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Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 1

Bensonhurst’s Growing Chinese Community

By Fred Gong, Benjamin Krasnyanskiy and Crystal Lim

A Chinese immigrant once said that “ offers many fortunes but unequal opportunities to newcomers. Not everyone can make it here. It is like a melting pot for some, a pressure cooker for many others, and still a Dumpster for the unfortunate.” Chinese immigrants started arriving to New York as early as the 1850s but only in the last four decades did they become a major ethnic group.1 Initially, most of the immigrants came from mainland as sojourners. Legal exclusions prevented many of the Chinese from coming to America and, with families divided, some of those who had migrated returned permanently to China.2 Once the

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed, very few Chinese were able to enter America and the growth of their community virtually stopped.3

It was only during the 1960s when an influx of Chinese immigrants started arriving in the

United States again. Although it only played a minor role, the 1958 Kennedy Emergency

Immigration Act was a starting point that allowed the Chinese to once again enter America. As a result of it, 5,000 Chinese were granted entry during China’s “Great Leap Forward,” Mao

Zedong’s campaign to turn the country into an industrial nation. In 1965, the Hart-Celler Act abolished the national-origins quota system and emphasized the importance of admitting skilled laborers and of unifying families.4 The result was a massive immigration from China. There were 237,000 Chinese in America in 1960, and more than 3 million Chinese in America by 2005.

Unlike pre-exclusion immigrants who came from the mainland, many of the post-1965 immigrants came from the greater Chinese diaspora, which included locations such as Hong

Kong, , , , and .5 The immigrants were also diverse in terms Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 2 of socioeconomic status, but still tended to settle in urban enclaves, which would eventually form the many Chinatowns present in New York – including the one in the Bensonhurst section of

Brooklyn.

Early On

Chinatown in Manhattan was New York’s original hub for Chinese immigrants. In the first years following the establishment of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, large numbers of Chinese immigrants moved there. As the area became more densely populated, the inflated housing prices and overcrowding became undesirable for both established and incoming immigrants. Crime was another factor that led many immigrants to move away from Chinatown.

Chinese triads often took money from many Chinese-owned businesses and if the store owners did not provide their “donation,” gangs would leave bullets in red envelopes, threatening to shoot the merchant. 6 Chinese gangs were also involved in the heroin trade, turning New York into the heroin hotspot for America. Since the immigrants spoke a variety of dialects, the police and F.B.I had a difficult time tracking down these gangs. Since many of the earlier immigrants focused on work, parents did not have a lot of time to spend with their children, making criminal and gang activity more likely. 7

Brooklyn became a popular alternative destination because it provided cheaper housing and living expenses and sheltered immigrants from the crime of Chinatown while still maintaining accessibility and convenience to the area. Sunset Park was the first Brooklyn

Chinatown because, at the time, it had inexpensive real estate and was seen as a place of hope and prosperity. Sunset Park quickly emerged as a safe haven for Chinese immigrants who wanted to avoid the steep prices of Manhattan and while still enjoying a sense of community. Strings of Chinese markets and restaurants developed.8 However, as Sunset Park Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 3 began to gentrify, the property prices and maintenance fees became unaffordable to many immigrants. As a result, Bensonhurst emerged as Brooklyn’s second Chinatown, serving as refuge for those who could not afford the prices and overcrowding of Manhattan’s Chinatown and Sunset Park. The Chinese presence was immediately felt by the local residents of the area, for many restaurants, markets, and other Chinese-owned stores quickly emerged on the streets of

Bensonhurst. The location itself was favorable for the influx of immigrants because it is situated along the D and N subway line, which provides quick and convenient access to Chinatown and

Sunset Park, the hubs for the Chinese immigrants. 9

Early in the 20th century, a huge number of immigrants from southern came to New

York City, and some began to settle in Bensonhurst for the same reasons the Chinese would later be attracted there. Large numbers of Jewish immigrants also found a home in the mostly Italian neighborhood.10 As these groups began to move to the , Staten Island or more upscale areas of Brooklyn, in the 1970s and later, the Chinese immigration arrived in Bensonhurst.

Initially, the Italians were not accepting of the new Chinese immigrants because the immigrants did not know how to speak English and did not assimilate to the national or local culture because they were focused solely on work. Even the immigrants who were settled economically were unable to purchase real estate in certain parts of the area because the Italian homeowners refused to sell to the Chinese, often excluding entire avenues.11 Businesses faced similar difficulties because the more established members of the community had negative sentiments towards the new immigrants.

What now?

Bensonhurst’s demographic has changed drastically since the 1960s. Once home to many thousands of Italian Americans, Bensonhurst is increasingly inhabited by .12 Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 4

According to the American Community Survey, by 2013, 35% (69,554) of people had Chinese ancestry compared to around 20% (31,315) with Italian ancestry.

The community continued to grow. As of 2014, Bensonhurst was the largest Chinatown in .13 Joseph Berger reported in in 2002 that initial tensions subsided when the Italians and the Chinese realized that both groups are hard-working and not out to cause trouble.14 But Chinese Americans are still faced with a lot of discrimination and prejudice.

Chinese store owners are being taunted and attacked, usually by teenagers. These delinquents shout obscenities, block entryways, smoke inside the store, steal, vandalize, and even physically attack store workers. Chinese merchants complain that the police are slow to respond to these problems. Store owners like May Lee and Cheng Hua Yin have locked their doors even though it tends to drive away customers. Cheng Hua Yin, owner of a second-floor nail salon on

Bay Parkway and 67th Street, has had multiple altercations with these delinquents. However, he has given up on calling the police because, he says, they never show up. On April 19, 2015, the situation turned violent when Cheng Hua Yin was punched in the face by one of the teenagers.15

Cheng Hua Yin is not the only store owner who has run into these problems. Many other

Chinese American store owners on Bay Parkway have been terrorized by teens; however, these store owners believe that these teenagers are just young and misguided rather than “bad kids.”16

Like Cheng Hua Yin, many other Chinese Americans often fail to contact the authorities or speak out against social injustices. They may find dealing with police officers to be a challenge considering the language barrier and the time it takes.17 Their silence, however, makes them an easy target for more vandalism and disruptions of their businesses. Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 5

Chinese Americans are often painted as the “.” They are not extremely active in politics; they were able to establish themselves in America without a lot of assistance; they are portrayed as hard-working; they keep to themselves. While some of these attributes can be construed as positives, they are stereotypes that limit the Chinese immigrants to a portrayal as quiet people who work hard and study hard at school.

The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) is one of the main organizations that help Chinese immigrants in Bensonhurst speak out and fight against this stereotype. Currently located in three out of the five boroughs, CPC helps immigrants find housing, jobs, and opportunity in New York City. It also provides services and organizes protests to combat social injustices that Chinese-Americans face.18

Steve Mei, the assistant director of CPC’s Youth Services Division, moved to New York

City in the 1980s when he was a child. Growing up in Manhattan’s Chinatown, he witnessed a lot of crime and poverty. His family followed the trend of moving into Brooklyn when he was a teenager, specifically Sunset Park. Steve currently resides in Sheepshead Bay, another area with a rising Chinese population. As the assistant director, Mei oversees the services provided to teenagers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. When asked about the objective of services provided for Chinese teenagers, he explained a surprising dichotomy between old Chinese immigrants and new Chinese immigrants. Second generation teenagers, mainly from mainland

China, are told to focus on school, but first generation teenagers, mainly from Fuzhou in the

Fujian province are told to focus on work and making money for their family. As a result, many

Fuzhou teenagers are not serious about school. CPC’s Youth Service Division tries to encourage all teenagers (not exclusively Chinese Americans) to pursue higher education or accept jobs that require higher skills.19 Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 6

Mei also commented on the idea of social and political activism in the Chinese American population. Many Chinese Americans do not participate in politics. They generally keep to themselves and stay silent about social injustices they face. The recent indictment and conviction of Police Officer Peter Liang struck a deep chord in the Chinese American community. Without suggesting his own judgment on the case, Mei says that this is a positive step for Chinese

Americans as it forces them to fight against issues that they feel are unjust.20

A local news website, BensonhurstBean.com, has chronicled various ways that anti-

Chinese sentiment has surfaced in the neighborhood. For example, there was tension over the choice of a grocery store to replace a Waldbaum’s supermarket that closed due to bankruptcy..21

JMart Group Inc., an Asian grocery store, won the bid on the space in February.22 Many people responded by expressing concern and outrage about this – and a petition was circulated calling for a Trader Joe’s in Bensonhurst. Some 1,500 signatures were collected. 23 The

BensonhurstBean articles by Rachel Silberstein outlined the controversy in an objective way, but the comment sections provide ample evidence of anti-Chinese sentiment. Many people called

Chinese grocery stores disgusting and rat-infested. People reminisced about the nice neighborhood that once existed before the “filthy” Chinese invaded. They accused the Chinese of spreading diseases from their meats and of selling dog meat. One commenter,

“LongtimeResident,” refers to the Chinese as “guests” who are “boorish” and badly behaved.

Many other commenters agree with “LongtimeResident’s” views and called for Chinese immigrants to stop turning “Brooklyn into Beijing.”

One comment on the petition stands out in particular: “We don’t need anymore Chinese stores in this neighborhood. There’s more than enough. Open up a Trader Joe’s before Ching

Chong Charlie opens another rat infested place.”24 What is striking about this comment is the use Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 7 of “ Charlie” to generalize to the entire Chinese-American population. The use of this stereotypical name in a public forum is a barometer of a deeply rooted bias toward the

Chinese American population.

While there are many similar comments, others argue against the bigotry. There are some commenters who genuinely just want more variety than an Asian market might offer.

JMart owners responded to those legitimate concerns, saying that they are open to the “idea of carrying a selection of Italian, Jewish, and other ethnic food products” to accommodate the vastly diverse population of Bensonhurst.25 Hopefully, JMart’s compromise will be one of the steps to eradicate the anti-Chinese sentiment that still exists in Bensonhurst, but there is still a long way to go for Chinese-Americans to be viewed on equal grounds.

1 Nancy Foner, Across Generations: Immigrant Families in America (New York: New York University Press, 2009),. 2 Foner. 3 "A History of Immigration from China to the US." 2015.http://www.goldenventuremovie.com/Chinese_Immigration.htm. 4 Josephine Tsui Yueh Lee, New York City's Chinese Community (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2007), page number?? 5 Nancy Foner, New Immigrants in New York (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987). Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 8

6 Peter Kerr, "Chinese Crime Groups Rising To Prominence in New York," New York Times, Jan. 4, 1998, http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/04/nyregion/chinese-crime-groups-rising-to-prominence-in-new- york.html?pagewanted=all 7 Peter Kerr, "Chinese Now Dominate New York Heroin Trade," New York Times, Aug. 9, 1987, http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/09/nyregion/chinese-now-dominate-new-york-heroin- trade.html?pagewanted=all 8 Liz Robbins, "With an Influx of Newcomers, Little Chinatowns Dot a Changing Brooklyn," New York Times, April 15 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/nyregion/influx-of-chinese-immigrants-is-reshaping- large-parts-of-brooklyn.html?_r=0 9 Jerome Krase, "The Visual Presentation of Community: What Does Community Look Like? " Senses of Place: Urban Narratives as Public Secrets (2004), April 16, 2004, http://www.brooklynsoc.org/CFTseminar/krase_community.pdf 10 Eric Jankiewicz, "Once Shunned, Chinese Population Booms In Bensonhurst And Dyker Heights, BensonhurstBean.com Jan. 8, 2014, http://www.bensonhurstbean.com/2014/01/once-shunned-chinese-population- booms-in-bensonhurst-and-dyker-heights/#.VxhgkhMrL_Q 11 Lauren Holter, "City Living: Bensonhurst, BK's , Now Teeming with Diversity," Am New York, Feb. 11, 2015, http://www.amny.com/real-estate/city-living/brooklyn/city-living-bensonhurst-brooklyn-s- little-italy-is-now-diverse-1.9928439 12 Joseph Berger, "Well, the Ices are Still Italian," New York Times, September 17, 2002. 13 Arun Peter Lobo, and Joseph J. Salvo, “The Newest New Yorkers: Characteristics of the City's Foreign- born Population,” New York City Department of City Planning, http://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/data-maps/nyc- population/newest-new-yorkers-2013.page. Accessed March 1, 2016. 14 Berger. 15 Rachel Silberstein, "Teens Terrorize Chinese-Owned Shops On Bay Parkway,” BensonhurstBean.com, April 27, 2015, , http://www.bensonhurstbean.com/2015/04/teens-terrorize-chinese-owned-shops-on-bay- parkway/#.Vxg6LpMrKqA. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid. 18 Interview by the author with Steve Mei, April 1, 2016. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Rachel Silberstein, "Second Asian Grocer Bids On Waldbaum’s, Trader Joe's Says 'No Thanks' ” BensonhurstBean.com, , January 27, 2016, http://www.bensonhurstbean.com/2016/01/second-asian-market-bids-on- waldbaums-trader-joe-says-no-thanks/#.Vxg6BZMrKqA 22 Rachel Silberstein, "Jmart Owners Open To Carrying Both Asian & Non-Asian Food Products,” BensonhurstBean.com, March 21, 2016, http://www.bensonhurstbean.com/2016/03/after-supermarket-sale-uproar- a-push-for-intercultural-dialogue/. 23 "Trader Joe's: Open A Trader Joe's in Bensonhurst," Change.org, January 2016, https://www.change.org/p/trader-joe-s-open-a-trader-joe-s-in-bensonhurst. 24 Ibid. 25 Rachel Silberstein, "Jmart Owners Open To Carrying Both Asian & Non-Asian Food Products.”

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