Chinatown

Chinatown in New York City is an ethnic enclave with a distinctly Chinese population. It is said to have the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere and also one of the oldest Chinese enclaves outside of Asia.

Up to the 1970s, the traditional borders of Chinatown were Canal Street to the North (bordering Little Italy), The Bowery to the East (bordering the Lower East Side), Worth Street to the South, and Baxter Street to the West. Most people visiting New York City's Chinatown go to the intersections of Canal Street with Mott and Mulberry street, and the intersection of Pell and Doyers Streets.

Chinatown, Manhattan
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinatown_manhattan_2009.jpg
Author: chensiyuan


Today the borders of New York City's Chinatown has moved, and is more correctly identified as bordered by Delancey Street to the North (bordering the East Village and SoHo sections of NYC), East Broadway to the East (stopping at Rutgers Street), Broadway to the West (encroaching the TriBeCa sections of NYC), and Chambers Street to the South (encroaching the City Hall area).

Chinese immigrants moved to the East Coast cities of the United States when they faced increasing discrimination in the West Coast. New York City's Chinatown started on Mott Street, Park, Peel and Doyer Streets. When the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, there was already 2000 ethnic Chinese living there. The gender disparity is quite great: in 1900, there were 7,000 Chinese residents in Chinatown, but fewer than 200 were women.

Chinese grocery store, Chinatown, New York City
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinatown_02_-_New_York_City.jpg
Author: Momos


Columbus Park is the only park in Chinatown. It was built on what was once the center of the infamous Five Points neighborhood of New York City, a dangerous slum area in the 19th Century.

Getting there

Subway stations in the vicinity of Chinatown include the Canal St Station (6, J, N, Q), East Broadway Station (F) and Grand St Station (B, D).

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