Before Chinatown in NYC became a cultural landmark, it was a neighborhood shaped by immigrant struggles, discrimination, and community.
New York’s Chinatown thrives today with its cultural community and crowded streets, but before it became a landmark, Chinatown was just another place built for survival.
Starting in the 1870s Chinese immigrants began settling around Mott, Pell, and Doyers Streets in the Lower Manhattan area. Some arrived directly in New York’s port, while others were residents who moved eastward due to the anti-Chinese violence during the San Francisco riots. At this time, Chinatown was located in a very poor and dangerous part of New York City, the Five Points neighborhood.
In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act banned most Chinese labor immigration into the country, drastically changing Chinatown’s development. Women were heavily restricted from entering the U.S. and Chinatown became known as a “bachelor society” with a 1900 census record reporting over 7,000 Chinese men living in the city, but only 142 Chinese women. These men worked in restaurants and factories to barely make enough to live and send money back home and because of the discrimination immigrants faced, residents had to rely on the community for housing, work, and protection.
Organizations known as tongs began to rise throughout Chinatown and many were involved in gambling, extortion, and other organized crime. Rivalries between groups sparked the Tong Wars and one of the most infamous locations for crime was Doyers Street, nicknamed, “The Bloody Angle” because of how many shootings and hatchet attacks happened there.
Even with all of the violence going on, Chinatown continued to grow. Restaurants, churches, and medicine shops were established to set up a strong cultural foundation and after immigration laws changed in 1965, new immigrants began to move into the city. The neighborhood was able to expand rapidly and businesses were flourishing, turning New York’s Chinatown into one of the most important Chinese immigrant communities in America.
To this day, people often overlook how frequently this neighborhood has had to fight for survival. After 9/11, families and businesses had to overcome financial struggle due to the area’s location being so close to the World Trade Center and during COVID-19, Chinatown became one of the first neighborhoods in New York to be flooded with anti-Asian fear.
So the next time you’re in New York’s Chinatown, just remember you’re standing amongst a symbol of resilience built by generations of immigrants.
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