Analysis of newly released Census data by the Asian-American Federation reveals skyrocketing
Analysis of newly released Census data by the Asian-American Federation reveals skyrocketing groups among the Asian population, especially in Brooklyn and Queens.
The largest ethnic group among New York City’s Asian population continues to be the Chinese, who make up nearly half of all Asian-Americans in the city. This community group grew by 33 percent during the past 10 years.
For the first time, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood and Flushing in Queens both exceeded Chinatown in Manhattan as the areas with the most Chinese residents. Sunset Park (referred to in the report as Sunset Park East) grew from 19,963 Chinese in 2000 to 34,218 in 2010, increasing by 71 percent.
The Sunset Park Chinese community’s main street continues to be Eighth Avenue. Many Brooklynites are familiar with the yearly Chinese New Year’s Parade on Eighth Avenue, featuring the colorful “lion dance” and “dragon dance” as well as demonstrations of martial arts and the handing out of red envelopes (signifying good luck in Chinese culture).
Other Brooklyn neighborhoods with large numbers of Chinese residents include Bensonhurst, Gravesend and Marine Park. Often, Chinese immigrants who have been in Sunset Park for awhile buy houses in these communities when they become more established.
One Chinese restaurant on Bay Parkway, for example, has two menus: one “American-style” menu for non-Chinese residents, and one “Chinatown-style” menu for Chinese-Americans.
Howard Shih, spokesman for the Asian-American Federation, says that the Chinese population in Manhattan’s Chinatown is getting older. In addition, he said, rising prices there, indicative of rising prices and rents in Manhattan as a whole, are driving many immigrants to Brooklyn and Queens.
Chinese-Americans in Brooklyn, he added, continue to have close ties with the traditional Manhattan Chinatown, as evidenced by the heavy ridership on Chinese-owned vans that travel between the two boroughs.
The report also says that Pakistanis continued to grow rapidly, increasing 74 percent from 2000 to 2010. The largest populations of Pakistanis continue to be found in Midwood (especially along Coney Island Avenue), Flatbush, and surprisingly Brighton Beach. The offices of the Council of People’s Organizations, the largest Pakistani organization in the borough, are on Coney Island Avenue.
Among the smaller Asian-American groups that grew in the city are Vietnamese, Taiwanese and Cambodians. Vietnamese, Shih explained, often tend to live near Chinese because of centuries of affinity between these two nationalities. Many Vietnamese immigrants are, in fact, ethnic Chinese whose families have lived in Vietnam for generations.