Flushing, home to more than 80 chinese restaurants is the center of Queens chinese community. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

By Aaron Rutkoff

How Many Are There?
ccording to census figures, there are 139,820 Chinese Americans in Queens.

Even this figure demonstrates the important role Queens now plays for Chinese residents of New York City. Almost 40 percent of the total Chinese population of New York City can be found in Queens, calling into question outdated notions of which borough should lay claim to the privilege of designating a particular neighborhood as “Chinatown.”

Who Are They?
Although this question can call forth nationalistic debate and may one day erupt across one the world’s geo-political fault lines, for demographic purposes the term “Chinese” generally includes individuals with origins on mainland China, the semi-autonomous island of Hong Kong and the controversially independent island of Taiwan. All of these areas, in which dozens of dialectics are spoken, are the point of origin for significant numbers of Chinese immigrants who have settled in Queens.

When Did They Get Here?
Documentary evidence reveals that the first few Chinese immigrants arrived in Queens in the 1880s, however the fledgling group, which lived in Western Queens, consisted almost entirely of men and never amounted to a full blown community.

The first big wave of Chinese immigration to Queens did not occur until the mid-20th century, when racist embargoes on Chinese immigrants were gradually lifted and droves of eager émigrés made their way to the U.S.—with an emerging focus on Queens.

While many historians trace the boom to the landmark 1965 immigration reforms, according to St. John’s University Professor Bernadette Li, the foundation of Queens as a haven for Chinese immigrants has its roots one year earlier. “During the World Expo in 1964, Taiwan and Hong Kong business people came to make the exhibition and discovered Queens,” said Li, who teaches Asian and Asian American Studies. “They thought it was a very nice area, they didn’t know it was so spacious and convenient transportation-wise.”

From that point on, the Chinese population of Queens spiraled in growth. Fred Fu, the head of the Flushing Chinese Business Association, recalls that there were only “several thousand” Chinese people in the borough by 1980. Five years later, however, that figure swelled to 50,000—and the growth has hardly slowed since.

Where Do They Live?
Manhattan’s Chinatown, faded in importance as the major Chinese immigration waves of the late-70s and 80s got underway. During that time, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst became home to the first significant number of Chinese immigrants who moved into Queens.

Flushing grew to eclipse even those nearby communities as the focal point of Chinese settlement in Queens. “This is just like rolling a snowball, it gets bigger and bigger,” said Fu. “Now, because there are so many Chinese people here, the Chinese immigrants want to come to Flushing instead of Jackson Heights or Elmhurst or anywhere else in the country. Flushing is famous all over Asia now.”

Both Fu and Professor Li cite the relocation of the headquarters for a prominent Chinese-language newspaper, The World Journal, from Manhattan to Flushing in 1978 as a development that solidified the neighborhood as a center of Chinese immigration for the subsequent decades.

But skyrocketing real estate values and shrinking housing stocks have sent newer Chinese immigrants into other neighborhoods. According to Li, Chinese residents of Queens are now fanning out into Kew Gardens, Ozone Park, Fresh Meadows and, once again, Elmhurst.

Where Do They Worship?
“The Chinese community in Queens has very diverse religious beliefs,” said Li. Buddhist is very strong, and of course all kinds of Christian. Plus you have Chinese native beliefs, which can be a mixture of many religious traditions.”

Li noted that, among the Buddhist centers in the borough, “There are several very strong temples. They are very well organized and have a great following.” Christian denominations with a strong presence in the Chinese American community in Queens include Presbyterian, Methodist and Non-Congregationalist.

Those from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and have set up shops and homes in Queens. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

Where Do They Shop?
The answer, quite simply, is Flushing. The central Queens neighborhood, located at the junction of a subway line, several expressways and an airport, has become the major Chinese commercial crossroad of the 21st century, edging out Manhattan’s Chinatown in terms of population size, geographic area and economic vitality.

To offer some insight into the growth of Flushing as a business center, Fred Fu points to the growth of his own business group. In 1982, when the Flushing Chinese Business Association first formed, it counted 30 members; today, at 300 members and growing, his association only represents a portion of the Chinese American-owned businesses in Flushing.

Where Do They Eat?
Again, the culinary traditions of China can best be sampled in and around Flushing.
The growth of Chinese restaurants in the area has reflected the explosive growth of the population. In the early 80s, when Flushing was still mostly a community of European immigrants and their offspring, there were only three Chinese restaurants in Flushing.
Today, according to Fu, there are over 80 in a very small area.

What Do They Do For A Living?
Many Chinese Americans in Queens, especially recent immigrants, find work within the Chinese community itself, serving other Chinese people.

This characteristic is part of the immigrant evolution in many groups that have prospered in New York City over the centuries, but it is a particularly salient aspect of Chinese American life in Queens today.

“Most of the businesses are for the Chinese community, for example grocery store, drug store, banks [and] travel agents. All of this is for services for the Chinese community,” said Fred Fu.

Professor Li said, “Food is one of the major professions for Chinese people, especially immigrants,” citing Chinese restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries as major employers.

Even food and vegetable carts make a contribution to Chinese economic vitality: “Don’t minimize them,” Li said, “they can make a big living that way.”

What’s In Their Future?
As the real estate values in Flushing continue to grow exponentially, some of those of watch the Chinese community in Queens predict a continues diffusion of Chinese Americans out of “Chinatowns” and into the rest of the city and the metropolitan region.

“Certainly there is a Chinese center now,” said Li of Flushing, “but it is not that good that it has become too congested. I think already, you see Chinese people moving away from Flushing because it has become too expensive.”

The rising cost of living in Flushing hits Chinese immigrants, who continue to flock to Queens, especially hard. “I think in the future, new immigrants will find it very difficult to survive, but they have to come to Flushing because that is where the jobs are,” Li said.
Fu maintains that as long as people can succeed in Flushing, Chinese people will continue to settle there.

“If Flushing is doing good, people will still be coming,” he said. Nevertheless, Fu could see a change on the horizon: “Maybe ten or twenty years later, in the Bronx or Brooklyn where property is still cheap, you will have another Chinese area like Flushing. Who knows?”