Laundromats

From Welcome to Chinatown NYC

When railroad companies finished construction and gold mines started seeing diminishing marginal return in gold, the vast majority of Chinese immigrant laborers lost their jobs. They proceeded to flood predominantly white labor industries, such as cigar-rolling and textiles. The influx of workers caused extreme tension between the Chinese and the white natives over jobs and established hate crimes and discrimination against the Chinese. In attempt to escape the violence, Chinese immigrants moved to New York City in search of job opportunities and a more accepting population.

Once a group of Chinese immigrants settled into the Lower East side of Manhattan (now known as the heart of New York City Chinatown), they opened up a large hand wash laundry industry. Laundry businesses began appearing all over Chinatown and were the perfect source of capital, employment, and stability. Today, even though Chinese Laundry businesses have become integrated into the American definition of laundromats, there is still a wide variety of laundry businesses in Chinatown.

Back to Chinatown