-After 9/11, subway stations and major roads in Chinatown were closed or access was limited. Phone service was also shut off. These factors prevented orders from being placed, completed, and/or picked up in the garment shops in Chinatown. This led to major job losses in the garment industry. It also created a domino effect where the stores in Chinatown also suffered because the garment workers were their major customers. Once these garment workers stopped coming to Chinatown, the stores earned less. Did Hurricane Sandy have the same effect?

– I found it interesting that the Chinese garment workers missed their jobs. They “longed for the job that they complained about so bitterly.” This is perhaps related to the fact that they were in a coethnic workplace where the co-workers shared a common background and language. They also missed the job because it was hard for them to get a job outside of the garment industry. They lacked English skills and networks to other jobs. I believe that this may have been a good thing because these Chinese garment workers needed to realize that they cannot rely on the ethnic enclave to gain a job.