Chinatown, Manhattan

Chinatown, Manhattan
曼哈頓華埠 / 唐人街
Crossing Canal Street in Chinatown, facing Mott Street toward the south
Crossing Canal Street in Chinatown, facing Mott Street toward the south
Map
Location in New York City
Coordinates: 40°42′54″N 73°59′49″W / 40.715°N 73.997°W / 40.715; -73.997
Country United States
State New York
CityNew York City
BoroughManhattan
Community DistrictManhattan 3[1]
Area
 • Total1.99 km2 (0.768 sq mi)
Population
 (2010)[2]
 • Total47,844
 • Density24,000/km2 (62,000/sq mi)
Ethnicity
 • Asian63.9%
 • White16.3%
 • Hispanic13.4%
 • Black4.8%
 • Other1.6%
Economics
 • Median income$68,657
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes
10002, 10013
Area code212, 332, 646, and 917
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese曼哈頓華埠 / 唐人街
Simplified Chinese曼哈顿华埠 / 唐人街
Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District
NRHP reference No.10000012
Added to NRHPFebruary 12, 2010
The Chinese American experience has been documented at the Museum of Chinese in America in Manhattan's Chinatown since 1980.

Manhattan's Chinatown (simplified Chinese: 曼哈顿华埠 or 唐人街; traditional Chinese: 曼哈頓華埠 or 唐人街; pinyin: Mànhādùn huábù / Tángrénjiē; Jyutping: Maan6haa1deon6 waa4fau6 or tong4jan4gaai1) 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. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Chinatown is home to the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere.[4][5] Manhattan's Chinatown is also one of the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves.[6] The Manhattan Chinatown is one of nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City,[7] 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.[8]

Chinatown is also a densely populated neighborhood, with over 141,000 residents living in its vicinity encompassing 1.7 square miles, "of which 28.1% identified as Asian".[9][10] Historically, Chinatown was primarily populated by Cantonese speakers. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, large numbers of Fuzhounese-speaking immigrants also arrived and formed a sub-neighborhood annexed to the eastern portion of Chinatown east of The Bowery, which has become known as Little Fuzhou (小福州) subdivided away from the primarily Cantonese populated original longtime established Chinatown of Manhattan from the proximity of The Bowery going west, known as Little Hong Kong/Guangdong (小粵港). As many Fuzhounese and Cantonese speakers now speak Mandarin—the official language in Mainland China and Taiwan—in addition to their native languages, this has made it more important for Chinatown residents to learn and speak Mandarin.[11] Although now overtaken in size by the rapidly growing Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠) (located in the New York City borough of Queens)[12] and Brooklyn Chinatown (布魯克林華埠), the Manhattan Chinatown remains a dominant cultural force for the Chinese diaspora, as home to the Museum of Chinese in America and as the headquarters of numerous publications based both in the U.S. and China that are geared to overseas Chinese.

Chinatown is part of Manhattan Community District 3, and its primary ZIP Codes are 10013 and 10002.[1] It is patrolled by the 5th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.

  1. ^ a b "NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference PLP5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PLP3A was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Chinatown New York". Civitatis New York. Archived from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020. As its name suggests, Chinatown is where the largest population of Chinese people live in the Western Hemisphere.
  5. ^ * "Chinatown New York City Fact Sheet" (PDF). www.explorechinatown.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 28, 2005. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  6. ^ Marina Nazario (February 10, 2016). "I went on a tour of Manhattan's Chinatown and discovered some of the most unusual groceries I've ever seen". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  7. ^ Stefanie Tuder (February 25, 2019). "Believe It or Not, New York City Has Nine Chinatowns". EATER NY. Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "American FactFinder - Results". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "Lower East Side/Chinatown Neighborhood Profile". Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  10. ^ "NYC-Manhattan Community District 3--Chinatown & Lower East Side PUMA, NY". Census Reporter. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  11. ^ Kirk Semple (October 21, 2009). "In Chinatown, Sound of the Future Is Mandarin". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  12. ^ Melia Robinson (May 27, 2015). "This is what it's like in one of the biggest and fastest-growing Chinatowns in the world". Business Insider. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.