The History of New York’s Chinatown & How It Embodied the American Dream

The History of New York’s Chinatown & How It Embodied the American Dream

There are nine officially established Chinatowns in greater New York—Manhattan, Flushing, Sunset Park, Little Neck, the East Village, Forest Hills, Homecrest, Bensonhurst, and Elmhurst—but the oldest and most famous of them is in Manhattan. The neighborhood has a vibrant history and culture, including food, architecture, and the infamous tongs, marked by the tensions between assimilation and retention of Chinese identity. Like many other immigra…