Demographic Shifts – A Brief History
Many male Chinese immigrants originally came to the US from the West Coast during the Gold Rush as labor contractors to help build the Transcontinental Railroad. In the face of extreme workplace and general discrimination, though, they moved towards the East Coast in what would now be known as Chinatown and began serving as laundrymen, cooks, household servants, and waiters.
But what about the women?
Within the confines of Canal Street and Mott Street, the original gender makeup was virtually all men. These men came to America to make a fortune and return, leaving behind their families. As such, there were very few women in the neighborhood. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 further reduced the chance of the gender ratio in the neighborhood evening out. It wasn’t until the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943 and subsequent passage of the War Bride Act of 1945 when the “bachelor society” that was Chinatown began to fade. And, with the Hart-Cellar Act of 1965, Chinatown’s population further began to flourish to the numbers that we see in the charts above today.
In recent years, Chinese immigrants have been moving out of the Manhattan Chinatown due to rising prices of rent and living costs and into other boroughs like Queens and Brooklyn. Many white millennials, of which have a majority over Asian millennials by about 7.2%, are moving into the neighborhood. These migrants with high incomes are willing to pay for more rent, raising property values.
We spoke with Wàipó, a woman who immigrated to Chinatown 38 years ago, on her thoughts about this phenomenon:
“This answer has two parts; in terms of the general environment, it’s much better. There used to be a lot of gangsters or bad people out at night. It was not a safe area. But under Mayor Giuliani, it became a much safer area. But the rent also got really high and a lot of restaurants and stores closed down because they couldn’t keep up.”
– Wàipó
Cultural Spotlight: Chinese New Year
If you live in New York City, you’ve probably seen the Chinese New Year Lion Dance. The Lion Dance is a cultural dance that has extended into New York City, and immigrants have brought the dance to New York. The entire community gets together for the event and on a certain level, contributes to the participation of the dance. Performers mimic the movements of the lion and go into businesses to perform the dance. The movements of the lion and the lion dance is supposed to bring good fortune to businesses so the business district is heavily involved into the planning and development of the dance.
Serendipitous Spotlight: Art Galleries
Chinatown has a growing center of art galleries. Although this is unique and relatively unexpected, as the Chinese community grows and expands, the likelihood of the art galleries popping up is relatively high. There’s a large growing niche of Chinese photographers who prepare prints and share them throughout the art galleries. The affordable rental costs, along with the growing population of photographers allows for substantial growth of local art galleries which support community-based photographers.
Works Cited
“Chapter 5.” Divergent Destinies: Immigration, Poverty, and Entrepreneurship in the United States, by Alejandro Portes and Min Zhou, Dept. of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, 1992, pp. 141–172.
Ott, Sherry. “The Culture of Chinatown New York City.” Ottsworld Unique Travel Experiences, Ottsworld, 20 June 2017, www.ottsworld.com/blogs/chinatown-new-york-city-culture/.
staff, amNY.com. “Ring in the Lunar New Year at These Parades and Festivals.” Am New York, Am New York, 29 Jan. 2019, www.amny.com/things-to-do/chinese-new-year-nyc-1.11403699.
