Manhattan’s Chinatown is a living neighbourhood of shops, food businesses, family associations and community institutions. Its busy streets reflect migration and mutual support, while successive waves of newcomers have continued to reshape the area’s cultural and commercial life.
Guide preview
The storefronts here are part of a neighbourhood infrastructure, not just a visitor strip. Manhattan’s Chinatown took shape around Mott, Pell and Doyers Streets in the 1870s, as Chinese immigrants built community in a city where discriminatory laws and violence constrained their lives.
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Quick facts
- Manhattan’s Chinatown grew around Mott, Pell and Doyers Streets in the 1870s.
- Mutual aid associations provided community services to Chinese immigrants.
- The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act preceded new waves of arrivals and business growth.
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