| Chinatowns in Queens | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Intersection ofMain Street andRoosevelt Avenue inFlushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 皇后區唐人街 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 皇后区唐人街 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Huánghòu-qū Tángrén-jiē | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Wong4 Hau6 Keoi1 Tong4 Jan4 Gaai1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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There are multipleChinatowns in theborough ofQueens inNew York City. The original Queens Chinatown emerged inFlushing, initially as a satellite of the originalManhattan Chinatown, before evolving its own identity, surpassing in scale the original Manhattan Chinatown,[1] and subsequently, in turn, spawning its own satellite Chinatowns inElmhurst,Corona, and eastern Queens. As of 2023, illegal Chinese immigration toNew York has accelerated, and its Flushing neighborhood has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration.[2] As of 2024, a significant new wave ofChinese Muslims are fleeingreligious persecution in northwestern China’sXinjiang Province and seekingreligious freedom in New York,[3] and concentrating in Queens.
TheNew York metropolitan area is home to the largest ethnic Chinese population outside Asia, comprising an estimated 893,697 uniracial individuals as of 2017,[4] including at least 12 Chinatowns - six[5] (or nine, including the emerging Chinatowns inCorona andWhitestone,Queens,[6] andEast Harlem, Manhattan) inNew York City proper, and one each inNassau County,Long Island;Cherry Hill,Edison,New Jersey;[6] andParsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, not to mention fledgling ethnic Chinese enclaves emerging throughout the New York City metropolitan area.Chinese Americans, as a whole, have had a significant tenure in New York City. The firstChinese immigrants came toLower Manhattan around 1870, looking for the "golden" opportunities America had to offer.[7] By 1880, the enclave aroundFive Points was estimated to have from 200 to as many as 1,100 members.[7]
However, theChinese Exclusion Act, which went into effect in 1882, caused an abrupt decline in the number of Chinese who immigrated to New York and the rest of the United States.[7] Later, in 1943, the Chinese were given a small quota, and the community's population gradually increased until 1968, when the quota was lifted and the Chinese American population skyrocketed.[7] In the past few years, theCantonese dialect that has dominated the Chinatowns for decades is being rapidly swept aside byMandarin Chinese, the national language of China and thelingua franca of most of the latestChinese immigrants.[8]
As the city proper with the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia by a wide margin, estimated at 628,763 as of 2017,[9] and as the primary destination fornew Chinese immigrants,[10] New York City is subdivided into official municipalboroughs, which themselves are home to significant Chinese populations, withBrooklyn andQueens, adjacently located onLong Island, leading the fastest growth.[11][12] The boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn encompass the largest Chinese populations, respectively, of all municipalities in the United States.
| borough | Chinese Americans residents | |
|---|---|---|
| percent | number | |
| Queens | 10.2 | 265,135 |
| Brooklyn | 7.9 | 222,059 |
| Manhattan | 6.6 | 119,208 |
| Staten Island | 2.9 | 27,707 |
| The Bronx | 0.5 | 7,859 |
| New York City | 573,388 | |
Flushing Chinatown Chinese:法拉盛 | |
|---|---|
 41st Avenue in Flushing Chinatown | |
 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| City | New York City |
| Borough | Queens |
| Region | Long Island |
| Area codes | 718, 347, 929, and917 |
| Chinatown, Flushing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 法拉盛華埠 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 法拉盛华埠 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), or Mandarin Town Flushing (國語埠法拉盛)[15] inFlushing, is one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnicChineseenclaves outside Asia, as well as within New York City itself. Flushing Chinatown is inMain Street and the area to its west, particularly alongRoosevelt Avenue, has become the primary nexus of Flushing Chinatown. However, Chinatown continues to expand southeastward alongKissena Boulevard and northward beyondNorthern Boulevard. TheFlushing–Main Street station is the busiestNew York City Subway station outside Manhattan. The Flushing Chinatown houses over 30,000 individuals born in China alone, the largest Chinatown by this metric outside Asia, the largest and fastest-growing Chinatown in the world, and one of the world's busiestpedestrian intersections.[1] Flushing is undergoing rapidgentrification by Chinese transnational entities.[16]
In 1645, Flushing was established byDutch settlers on the eastern bank ofFlushing Creek under charter of theDutch West India Company and was part of theNew Netherland colony. The settlement was named after the city ofVlissingen, in the southwestern Netherlands, the mainport of the company; Flushing is the historicanglicization of the Dutch name of that town.
In 1664, the English took control ofNew Amsterdam, ending Dutch control of the colony, and renamed it theProvince of New York. When Queens County was established in 1683, the "Town of Flushing" was one of the original fivetowns which comprised the county.[17] Many historical references to Flushing are to this town, bounded from Newtown on the west by Flushing Creek (now often called theFlushing River), fromJamaica on the south by the "hills"—that is, the terminalmoraine left by the last glacier, and fromHempstead on the east by what later became theNassau County line. The town was dissolved in 1898 when Queens became a borough of New York City, and the term "Flushing" today usually refers to a much smaller area, including the former Village of Flushing and the areas immediately to the east and south. It was later settled by multiple ethnicities, including people of European, Hispanic, South-West Asian, African, and eventually East Asian ancestry.
In the 1970s, a Chinese community established a foothold in Flushing, whose demographic constituency had been predominantly white, interspersed with a smallJapanese community. This wave of immigrants fromTaiwan were the first to arrive and developed Flushing's Chinatown. It was known asLittle Taipei (小台北) orLittle Taiwan (小台灣). Many who arrived were the descendants of former soldiers and political supporters ofChiang Kai-shek and theChinese Nationalist Party, which had lost the war against theChinese Communist Party, and established themselves in Taiwan. Along with immigrants from Taiwan at this time, a largeSouth Korean population has also called Flushing home.
Before the 1970s,Cantonese immigrants had vastly dominated Chinese immigration to New York City; however, during the 1970s, the Taiwanese immigrants were the first wave of Chinese immigrants who spoke Mandarin rather than Cantonese to arrive in New York City. Due to the dominance of Cantonese-speaking immigrants, who were largely working-class inManhattan's Chinatown (Chinese:紐約華埠;Jyutping:Nau2 Joek3 Waa4 Fau6), as well as the language barrier and poor housing conditions there, Taiwanese immigrants, who were more likely to have attained highereducational standards andsocioeconomic status, could not relate to Manhattan's Chinatown, and chose to settle in Flushing instead. As the Taiwanese population grew, a Flushing Chinatown was created with a higherstandard of living and better housing conditions.
Over the years, many new non-Cantonese ethnic Chinese immigrants from different regions andprovinces of China started to arrive in New York City and settled in Flushing through word of mouth. This led to the creation of a moreMandarin-speaking Chinatown orMandarin Town that gradually replacedLittle Taipei. This wave of immigrants spoke Mandarin and various regional/provincial dialects. The early 1990s into the 2000s brought a wave ofFuzhounese Americans andWenzhounese immigrants. Like the Taiwanese, they faced cultural and communication problems in Manhattan's predominantly Cantonese-speaking Chinatown and settled in Flushing as well asElmhurst, Queens, which also has a significant Mandarin-speaking population. Flushing's Chinese population became very diverse over the next few decades as people from different provinces started to arrive, infusing their varied languages and cultures into this new "Chinatown."[18][19][20][21] Due to the increased opening of Mainland China, there has also been a growingNorthern Chinese population in Flushing.
Flushing and its Chinatown abuts the rapidly growingLong Island Koreatown as well.[22]
The intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, in the heart of the Chinatown neighborhood, hosts a large concentration of Chinese businesses, including Chinese restaurants. Chinese-owned businesses in particular dominate the area along Main Street and the blocks west of it, while Korean businesses are found in a substantial number east of Main Street and east of the Flushing Chinatown, on Union Street. The majority of signs and advertisements of stores in the area have become Chinese. Ethnic Chinese constitute an increasingly dominant proportion of the Asian population and as well as of the overall population in Flushing. Consequently, Flushing's Chinatown has grown rapidly enough to become the largest Chinatown outside Asia. The Flushing Chinatown has surpassed the original Manhattan Chinatown in size.[1] As of 2023,illegal Chinese immigration toNew York, and especially to Queens and itsFlushing Chinatown, has accelerated.[2] Flushing has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration.[2]
A 1986 estimate by the Flushing Chinese Business Association approximated 60,000 Chinese in Flushing alone.[23] By 1990, Asians constituted 41% of the population of the core area of Flushing, with Chinese in turn representing 41% of the Asian population.[18] However, ethnic Chinese are constituting an increasingly dominant proportion of the Asian population as well as of the overall population in Flushing and its Chinatown. High rates of both legal[24][25] and illegal[26] immigration fromMainland China continue to spur the ongoing rise of the ethnic Chinese population in Flushing, as in all of New York City's Chinatowns.
Flushing's Chinatown ranks as New York City's largest Chinese community with 33,526 Chinese, up from 17,363, a 93% increase. TheBrooklyn Chinatown is the second-largest Chinatown of NYC with 34,218 Chinese residents, up from 19,963 in 2000, a 71% increase. As for Manhattan's Chinatown, its Chinese population declined by 17%, from 34,554 to 28,681 since 2000, to become the third-largest.[27]
Of all the Chinatowns of New York City, the Flushing Chinatown is also the most diverse, with large populations of Chinese groups from various regions ofMainland China andTaiwan. TheNortheastern Chinese immigrants are increasingly becoming the largest Chinese group in Flushing.[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]
Flushing Chinatown now rivals Manhattan's Chinatown as a center ofChinese culture[37] and has been called the "ChineseTimes Square" or the "Chinese Manhattan".[2][38][39] TheLunar New Year Parade has become a growing annual celebration ofChinese New Year. More and largerChinese supermarkets are locating and selling a diverse and uniquely vast array of Chinese food and ingredient selections in Flushing, the largest of which includeHong Kong Supermarket and New York Supermarket, which also happen to be rapidly growingChinese American chain supermarkets.[40][41][42] The segment of Main Street between Roosevelt Avenue and Kissena Boulevard represents the cultural heart of Flushing Chinatown. Flushing's rise as the largest epicenter of Chinese culture outside Asia has been attributed to the remarkable diversity of regional Chinese demographics represented. The growth of the business activity at the core of Downtown Flushing, dominated by the Flushing Chinatown, has continued to flourish despite the COVID-19 pandemic.[43]
Many languages are spoken in Flushing Chinatown. English can be heard alongside manySinitic languages, such as variousMandarin (Northeastern Mandarin,Beijing dialect),[44]Min (Fuzhounese,Hokkien),Wu (Shanghainese,Suzhounese,Hangzhounese,Wenzhounese) andCantonese, whileHakka varieties andMongolian are now emerging.
The popular styles ofChinese cuisine are ubiquitously accessible in Flushing,[45] includingKorean-Chinese cuisine,Hakka,Taiwanese,Shanghainese,Hunanese,Sichuanese,Cantonese,Fujianese,Xinjiang, andZhejiang cuisine. Even the relatively obscureDongbei style of cuisine indigenous toNortheast China is now available in Flushing,[46] as well asMongolian cuisine andUyghur cuisine.[39] These diverse Chinese immigrant populations have brought with them their own regional food cuisines which have led to Flushing being considered the "food mecca" forChinese regional cuisine outside of Asia.[47][48]
TheWorld Journal, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers outside China, is headquartered in adjacentWhitestone, Queens, with offices in Flushing as well.[49] Numerous other Chinese newspapers such as theChina Press,Sing Tao Daily,The Epoch Times, as well as other English-language publications, are available in the Flushing Chinatown.
SinoVision, one of the largest Chinese-speaking media networks in North America, also has headquarters in Flushing.
In accompaniment with its rapid growth, Flushing in particular has witnessed the proliferation of highly competitive businesses touted as educational centers[50] as well as non-profit organizations declaring the intent to educate the community. Some entities offer education inMandarin,[51] thelingua franca of Mainland China; others profess to provide students with intensive training in computer and technological proficiency; while still others entice high school students with rigorous preparatory classes for college entrance examinations in mathematics, science, and English literacy (see:cram school andbuxiban).
The largest of the Flushing branches of theQueens Borough Public Library is located at the intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Main Street.[52] This library houses an auditorium for public events.
New York Hospital Queens, a member of theNewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System, is a major medical center providing Flushing as well as surrounding communities with comprehensivemedical care services.[53] Numeroustertiary medical clinics also serve the residents of Flushing.
A diverse array of social services geared toward assisting recent as well as establishedChinese immigrants is readily available in Flushing.[54]
TheNew York City Subway's7 and <7> trains has its terminus atFlushing – Main Street; the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, at the heart of Flushing Chinatown, is the third busiest intersection in New York City, behind onlyTimes Square andHerald Square in Manhattan. It is the busiest subway station in Queens and the 12th busiest station overall As of 2016[update].[55] Numerous other public bus and rail connections also serve Chinatown at the Main Street/Roosevelt Avenue intersection, including 22bus routes as well as thePort Washington Branch of theLong Island Rail Road.[56] Flushing Chinatown is also readily accessible by automobile from several major highways, namely theGrand Central Parkway and theWhitestone Expressway/Van Wyck Expressway. There are also multipledollar van services shuttling passengers between Flushing Chinatown and the other Chinatowns in New York City and Long Island.
The political stature of Flushing Chinatown appears to be increasing significantly.Taiwan-bornJohn Liu, formerNew York City Council member representing District 20, which includes Flushing Chinatown and other northern Queens neighborhoods, was electedNew York City Comptroller in November 2009. Concomitantly,Peter Koo, born inShanghai, China was elected to succeed Liu to assume this council membership seat.
In March 2019,The New York Times reported that the Flushing Chinatown has also become the epicenter oforganized prostitution in the United States, importing women from China, Korea, Thailand, and Eastern Europe to sustain the underground North Americansex trade.[57]
Elmhurst's rapidly growing Chinatown[58] is the second in Queens, in addition to the Flushing Chinatown. Previously a small area with Chinese shops onBroadway between 81st Street and Cornish Avenue, this newly evolved second Chinatown in Queens has now expanded to 45th Avenue and Whitney Avenue and is developing as a satellite of the Flushing Chinatown. In Chinese translation, Elmhurst is named 艾浒 (Àihǔ inStandard Chinese). There are also many otherSoutheast Asian businesses and shops in the area, includingMalaysian Chinese,Singaporean Chinese,Indonesian,Thai, andVietnamese.Hong Kong Supermarket and New York Supermarket serve as the largest Chinese supermarkets selling different food varieties to this Elmhurst Chinatown.[59][60]Financial institutions have emerged along Broadway to serve the various Chinese communities of Elmhurst. Like Flushing's Chinatown, it is also very highly populated by Mandarin speakers, although many also speak other languages like Hakka.
An annexation of the Elmhurst Chinatown is the neighborhood ofCorona, emerging as a Chinatown geographically connecting the larger Chinatowns in Flushing and Elmhurst.[61]
Since 2000, thousands ofChinese Americans have migrated intoWhitestone, given the sizeable presence of the neighboring Flushing Chinatown, and have continued their expansion eastward in Queens and into neighboring, highly educatedNassau County onLong Island, which has become the leading suburban destination in the U.S. for Chinese.[62][63][64] TheWorld Journal, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in the United States[62] and one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers outside China, with a daily circulation of 350,000, is headquartered in Whitestone.[49] The New York office ofHong Kong-basedLee Kum Kee International Holdings Ltd. is also located in Whitestone.[65]
China portal
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Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city's resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan..."New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community," said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.
The three developers have stressed in public hearings that they are not outsiders to Flushing, which is 69% Asian. 'They've been here, they live here, they work here, they've invested here,' said Ross Moskowitz, an attorney for the developers at a different public hearing in February...Tangram Tower, a luxury mixed-use development built by F&T. Last year, prices for two-bedroom apartments started at $1.15m...The influx of transnational capital and rise of luxury developments in Flushing has displaced longtime immigrant residents and small business owners, as well as disrupted its cultural and culinary landscape. These changes follow the familiar script of gentrification, but with a change of actors: it is Chinese American developers and wealthy Chinese immigrants who are gentrifying this working-class neighborhood, which is majority Chinese.
40°44′32″N73°52′43″W / 40.7422°N 73.8786°W /40.7422; -73.8786
