Chinatown at Dawn

Chinatown at dawn by Rawle C. Jackman Before the daily hustle and bustle. Below are some images of Chinatown, NY just before the break of day. - RJ Tidbit: Chinatown, Manhattan (simplified Chinese: 纽约华埠; traditional Chinese: 紐約華埠; pinyin: Niŭyuē Huá Bù) is a neighborhood in Manhattan that is home to the largest enclave of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere. It is in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Manhattan’s Chinatown is also one of the oldest ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia. Historically it was primarily populated by Cantonese speakers. However, in the 1980s-90s, large numbers of Chinese Min Dong-speaking immigrants also arrived. As many Mingdong and Cantonese speakers now speak Mandarin—the official dialect of Chinese—in addition to their native dialects, this made it more important for Chinatown residents to learn and speak Mandarin. The Manhattan Chinatown is one of nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City. In addition, it is one of twelve in the New York metropolitan area, which contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, enumerating an estimated 779,269 individuals as of 2013; the remaining Chinatowns are located in the boroughs of Queens (up to four, depending upon definition) and Brooklyn (three) and in Nassau County, all on Long Islandin New York State; as well as in Edison and Parsippany-Troy Hills in New Jersey. In addition, Manhattan’s Little Fuzhou (小福州, 紐約華埠), an enclave populated primarily by more recent Chinese immigrants from the Fujian Province of China, is technically considered a part of Manhattan’s Chinatown, albeit now developing a separate identity of its own. A new and rapidly growing Chinese community is now forming in East Harlem (東哈萊姆), Uptown Manhattan, nearly tripling in population between the years 2000 and 2010, according to U.S. Census figures. This neighborhood has been described as the precursor to a new satellite Chinatown within Manhattan itself, which upon acknowledged formation would represent the second Chinese neighborhood in Manhattan, the tenth large Chinese settlement in New York City, and the twelfth within the overall New York City metropolitan region From Wikipedia

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