New York City Manhattan’s Chinatown Building for Its Future and Commemorating Its Past
IFS: New York
Final Research Paper
New York City Manhattan’s Chinatown
Building for its future and commemorating its past
Imane Sibari
Dr. Eric S. Ross
Spring 2011
The City of New York is known for the vitality of its ethnic neighborhoods and communities. While many communities have their neighborhood of predilection in Manhattan, New York’s Chinatown is probably the best known, outnumbering residents of other ethnic neighborhoods. Most estimates of its population range from 150 000 to 350 000 but it is difficult to know the numbers accurately since people are difficult to identify because of language difficulties and a large illegal immigration. Of all, Chinatown is the most dynamic, most exotic and most extensive especially since it continues to expand, from its heart south Canal Street and East Center Street, gradually encroaching on neighborhoods on the Lower East Side and Little Italy that do not have the same dynamism. Entering Chinatown is like crossing a border to find yourself in another world; an enclave of China in New York adding to that the fact that it is both a residential and commercial area, which distinguishes it from some other Chinatowns. When walking through chinatown’s street, you can enjoy the different perfumes and smells of spicy Chinese food, shopping to Chinese shops providing typically Chinese goods unlike the ones selling copies of designers’ handbags, watches and perfumes. It is actually a very rich neighborhood that concentrates the largest Chinese community outside of Asia. Victims of racial segregation, the Chinese retreated into themselves and Chinatown has become quickly a quasi-autonomous neighborhood with a structured society which provided employment for newcomers. As a minority group, the Chinese living in Chinatown have been subject to persecution throughout time. The purpose of this research paper is to go through the history and life of this community in New York City and explore the factors that
Final Research Paper
New York City Manhattan’s Chinatown
Building for its future and commemorating its past
Imane Sibari
Dr. Eric S. Ross
Spring 2011
The City of New York is known for the vitality of its ethnic neighborhoods and communities. While many communities have their neighborhood of predilection in Manhattan, New York’s Chinatown is probably the best known, outnumbering residents of other ethnic neighborhoods. Most estimates of its population range from 150 000 to 350 000 but it is difficult to know the numbers accurately since people are difficult to identify because of language difficulties and a large illegal immigration. Of all, Chinatown is the most dynamic, most exotic and most extensive especially since it continues to expand, from its heart south Canal Street and East Center Street, gradually encroaching on neighborhoods on the Lower East Side and Little Italy that do not have the same dynamism. Entering Chinatown is like crossing a border to find yourself in another world; an enclave of China in New York adding to that the fact that it is both a residential and commercial area, which distinguishes it from some other Chinatowns. When walking through chinatown’s street, you can enjoy the different perfumes and smells of spicy Chinese food, shopping to Chinese shops providing typically Chinese goods unlike the ones selling copies of designers’ handbags, watches and perfumes. It is actually a very rich neighborhood that concentrates the largest Chinese community outside of Asia. Victims of racial segregation, the Chinese retreated into themselves and Chinatown has become quickly a quasi-autonomous neighborhood with a structured society which provided employment for newcomers. As a minority group, the Chinese living in Chinatown have been subject to persecution throughout time. The purpose of this research paper is to go through the history and life of this community in New York City and explore the factors that
References: Anderson K. J., (1987), The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 77, No. 4, pp.580-598 Black S Chia-ling K. (1977), Social and Political Change in New York 's Chinatown: The Role of Voluntary Associations. Guest K Kloss, H. (1966), German-American language maintenance efforts, In J. A. Fishman (ed.), Language Loyalty in the United States. Li, U. W. (1982) The language shift of Chinese-Americans. International Journal of Social Language 38:109-124. Lo, K Yang W. (1989), Hai-wai-hua-qiao-ren-gai-kuang. Guangdong, China: Guangdong People 's Press. Yuan D. Y., (1960), Chinatown and beyond: The Chinese Population in Metropolitan New York, Phylon, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 321-332 Appendices