Gong, Krasnyanskiy, and Lim, 1 Bensonhurst’s Growing Chinese Community By Fred Gong, Benjamin Krasnyanskiy and Crystal Lim A Chinese immigrant once said that “New York 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 China 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, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia.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 Queens 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 Italy 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 suburbs, 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 Chinese Americans.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 New York City.13 Joseph Berger reported in the New York Times 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 “model minority.” 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.