the bank, the employees were mostly Chinese and spoke mostly Chinese to the customers. The bank’s building looked new and seemed renovated.

===East Broadway===

We observed a lot of new development along East Broadway, the Southern/Eastern border. There were at least four newly-constructed buildings, most made out of glass in a modern style. One of them was a hotel that had a sign in both English and Chinese. A gas station on the same block closed about a year ago due to the increased demand for real estate, and new development is expected on that site. In addition, we went into two stores that stood out to us on East Broadway off Rutgers St. One was an upscale clothing store that targeted mainly Chinese people (the saleswoman did not speak much English). The clothing was somewhat expensive, so the main customer base of this store is more affluent Chinese people, whether they are long-time residents or relatively new immigrants. Two doors down was a new bakery called Desserts. We spoke with the owner, a white woman, who said she opened the store 10 months ago. She told us she chose this location because it had cheaper rent than the other locations she was looking at in different neighborhoods. Her customers were almost entirely non-Asian. The owner noted that more and more non-Chinese people and businesses were moving into the area. The prices of her baked goods was higher than that of Chinese bakeries just a few blocks away.

Next we went to Fuzhou Pharmacy, located off East Broadway below the Manhattan Bridge, in an area of Chinatown made up of mainly Fujianese immigrants. The first person that we tried to talk to inside the pharmacy did not speak English and she directed us to talk to the pharmacist. The pharmacist was Asian and in his thirties, which means he is able to communicate with the older Chinese residents as well as newer immigrants. When asked about their customer’s ethnicity, he said that it has mostly remained Chinese and that they have not felt a great change in the ethnicity of their clientele. They also said that rent has been going up, but their main issue that hurt business is less Medicare reimbursement from the government. This pharmacy shows that Chinese businesses continue to survive and serve many of the neighborhood’s residents.

===Hotel Mulberry===

Across the street from Columbus Park, a few blocks away from the court houses along Chinatown’s Southern border, sits Hotel Mulberry. This hotel is a newly built glass building reaching a few stories higher than the surrounding tenements. Although Hotel Mulberry has a sign in English and Chinese, as well as Asian employees, most of their clientele are tourists from the UK, according to the woman at the front desk. She told us that the owner of the hotel is Malaysian, and that the room rates range from $189 -$289 per week night. This is a decent rate for a hotel in Manhattan,  and thus appeals to tourists trying to spend less on accommodations. This is a strong sign of gentrification and it is only a few blocks away from the original heart of Chinatown.

 

 

===55 and 61 Delancey Street compared to 2 Eldridge Street===

A 2010 article in the Village Voice entitled “When Hipsters Move in on Chinese: It’s Ugly”((http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-04-20/news/when-hipsters-move-in-on-chinese-it-s-ugly)) exposed the realities behind the changing demographics of Chinatown by focusing on 55 and 61 Delancey Street, two tenement buildings that lie on the border between Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

These buildings are made up of Chinese immigrants who came here from Fujian Province in the 1990’s, Dominican immigrants, and increasingly young white people in their twenties. White people are moving in because the rents are cheaper relative to other parts of the city, and because they like the ‘gritty’ feel of Chinatown: “This block, it’s like hard-core Chinatown, and below, it’s like chic, chic Lower East Side” says Mary W. in the Voice article. The new young tenants usually share an apartment with two or three roommates, whereas the older residents live there with their families. The financial benefits of new American tenants for landlords are clear:

“The young tenants live in newly renovated two- or three-bedroom apartments and pay between $1,100 and $1,200 per person for rent. The Chinese tenants pay around $900 total for the same-sized apartments, some of which haven’t been renovated in decades and into which they fit many more kids and relatives.”

Compare the Tenant Lists at 61 Delancey Street with that of 2 Eldridge Street, another tenement building closer to the center of Chinatown:

About half of the apartments at 61 Delancey Street have non-Asian tenants, whereas almost all of the tenants at 2 Eldridge Street are Chinese. This shows how gentrification has a stronger presence closer to the borders of Chinatown.

 

===17A Mott Street===

One store on Mott St, Whole World Fashion Boutique Inc, had both English and Chinese language signs, but what caught our eye the most was the “Store Closing” sign posted in the window. We first tried to speak with a young Chinese saleswoman, but she only spoke broken English and told us to wait to talk to the manager who was taking care of a Chinese customer at the time. After waiting over 15 minutes we decided to walk around some more and return later. The long duration of her assistance shows her desire to do whatever she needed to make a sale. After returning the second time we were able to speak with the owner, a middle-aged Chinese woman who spoke English fluently. Although she said she did not live in Chinatown, the owner has had her business at that location of 17A Mott St for many years. However, her main reason for closing was a lack of business. When asked about the  rent, the owner did not emphasize this as a major hardship: rent had steadily increased over the years but it had stabilized. What hurt her shop the most was the decrease in business from customers, who had been both Chinese and American, and the recent economic downturn magnified this decrease. She also noted that more white people were moving into the area, which is closer to the center of Chinatown.

===Real Estate Advertisements and 55 Hester St===

At 55 Hester St, apartments are advertised in both English and Chinese, and prices range from $625,000 to $1,049,000. http://55hestercondo.com/index.asp

Across the street from the new 55 Hester Condos we went into a construction office whose owner was white. He said that the majority of the buyers in 55 Hester St are Chinese, yet they pay just as much as other luxury condo buildings. Some new buildings cater to wealthier Chinese who pay just as high a rent as those of the new buildings where the whites are moving in. He also said that he worked on 7 Essex, another new building located around the corner, and that building has mainly American tenants, including multiple celebrities.  He also said that he has observed a shift away from the small industrial businesses to more residential buildings and shops in that area. He said that there is a lot of demand for real estate in Chinatown, and therefore the prices have risen and are not as low as they were expected to be before. Now it’s not only the Chinese who want to buy, but white people who want a ‘cheaper’ cost of living and also like the ‘edgy’ feel of Chinatown.

===More Images of Gentrification===

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

==Additional Research==

The valuable report “Converting Chinatown: A Snaphot of a Neighborhood Becoming Unaffordable and Unlivable” documents the growing impact of gentrification in Chinatown. It was compiled by the Urban Justice Center and the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV) in 2008. According to the report, 25 new hotels, 118 new high-end priced boutiques and cafes, and 26 luxury residential buildings were built in Chinatown the years before this report came out. The majority of this new development is not aimed at local Chinese residents, who have an area median annual income of $36,899, with 27% of residents making below $16,556, ((http://www.urbanjustice.org/pdf/publications/ConvertingChinatown_dec08.pdf)) it is targeting wealthier Americans who may or may not have already moved into the Chinatown area.

In addition, landlords of older buildings have an incentive to remove long-time tenants because they tend to be older and pay cheaper rent, (some have rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments), and if they succeed landlords can “boost rents a minimum of 22% immediately after an apartment becomes vacant.” ((Daily News 5/8/11 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/08/2011-05-08_chinatown_residents_protest_against_landlords_for_bad_conditions_harassment.html))  Landlords use numerous tactics, both legal and illegal, to encourage older residents to leave. These include buyouts that can range from a couple thousand dollars to over $20,000 (though most turn these down because it isn’t nearly enough to live on in New York City), harassment, inaction on necessary repairs to apartments, the threat of eviction or even deportation, discrimination, and more.

Chinese residents have not been sitting idly by  as this goes on. There have been numerousprotests in recent years of these illegal practices, and organizations like the Urban Justice Center, CAAAV, and Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) have been fighting back both in and outside of court. Just this month older Chinese residents protested the unfair practices of multiple Chinatown landlords by marching in front of their buildings. This was reported in a May 8, 2011 Daily News Article.

An short independent film entitled “Here To Stay” explores the effects of gentrification on the older residents of Chinatown. The film chronicles the experiences of an elderly man and fellow tenants who are awaiting the results of an anti-eviction lawsuit centered on their single-room occupancy building.

The radio interview “The Brian Lehrer Show: Chinatown in Transition” on WNYC discusses the realities that gentrification is posing to older residents as well as new business owners in Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

Data from the U.S. Census((http://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/ReportData/htmlresults.aspx?ReportId=R10063163&TablesPerPage=50&Page=7)) shows how the demographics of Chinatown have been changing

==Analysis==

Although there is new development within the core area of Chinatown, it is less common there than it is closer to adjacent neighborhoods. It makes sense that gentrification is pressing in from the borders more than it is from the center, because increased development in neighborhoods like Tribeca and the Lower East Side have forced prospective residents to consider cheaper alternatives, and many choose to look nearby. Chinatown expanded in the 1970’s and 1980’s because much of the surrounding area was experiencing ‘White Flight’ – white residents were moving out – and this left behind empty apartments and commercial space for new Chinese immigrants to utilize. However, these areas are now in demand by white people, so they are pushing Chinese tenants and business back in towards the center. Unfortunately more and more people cannot afford the increased costs and are forced to move out.

Interestingly, some of the newly constructed buildings that we observed target wealthier Chinese people, a sign that the development is not racially clear-cut. At 55 Hester St, a newly constructed condominium building, signs outside and on its website advertise in Chinese, even though prices range from $625,000 to $1,049,000 for one apartment. Similarly, Hester Gardens on Hester and Mott Streets sells luxury condos to mainly wealthier Chinese residents ((New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/realestate/17cov.html?pagewanted=all)). One building under construction on Allen Street had a sign on the scaffolding advertising its new apartments in English and Chinese.

This shows that while gentrification is infusing Chinatown with wealthier Americans, Chinese residents are simultaneously continuing their immigrant experience by moving up the income ladder and becoming more affluent. This explains why there is new construction targeting both Chinese people and white people. Thus some of the new development in Chinatown is a part of the natural progression of this large immigrant community.

Gentrification is a powerful force that is changing Chinatown as well as other parts of the city. New condominiums and boutique shops may be popping up in place of Chinese restaurants or stores, but this does not mean that Chinatown is doomed to losing its Chinese residents and culture. Residents have protested unfair treatment and organized to demand a voice in Chinatown’s future.  Chinatown is going through a dramatic transformation. The threats are real and the change is happening now, but gentrification is not inevitable and its effects can be mitigated.