25 Facts About Manhattan Chinatown

1.

Manhattan's Chinatown is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west.

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2.

The Manhattan Chinatown is one of nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City, as well as one of twelve in the New York metropolitan area, which contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, comprising an estimated 893,697 uniracial individuals as of 2017.

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3.

Manhattan Chinatown is one of nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City, as well as one of twelve in the New York metropolitan area, which contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, enumerating an estimated 779,269 individuals as of 2013; the remaining Chinatowns are located in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn and in Nassau County, all on Long Island in New York State; as well as in Edison and Parsippany-Troy Hills in New Jersey.

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4.

Manhattan Chinatown started on Mott, Park, Pell, and Doyers Streets, east of the notorious Five Points district.

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5.

Wenfei Wang, Shangyi Zhou, and C Cindy Fan, authors of "Growth and Decline of Muslim Hui Enclaves in Beijing", wrote that because of immigration restrictions, Chinatown continued to be "virtually a bachelor society" until 1965.

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6.

Early days of Manhattan Chinatown were dominated by Chinese "tongs", which were a mixture of clan associations, landsman's associations, political alliances, and more secretly, crime syndicates.

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7.

Columbus Park, the only park in Manhattan Chinatown, was built in 1897 on what was once the center of the infamous Five Points neighborhood.

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8.

The Manhattan Chinatown grew and became more oriented toward families due to the lifting of restrictions.

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9.

Census tabulation area for Manhattan Chinatown is bounded to the north by Houston Street; to the east by Avenue B, Norfolk Street, Essex Street and Pike Street; to the south by Frankfort Street; and to the west by Centre Street and Bowery.

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10.

Manhattan's Chinatown has only 27,200 Asian residents, compared to the neighborhoods of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn ; Sunset Park, Brooklyn ; Flushing, Queens ; and Elmhurst, Queens.

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11.

The Cantonese dominated western section of Manhattan Chinatown continues to be the main busy Chinese business district.

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12.

Significant difference between the two separate Chinese provincial communities in Manhattan's Chinatown is that the Cantonese part of Chinatown not only serves Chinese customers but is a tourist attraction.

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13.

Unlike most other urban Chinatowns, Manhattan's Chinatown is both a residential area as well as commercial area.

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14.

Previously, Manhattan Chinatown was noted for its crowded tenements and primarily Chinese residents.

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15.

In 2016, the oldest continuously run business in Manhattan's Chinatown was up for sale: Wing on Wo and Co, established in 1890.

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16.

The district boasts many historical and cultural attractions, and it is a destination for tour companies like Manhattan Walking Tour, Big Onion, NYC Chinatown Tours, and Lower East Side History Project.

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17.

Notable and well-reviewed Manhattan Chinatown establishments include Joe's Shanghai, Jing Fong, New Green Bo and Amazing 66.

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18.

Manhattan Chinatown was adversely affected by the attacks; being so physically close to Ground Zero, Manhattan Chinatown saw a very slow return of tourism and business.

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19.

Manhattan's Chinatown has had a history of mini malls with varieties of small shops, however due to the gentrification, this trend has been declining.

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20.

Flushing Manhattan Chinatown was spearheaded by many Chinese following the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997 as well as Taiwanese who used their considerable capital to buy out the land from the former residents.

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21.

The Sunset Park Manhattan Chinatown originally emerged as a small Cantonese enclave, but with the large influx of Fuzhou immigrants arriving into Sunset Park since the 2000s, it has grown into becoming the largest Fuzhou Manhattan Chinatown of New York City, although some Cantonese people remain in the Sunset Park area.

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22.

Housing stock of Manhattan Chinatown is still mostly composed of cramped tenement buildings, some of which are over 100 years old.

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23.

Manhattan Chinatown is patrolled by the 5th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 19 Elizabeth Street.

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24.

Manhattan Chinatown is served by two New York City Fire Department fire stations:.

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25.

Streets in Manhattan Chinatown have Chinese names, which are noted on bilingual street signs in Manhattan Chinatown.

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