By Angela Montefinise, Chen Hsiang-Shui
and John Kuo Wei Tchen

When the first Chinese immigrants came to Queens in the late 1880s, they were few in number, were almost all men, lived in Western Queens, and focused their efforts on the laundry and wet washing industries.

Chinese herb stores can be found all over downtown Flushing selling similar goods to the Chinese farmers who first settled here. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen

Some were farmers, like Shen Ho Joe, the first Chinese farmer in Queens as documented by the New York Times.

According to an article written in the late 1880s, Joe realized that there was a market in the borough for exotic fruits and vegetables, and rented several acres of land from an Astoria florist to grow Chinese produce.

He sold bitter melon, white turnips, Chinese broccoli and hairy squash with success in Chinatown, and was soon followed by five more Chinese truck farmers who operated out of Astoria, the article said.

These Chinese immigrants were somewhat successful, but they were small in number, although an exact count is not available.

Until 1920, Chinese people were placed into the category of “other” by the United States Census, along with any other group that was not “white” or “black.”

In 1900, there were only 153 “others” in Queens; in 1910, there were 152, and in 1920, there were 261.

From these humble beginnings, Chinese immigrants have grown and prospered in the City’s most diverse borough, owning thousands of businesses in Queens and turning an economically deprived Flushing of the 1980s into a thriving business epicenter in the 1990s.

The 2000 Census counted 139,820 Chinese people in Queens, making the Chinese the largest Asian group in the borough.

They elected their first councilman in 2001, have moved into the professions, and have organized to become successful entrepreneurs.

They have overcome exclusion acts, immigration quotas and racial discrimination to succeed, and now they are giving back to the borough in full force.

From the 1880s to 1943, the number of Chinese people living and working in Queens was small.

Most of them were from mainland China and were brought to the United States as cheap labor, unable to bring their families with them.

While Chinese people and signs line the streets of downtown Flushing, Chinese stores offer a variety of Chinese goods, from produce to meat. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen

With no education, the immigrants usually lived in Astoria and Long Island City – close to Chinatown without the real estate prices of Manhattan – and opened Chinese laundries and wet wash businesses.

According to records from the time period, Chinese people would work 12, 16, and sometimes 24 hour days at least six days a week to make money to either send back to their families or save for the day that their families would finally come to the United States. Some even lived in their businesses to avoid paying rent.

The number of Chinese immigrating to the United States remained small until 1943, when The Chinese Exclusion Act, which kept America’s doors closed to Chinese immigrants, was repealed and replaced with a quota of 105 immigrants per year from both mainland China and Taiwan.

The next generation of Chinese people in Flushing will be more “Americanized,” according to Chinese leaders in Queens, who expect the population to lessen, but prosper. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen

However, it was still difficult for mainland Chinese people to immigrate because of the country’s government, so the full 105 people often still did not get to America.

In 1946, the War Brides Act allowed Chinese Americans who fought in the war to bring their wives to the United States, and they began working in laundries and in factories to help make ends meet.

Many Chinese Americans began pooling their loan monies and opening large wet wash factories in Long Island City, which employed hundreds of Chinese Americans for extremely low pay.

Many hand washers protested a price increase by the wet wash ownership, and in 1946, after a strike, formed the Wah Kiu Wet Wash in Queens alliance, which kept prices down.

In the 1950s, as more children came to the United States, they started attending public school, including Newtown High School, which had a handful of Chinese students. In 1964, the quotas on Chinese immigration were increased to 20,000 immigrants per year from mainland China and Taiwan.

In 1965, the quotas on Chinese immigration were removed, and by 1970, 15,000 Chinese immigrants lived in Queens.

In 1980, there were 39,000 Chinese immigrants, most of them from Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to Flushing Chinese Business Association President Fred Fu, who moved to Manhattan from China 20 years ago and moved to Flushing in 1985.

He said there were only three Chinese restaurants in all of Flushing in 1980, and explained that economic downturn had made Flushing unprofitable to chain stores, and decreased land values.

He said, “There were no Chinese banks there. There were no businesses there . . . Taiwan students who were here bought up the cheap land and opened businesses.”

Dr. Bernadette Li of St. John’s University agreed, and added that Chinese people chose Flushing because the land was cheaper than Manhattan and the subway was easily accessible.

She said, “Flushing had opportunity. It had cheap land and stores, and it had the #7 line nearby. It would take people straight into Manhattan, where a lot of them worked.” Fu added, “At that time, a house in Flushing was $50,000. For new immigrants who can’t afford a car or a big home, the subway and cheap land was a good deal.”

Before the Chinese moved into Flushing, there were many African Americans there, Fu said, and added, “There were also some Japanese and Koreans there. They mostly moved out . . . Chinese people wanted to be comfortable. If they want to go out to eat, they want a Chinese restaurant. I’m a travel agent, so Chinese people like to book trips with a Chinese travel agent. Everything goes by the market, and at that time, the market was open for Chinese businesses.”

By 1986, the economy of Flushing started to turn around, and there were 60,000 Chinese there – more than one-half of Queens’ Chinese population.

The group didn’t stick to laundries or farming, but ventured into dozens of professions, and many went to college.

In the 1980s, Li also said that Chinese investors sent money to Flushing because of the potential for growth, building up the area with business “partnerships.”

In 1989, there was a jump in immigration, according to Fu, who said the United States government allowed any person with a Chinese passport who was already in the United States to get their Green Card.

He said, “In 1989, there was Tiannamen Square, and the government said Chinese people couldn’t go back. So with a Green Card, people brought their families here.”

As the number of Asians increased in the nineties, so did their success.

Flushing is currently filled with Chinese signs and businesses, and major chain stores are taking an interest in opening in the area. The Flushing Mall opened in 2001, and members of the Flushing community are currently exploring the possibility of making Flushing a Business Improvement District (BID).

Flushing resident John Liu (left) shown here with (l-r) son Joey, wife Jenny and chief of staff Ellen Young, became the City’s first Chinese Councilman in 2001. Tribune Photo by Stephen McGuire

While there are still some vibrant Chinese communities in Ridgewood and Long Island City, the Chinese mostly congregate in Flushing.

It was in that area that controversy came to light in the 1990s, when Councilwoman Julia Harrison was quoted in The New York Times as making negative comments about Asians. Although she said she was taken out of context, and was only talking about certain Chinese business people, the Chinese community became angry and unified.

Fu said the reaction in the Chinese community was mixed, but said, “Everyone knew of it . . . It’s in the past now. Not important. What’s important is that business is good in Flushing and we’re doing well.”

In addition to the mall and new business, Flushing has become a cultural center, with the emergence of Flushing Town Hall and the International Resource Center at the Flushing branch of the Queens Borough Public Library. It is also the home of the Asian American Center at Queens College.

Fu said Chinese people as a whole are becoming educated and “more Americanized . . . . Chinese people focus on education. They send their children to school and many succeed.”

He added that Chinese people are adapting to American life.  “People that are born in the United States are American. They’re not Chinese . . . They speak English, so they’re American,” he explained, “In 50 years, no one will ask a Chinese person, ‘When did you come to America?’ We will have few new immigrants, but mostly Chinese Americans.”

Fu gave an example of Flushing Councilman John Liu, who was elected in 2001 to be the New York City Council’s first Chinese member. “You hear John Liu speak? He’s not Chinese,” Fu said, “He’s American . . . We are growing here in the country.”

Fu also said Flushing is a “first stop” for Chinese immigrants, and said, “Flushing is expensive and so crowded. When people make money, they move to New Jersey or Nassau County. Some are moving to Little Neck and Douglaston . . . I think China’s economy is booming right now, and we’re going to see many Chinese people go back to China. I think we’ll see less immigration from there, too. Now I think Chinese people in America will mostly be American, not from China.”