East Broadway (Manhattan)
Encyclopedia
East Broadway is a two-way east-west street in the Chinatown and Lower East Side
neighborhoods of the New York City borough
of Manhattan
. East Broadway begins at Chatham Square
(also known as Kimlau Square) and runs eastward under the Manhattan Bridge
, continues past Seward Park
and the eastern end of Canal Street
, and ends at Grand Street
. The western portion of the street is primarily populated by Chinese immigrants
(mainly Foochowese from Fuzhou
, Fujian), while the eastern portion is home to a large number of Jew
s. One section in the eastern part of East Broadway, between Clinton Street and Pitt Street, is unofficially referred to by residents as Shteibel Way, since it is lined with approximately ten small synagogues ("shteibels").
runs on East Broadway in both directions between Chatham Square
and Canal Street
. The downtown M22 bus
runs westward on East Broadway between Pike Street and Chatham Square
.
The East Broadway
station of the IND Sixth Avenue Line
(F
) is located near East Broadway.
of Chinatown due to the significant number of financial banks owned by the Chinese concentrated on this street and surrounding streets. The banks that are located on this Wall Street of Chinatown are Asia Bank
, United Orient Bank
, and CitiBank
(corner of Mott Street
) on Chatham Square. First American International Bank
(formerly Hong Kong Bank) and Abacus Federal Savings Bank
on the Bowery
. Onto East Broadway are Bank of China
, Cathay Bank
(formerly the Golden City Bank), East West Bank
(formerly the Hang Seng Bank), a second Chinatown branch of First American International Bank
and formerly named as Glory China Tower in the former spot of the Pagoda theater, the HSBC
bank. A Cantonese newspaper company named Wah May Press was also located on 9 East Broadway.
witnessed their performance while he was in New York serving as a cultural adviser for the French Embassy. When the theater was renamed as Sun Sing theater in 1950, during that same time they once again changed their troupe name to Nam Ney Keik Tin (Mixed Opera Company). Once they discontinued during May 1950, the over-half-century-long tradition of Cantonese opera performances ended in the Chinatown neighborhood and then the Sun Sing theater during the same year began to feature Chinese films with English subtitles included sometimes. It was in danger of being torn down because of an additional deck being added onto the Manhattan Bridge, but it was saved when city engineers used bridge supports and seats had to be eliminated for the bridge supports. In 1972, the theater started to provide diverse entertainments of film and stage performances. Like many movie theaters, the theater also sold snacks with also Chinese snacks such as preserved plum, dried cuttlefish, and shrimp chips. During the last 15 years of the theater's existence under the Manhattan Bridge
with the B
, D
, and Q
trains rumbling loudly above, it featured wild films involving battles and violence. During its final years with 800 seats, the theater began doing outreach to attract more non-Chinese audiences by adding names of customers onto to their mailing list while handing out hard copies of synopsis translated in English about each movie being shown at the moment to customers. It was finally closed in 1993 with Robert Tam being the final owner.
Gang. Michael Chen, a leader of the Flying Dragons of the 70s in Manhattan's Chinatown was convicted and later acquitted for those charges of that incident and he was eventually murdered in 1982. At the time, gang violence was very prevalent in the Chinatown neighborhood including the rivalry of the Ghost Shadows and Flying Dragons. The theater then closed around the late 1980s to early 1990s. After it was closed, there was one plan by a local builder to build a hotel in the location, but it was later realized that it would not work due to not having the financial resources. In 1988, Glory China Development Ltd., of Hong Kong bought the property land and opened Glory China Tower in 1991. The bank was a tenant of Ka Wah Bank
from Hong Kong owned by CITIC Group located in China. However, it was converted into a HSBC bank much later on.
from Chatham Square to Market Street as his territories with a promise of riches from Hong Kong. Liu recruited restaurateurs, merchants, and gambling house operators and enlisted former gang members that were forced out of the gangs of the old Chinatown on Mott Street
and Pell Street. Chinatown then had gained another Tong(堂)
or known as in English translation, gathering place. Liu named his gang organization as Freemasons, borrowing the name from the time period of 19th century when there was uprising against the Manchu
. Liu had rented out a basement located on 52 East Broadway where it was a combination of headquarters and gaming hall. The Ghost Shadows
Gang, which had dominance over Mott Street had expressed concern about this new gang that had emerged and eventually leading to gang violence in the Golden Star Bar on East Broadway in 1982 resulting in three members of the Freemasons gang murdered. The Freemasons gang then fell apart and their attempted dominance over East Broadway never continued to grow. There was one incident 1977 where Nei Wong, the leader of the Ghost Shadows was hanging with a Hong Kong cop's girlfriend close to underneath the Manhattan Bridge on East Broadway in the Chinese Quarter Nightclub and that Hong Kong cop that had arrived over witnessed them and then pulled out his police gun and brutally murdered them. With Nei Wong gone, Nicky Louie took over his spot in the Ghost Shadows gang.
Today, the most known recent gangs on East Broadway are now from Fuzhou, Fujian of China since this street is now the main gathering center for Fuzhou immigrants. The Fuzhou gangs that are known are the Fuk Ching, the Snakehead (gang)
, which are well known to smuggle illegal immigrants from Fuzhou to the United States and other countries and the Tung On Gang. The Tung On gang was established between the 1980s–90s on East Broadway where they ran a gambling parlor. Parallel to the Cantonese Tong Gangs that had dominated the long time established Cantonese community in the western section of Chinatown, the Fuzhou gangs were the same for the Fuzhou community that was emerging in the 90s, which made Manhattan's Chinatown expand past its original traditional borderlines further east onto the Lower East Side. A man named Alan Man Sin Lau, the leader of Tung On gang had a Fuzhou gang status like Benny Ong to the Cantonese. The Fuk Ching gang members are often the workers of the Snakehead gang where they would be the ones to collect money from the illegal Fuzhou immigrants who owed money to the Snakeheads, which they had borrowed to come over to the United States. Sometimes, the Fuk Ching gang members would hold the migrants hostage and even violently beat them until they paid up the loans they owed. Although they are more recent than the Cantonese gangs in Chinatown, they have been around as early as the 80s prior to the time when the Cantonese Freemasons gang were attempting to claim East Broadway as its own territories, which fell apart after three Freemason gang members were killed in gang violence.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, an influx of Fuzhou
immigrants began to arrive and this street became a central hub for recently arrived Fuzhou
immigrants. It further completed the full development of it being part of Chinatown, this street went from once being very quiet to a very full active lively business district scene, and at the same time having their own separate language community from the Cantonese dominated community in the western portion of Chinatown or known as the Old Chinatown. The Bowery is the divider between the long time established Old Cantonese Chinatown and very recently established New Fuzhou Chinatown. Originally, the Bowery was eastern borderline of Manhattan's Chinatown before the large Fuzhou influx. The Fuzhou part of Chinatown primarily concentrated on the East Broadway and Eldridge Street portion became what is known as the New Chinatown of Manhattan and contributed to Manhattan's Chinatown growing further east onto the Lower East Side in contrast to before when this portion was moderately Chinese populated. More than half are illegal immigrants. With a large Fuzhou population, East Broadway is often referred to as Little Fuzhou
by Fuzhou immigrants. A considerable number of Fujianese clan associations can be found in and around the street, many of which are even specified by clans from certain villages of Fuzhou region, for example, the members of "Fujian Fuqi Association" are from Fuqi Village, Changle
County, Fuzhou, Fujian
. The Fukien American Association is also located here. Restaurants, markets and intercity bus lines run by Foochowese concentrate in East Broadway. A statue of Lin Zexu
, who was also a Fuzhouese, was erected in Chatham Square in 1997. During the 1980s, housing prices were dropping in Manhattan's Chinatown, but when the Fuzhou influx came in during the 1990s, property values increased very fast allowing landlords to make twice as much income. This also happened in Flushing, Queens
and also very recently in Chinatown, Brooklyn
, which is now on its way to become Brooklyn's Little Fuzhou.
When the Fuzhou immigrants began to arrive during the 80s and 90s, they were entering into a Chinese community that was very vastly Cantonese dominated. With many of them being unable to speak Cantonese and because of their illegal statuses, many of them were denied jobs and many resulted in criminal activities to survive a living, which later began to dominate the crimes that were going on in Manhattan's Chinatown.
Despite the Fuzhou population being large, the Cantonese population are still large on the Lower East Side, especially with the large Cantonese community established a long time ago in the western/historic(Chinatown's original size) portion of Chinatown also still being the main Chinese commercial business district for all of Manhattan's Chinatown and with the Chinatown Chinese businesses still mostly Cantonese owned along with Cantonese residing in more affluent areas also being important customers of Manhattan's Chinatown, the Lingua Franca of Chinatown still remains Cantonese even though Mandarin is becoming more common now as another Lingua Franca of Chinatown allowing Cantonese to dominate the cultural standards and economic resources of Chinatown. This influenced many Fuzhou people in Manhattan's Chinatown to learn the Cantonese language to maintain jobs and as advantages to bring Cantonese customers to additionally contribute to their businesses, especially the large businesses like the Dim Sum restaurants on East Broadway.
Parallel to Mott Street for the Cantonese, East Broadway is the same for the Fuzhou immigrants. The earliest illegal Fuzhou immigrants came as early as the 1970s starting mostly with men. Similar to the early Cantonese male immigrants that had arrived over establishing New York's Chinatown in the late 1800s on Mott Street, Pell Street and Doyers Street and eventually being able to bring their families into America, the Fuzhou immigration pattern started out similarly with mostly men arriving first and then later on bringing their families over.
, D
, N
and Q
subways lies the "East Broadway Mall" across the street from the previous location of Sun Sing Theater. This mall is the main gathering commercial section for the Fuzhou immigrants in the United States including the 88 Palace Restaurant serving Hong Kong style dim sum meals upstairs of the Mall. The mall is the center of contributing to the growth of Chinese restaurant businesses all over the United States. Many of the employment agencies are located at this mall sending many of the Fuzhou workers to all-you-can-eat buffets. The opening of Goyow, a Chinese prepaid debit card company, has also contributed to the popularity of this mall, as new Chinese immigrants visit the mall to buy a card that allows them to gain access to a Visa card, which they would be unable to otherwise achieve via traditional banks. Chinese buses are also stationed at this mall to accommodate the Fuzhou restaurant workers to locations where they have been arranged by the employment agencies. In the past, there have been issues with the restaurant managers of 88 Palace taking advantage of the Fuzhou workers by taking their tips, making nasty insults and giving them responsibilities that they were not supposed to be assigned to, which then led to lawsuits. Since the managers knew many of them were undocumented, they used their advantage to terminate of their employment of the ones who threatened legal actions against them. There has also been issues where the mall owners have been accused of illegally increasing the rents at very high rates on tenants who have been long time small businesses as an attempt to gentrify the mall. This resulted in protests against the mall owners. There have been accusations that the mall owners were prejudice against Fuzhou immigrant shopkeepers and threatened to clean them out of the mall. One example was a female tenant named Mei Rong Song, originally paying rent less than $3,000 a month, it increased dramatically to $12,000 in 2008. Mei Rong Song went into disagreement with her new rent rate and began fighting the eviction proceedings in court. In retaliation, the mall’s managers closed Mei Rong Song's heat and water services to her 280 square feet (26 m²) space. The property is city-owned and it was once vacant until in 1985, the city signed a 50 year lease with a developer building the East Broadway Mall. It was originally owned by the Cantonese, the restaurant upstairs was originally named "Triple Eight Palace" and the shops were primarily Cantonese. However, when East Broadway became the main gathering place for newly arrived Fuzhou immigrants, Fuzhou owned storefronts slowly grew at this mall and over time completely occupying the mall. Eventually the ownership of the mall was entirely sold to Fuzhou owners.
opened on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Hester Street serving as the largest Chinese supermarkets within the long time established Cantonese community on the other side of Manhattan's Chinatown.
in New York City and may soon surpass the one within Manhattan's Chinatown. Property values have doubled because of the rapidly increasing Fuzhou population concentration. It is also very possible at some later point, Fuzhou residents of Manhattan's Chinatown might start relocating to this new emerging Fuzhou community and/or other Chinese communities in NYC to flee away from the increasing rent prices in Manhattan's Chinatown.
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
neighborhoods of the New York City borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. East Broadway begins at Chatham Square
Chatham Square, Manhattan
Chatham Square is a major intersection in Manhattan's Chinatown. The square lies at the confluence of seven streets: Bowery, East Broadway, St. James Place, Mott Street, Oliver Street, Worth Street and Park Row. The postal ZIP Code is 10038.-History:...
(also known as Kimlau Square) and runs eastward under the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
, continues past Seward Park
Seward Park (Manhattan)
Seward Park is a public park and playground in the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, north of East Broadway, east of Essex Street...
and the eastern end of Canal Street
Canal Street (Manhattan)
Canal Street is a major street in New York City, crossing lower Manhattan to join New Jersey in the west to Brooklyn in the east . It forms the main spine of Chinatown, and separates it from Little Italy...
, and ends at Grand Street
Grand Street (Manhattan)
Grand Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City. It runs east-west parallel to and south of Delancey Street, from SoHo through Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side to the East River....
. The western portion of the street is primarily populated by Chinese immigrants
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
(mainly Foochowese from Fuzhou
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
, Fujian), while the eastern portion is home to a large number of Jew
American Jews
American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
s. One section in the eastern part of East Broadway, between Clinton Street and Pitt Street, is unofficially referred to by residents as Shteibel Way, since it is lined with approximately ten small synagogues ("shteibels").
Transportation
The M9 busMTA New York City Transit buses
New York City Transit buses, marked on the buses MTA New York City Bus, is a bus service that operates in all five boroughs of New York City, employing over 4300 buses on 219 routes within the five boroughs of New York City in the United States...
runs on East Broadway in both directions between Chatham Square
Chatham Square, Manhattan
Chatham Square is a major intersection in Manhattan's Chinatown. The square lies at the confluence of seven streets: Bowery, East Broadway, St. James Place, Mott Street, Oliver Street, Worth Street and Park Row. The postal ZIP Code is 10038.-History:...
and Canal Street
Canal Street (Manhattan)
Canal Street is a major street in New York City, crossing lower Manhattan to join New Jersey in the west to Brooklyn in the east . It forms the main spine of Chinatown, and separates it from Little Italy...
. The downtown M22 bus
MTA New York City Transit buses
New York City Transit buses, marked on the buses MTA New York City Bus, is a bus service that operates in all five boroughs of New York City, employing over 4300 buses on 219 routes within the five boroughs of New York City in the United States...
runs westward on East Broadway between Pike Street and Chatham Square
Chatham Square, Manhattan
Chatham Square is a major intersection in Manhattan's Chinatown. The square lies at the confluence of seven streets: Bowery, East Broadway, St. James Place, Mott Street, Oliver Street, Worth Street and Park Row. The postal ZIP Code is 10038.-History:...
.
The East Broadway
East Broadway (IND Sixth Avenue Line)
East Broadway is a station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the F train at all times.There is an abandoned tower at the north end of the island platform. The station has two mezzanines, four open staircases, three closed staircases, and one escalator...
station of the IND Sixth Avenue Line
IND Sixth Avenue Line
The Sixth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in the United States. It runs mainly under Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and continues south through the Rutgers Street Tunnel to Brooklyn...
(F
F (New York City Subway service)
The F Sixth Avenue Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs on the IND Sixth Avenue Line through Manhattan....
) is located near East Broadway.
Wall Street of Chinatown
East Broadway has been very well known to be in the middle of what is known as the Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
of Chinatown due to the significant number of financial banks owned by the Chinese concentrated on this street and surrounding streets. The banks that are located on this Wall Street of Chinatown are Asia Bank
Asia Bank
Asia Bank, N.A. is an Overseas Chinese bank with offices in the Northeastern United States.Its offices are located as follows:*Main Branch on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens, NY...
, United Orient Bank
United Orient Bank
United Orient Bank is an overseas Chinese bank in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, with branch office in Chinatown, Manhattan, this privately-held community bank claims itself as the first indigenous community bank in Chinatown, Manhattan when it was first established on April...
, and CitiBank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
(corner of Mott Street
Mott Street
Mott Street is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north-south direction in the borough of Manhattan in New York City in the United States. It is best known as Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Chatham Square in the south to Bleecker Street in the north...
) on Chatham Square. First American International Bank
First American International Bank
First American International Bank is an overseas Chinese bank in the United States. Headquartered in Brooklyn, with branch offices in Chinatown, Manhattan and in Chinatown, Flushing, this privately-held community bank was first established on November 15, 1999.The bank was first established to...
(formerly Hong Kong Bank) and Abacus Federal Savings Bank
Abacus Federal Savings Bank
Abacus Federal Savings Bank is a Chinese American bank in the United States founded in December, 1984 by a group of business leaders from the Chinese community in New York City. The founders' original purpose was to provide banking services to immigrants and local residents of lower Manhattan...
on the Bowery
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
. Onto East Broadway are Bank of China
Bank of China
Bank of China Limited is one of the big four state-owned commercial banks of the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1912 by the Government of the Republic of China, to replace the Government Bank of Imperial China. It is the oldest bank in China...
, Cathay Bank
Cathay Bank
Cathay Bank is a Chinese American bank based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1962, it has since expanded its network throughout California and into Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, Illinois, and New Jersey...
(formerly the Golden City Bank), East West Bank
East West Bank
East West Bank is a Chinese American bank in the state of California in the United States. It has 119 branch locations in northern and southern California, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, two overseas branches in Hong Kong, one each in Shanghai and Shantou and representative...
(formerly the Hang Seng Bank), a second Chinatown branch of First American International Bank
First American International Bank
First American International Bank is an overseas Chinese bank in the United States. Headquartered in Brooklyn, with branch offices in Chinatown, Manhattan and in Chinatown, Flushing, this privately-held community bank was first established on November 15, 1999.The bank was first established to...
and formerly named as Glory China Tower in the former spot of the Pagoda theater, the HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
bank. A Cantonese newspaper company named Wah May Press was also located on 9 East Broadway.
Chinese Movie Theaters In The Past
In the past, East Broadway was very well known to the Chinese population for having two Chinese theaters as several other Chinese theaters were located in different parts of Chinatown. However, all the Chinese movie theaters have closed in Chinatown.Sun Sing Theater
In 1911, the Florence theater with 980 seats opened under the Manhattan Bridge with the rumbling subways on 75–85 East Broadway showing Yiddish entertainment. Next to the theater, there was also a furniture shop named Solerwitz & Law, est. 1886. It was then converted as the New Canton Theater in 1942. It featured Cantonese operas and other types of performances such as "Selling Rough", "Beauty on the Palm", and "The Beautiful Butterflies" to name on record. The performances often featured 1,400-year-old Chinese tradition usually based on folklore. Cantonese opera was very often looked down on by westerners as sounding annoying, inhuman and distasteful. A professional Cantonese opera troupe, Tai Wah Wing came from Hong Kong to New York in 1940 to perform and changed their name to Nau Joek Sen Zung Wa Ban Nam Ney Keik Tin (New York New China Mixed Opera Company) once arriving in New York. Being that they were stranded in New York by World War II with 20 male and 7 female actors along with six musicians, they kept the New Canton Theater active and going for 10 years with their nightly performances of classical Cantonese opera on Mondays-Saturdays from 7 pm-11:30 pm and on Sundays from 6 pm-10:30 pm. At one time in 1941 Claude Levi-StraussClaude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
witnessed their performance while he was in New York serving as a cultural adviser for the French Embassy. When the theater was renamed as Sun Sing theater in 1950, during that same time they once again changed their troupe name to Nam Ney Keik Tin (Mixed Opera Company). Once they discontinued during May 1950, the over-half-century-long tradition of Cantonese opera performances ended in the Chinatown neighborhood and then the Sun Sing theater during the same year began to feature Chinese films with English subtitles included sometimes. It was in danger of being torn down because of an additional deck being added onto the Manhattan Bridge, but it was saved when city engineers used bridge supports and seats had to be eliminated for the bridge supports. In 1972, the theater started to provide diverse entertainments of film and stage performances. Like many movie theaters, the theater also sold snacks with also Chinese snacks such as preserved plum, dried cuttlefish, and shrimp chips. During the last 15 years of the theater's existence under the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
with the B
B (New York City Subway service)
The B Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs over the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan....
, D
D (New York City Subway service)
The D Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line through Manhattan....
, and Q
Q (New York City Subway service)
The Q Broadway Express is a service of the New York City Subway. It is colored yellow on the route sign, on station signs and the official subway map, as it represents a service provided on the BMT Broadway Line through Manhattan....
trains rumbling loudly above, it featured wild films involving battles and violence. During its final years with 800 seats, the theater began doing outreach to attract more non-Chinese audiences by adding names of customers onto to their mailing list while handing out hard copies of synopsis translated in English about each movie being shown at the moment to customers. It was finally closed in 1993 with Robert Tam being the final owner.
Pagoda Theater
In 1964, Lucas Liang who was a restaurateur and the president of the Catherine enterprises opened the Pagoda theater at 11 East Broadway on the corner of Catherine Street after eight months of construction and after many directors, mostly restaurant operators all together raised $400,000 to build the theater. Paul R. Screvane, president of the City Council at the time was invited as a guest of honor to the ceremony on the opening of the theater. The seating capacities accommodated 492 seats. The theater featured Chinese films with English subtitles. On the weekend mornings, cartoons in English were shown to children. There was also a room facility where there was a coffee bar selling Chinese and American food products with a color television set. There was one incident in 1977 where there was a shootout in the crowded theater killing two members of the Ghost ShadowsGhost Shadows
The Ghost Shadows are a Chinese American gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the 1980s through the early 1990s.Formed in 1971 by immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia, the gang is believed to be under control of the On Leong Tong...
Gang. Michael Chen, a leader of the Flying Dragons of the 70s in Manhattan's Chinatown was convicted and later acquitted for those charges of that incident and he was eventually murdered in 1982. At the time, gang violence was very prevalent in the Chinatown neighborhood including the rivalry of the Ghost Shadows and Flying Dragons. The theater then closed around the late 1980s to early 1990s. After it was closed, there was one plan by a local builder to build a hotel in the location, but it was later realized that it would not work due to not having the financial resources. In 1988, Glory China Development Ltd., of Hong Kong bought the property land and opened Glory China Tower in 1991. The bank was a tenant of Ka Wah Bank
Ka Wah Bank
Ka Wah Bank Limited was a bank in Hong Kong. It was acquired by CITIC International Financial Holdings and renamed as CITIC Ka Wah Bank Limited .- History :*1922: Ka Wah...
from Hong Kong owned by CITIC Group located in China. However, it was converted into a HSBC bank much later on.
Chinatown Expanding Onto East Broadway
In the beginning, East Broadway was home to the large Jewish community on the Lower East Side and then later on Puerto Ricans began to settle onto this street. During the 1960s, an influx of Hong Kong immigrants were arriving over along with Taiwanese immigrants as well into Manhattan's Chinatown and then the Cantonese people and businesses also began to settle onto this street as Manhattan's Chinatown was expanding into other parts of the Lower East Side and Manhattan's Chinatown Chinese population was very vastly Cantonese dominated at the time. During the time period, Manhattan's Chinatown was being referred as a growing Little Hong Kong. Vietnamese people also began to settle on this street as well. During this time, East Broadway has not evolved into a Little Fuzhou enclave yet, however small numbers of Fuzhou immigrants have existed around the area of Division Street and East Broadway as early as the 70s and early 80s, including the Fujianese gang named the Fuk Ching. Although the Chinese population have been increasing in this portion of the Lower East Side since the 1960s, it was still not fully developed as part of Chinatown and it was still a mixed neighborhood. It was during the 1980s when an influx of Fuzhou immigrants flooded East Broadway and evolving into a Little Fuzhou enclave, it became fully part of Chinatown or the New Chinatown of Manhattan.Chinese Gangs In The Past
East Broadway was once known to be one of the territories of Cantonese gangs of Manhattan's Chinatown. The Golden Star Bar, which was once located on 9 East Broadway, was a place that the Chinese gangs often hung out. A man named Herbert Liu, a former Hong Kong police officer had immigrated to Manhattan's Chinatown in the late 60s. After arriving, later on Herbert Liu had encountered a gang member of Chinatown named Benny Ong, who was the boss of the Hip Sing Gang at the time and trying to recruit Liu to be a gang member. Herbert Liu had some meetings with Ong, which influenced him during the 1980s to begin making East Broadway and Division StreetDivision Street, Manhattan
Division Street is a one way street in the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs in a northeasterly direction with westbound traffic and passes beneath the Manhattan Bridge...
from Chatham Square to Market Street as his territories with a promise of riches from Hong Kong. Liu recruited restaurateurs, merchants, and gambling house operators and enlisted former gang members that were forced out of the gangs of the old Chinatown on Mott Street
Mott Street
Mott Street is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north-south direction in the borough of Manhattan in New York City in the United States. It is best known as Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Chatham Square in the south to Bleecker Street in the north...
and Pell Street. Chinatown then had gained another Tong(堂)
Tong (organization)
The word tong means "hall" or "gathering place". In North America a tong is a type of organization found among Chinese living in the United States and Canada. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity...
or known as in English translation, gathering place. Liu named his gang organization as Freemasons, borrowing the name from the time period of 19th century when there was uprising against the Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
. Liu had rented out a basement located on 52 East Broadway where it was a combination of headquarters and gaming hall. The Ghost Shadows
Ghost Shadows
The Ghost Shadows are a Chinese American gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the 1980s through the early 1990s.Formed in 1971 by immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia, the gang is believed to be under control of the On Leong Tong...
Gang, which had dominance over Mott Street had expressed concern about this new gang that had emerged and eventually leading to gang violence in the Golden Star Bar on East Broadway in 1982 resulting in three members of the Freemasons gang murdered. The Freemasons gang then fell apart and their attempted dominance over East Broadway never continued to grow. There was one incident 1977 where Nei Wong, the leader of the Ghost Shadows was hanging with a Hong Kong cop's girlfriend close to underneath the Manhattan Bridge on East Broadway in the Chinese Quarter Nightclub and that Hong Kong cop that had arrived over witnessed them and then pulled out his police gun and brutally murdered them. With Nei Wong gone, Nicky Louie took over his spot in the Ghost Shadows gang.
Today, the most known recent gangs on East Broadway are now from Fuzhou, Fujian of China since this street is now the main gathering center for Fuzhou immigrants. The Fuzhou gangs that are known are the Fuk Ching, the Snakehead (gang)
Snakehead (gang)
Snakeheads are Chinese gangs that smuggle people to other countries. They are found in the Fujian region of China and smuggle their customers into wealthier Western countries such as those in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and some nearby wealthier countries such as Taiwan and...
, which are well known to smuggle illegal immigrants from Fuzhou to the United States and other countries and the Tung On Gang. The Tung On gang was established between the 1980s–90s on East Broadway where they ran a gambling parlor. Parallel to the Cantonese Tong Gangs that had dominated the long time established Cantonese community in the western section of Chinatown, the Fuzhou gangs were the same for the Fuzhou community that was emerging in the 90s, which made Manhattan's Chinatown expand past its original traditional borderlines further east onto the Lower East Side. A man named Alan Man Sin Lau, the leader of Tung On gang had a Fuzhou gang status like Benny Ong to the Cantonese. The Fuk Ching gang members are often the workers of the Snakehead gang where they would be the ones to collect money from the illegal Fuzhou immigrants who owed money to the Snakeheads, which they had borrowed to come over to the United States. Sometimes, the Fuk Ching gang members would hold the migrants hostage and even violently beat them until they paid up the loans they owed. Although they are more recent than the Cantonese gangs in Chinatown, they have been around as early as the 80s prior to the time when the Cantonese Freemasons gang were attempting to claim East Broadway as its own territories, which fell apart after three Freemason gang members were killed in gang violence.
Little Fuzhou, Chinatown NYC
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
immigrants began to arrive and this street became a central hub for recently arrived Fuzhou
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
immigrants. It further completed the full development of it being part of Chinatown, this street went from once being very quiet to a very full active lively business district scene, and at the same time having their own separate language community from the Cantonese dominated community in the western portion of Chinatown or known as the Old Chinatown. The Bowery is the divider between the long time established Old Cantonese Chinatown and very recently established New Fuzhou Chinatown. Originally, the Bowery was eastern borderline of Manhattan's Chinatown before the large Fuzhou influx. The Fuzhou part of Chinatown primarily concentrated on the East Broadway and Eldridge Street portion became what is known as the New Chinatown of Manhattan and contributed to Manhattan's Chinatown growing further east onto the Lower East Side in contrast to before when this portion was moderately Chinese populated. More than half are illegal immigrants. With a large Fuzhou population, East Broadway is often referred to as Little Fuzhou
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
by Fuzhou immigrants. A considerable number of Fujianese clan associations can be found in and around the street, many of which are even specified by clans from certain villages of Fuzhou region, for example, the members of "Fujian Fuqi Association" are from Fuqi Village, Changle
Changle
ChangLe is a county-level city of suburban Fuzhou located in east Fujian province, People's Republic of China. Administered by Fuzhou city. Changle occupies a land area of 648 square kilometers and a sea area of 1327 square kilometers. Changle was established in the sixth year of Emperor Wu-De ...
County, Fuzhou, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
. The Fukien American Association is also located here. Restaurants, markets and intercity bus lines run by Foochowese concentrate in East Broadway. A statue of Lin Zexu
Lin Zexu
Lín Zéxú ; 30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850) was a Chinese scholar and official during the Qing Dynasty.He is most recognized for his conduct and his constant position on the "high moral ground" in his fight, as a "shepherd" of his people, against the opium trade in Guangzhou...
, who was also a Fuzhouese, was erected in Chatham Square in 1997. During the 1980s, housing prices were dropping in Manhattan's Chinatown, but when the Fuzhou influx came in during the 1990s, property values increased very fast allowing landlords to make twice as much income. This also happened in Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
and also very recently in Chinatown, Brooklyn
Chinatown, Brooklyn
Chinatown, Brooklyn, or Brooklyn Chinatown , in the Sunset Park area of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself...
, which is now on its way to become Brooklyn's Little Fuzhou.
When the Fuzhou immigrants began to arrive during the 80s and 90s, they were entering into a Chinese community that was very vastly Cantonese dominated. With many of them being unable to speak Cantonese and because of their illegal statuses, many of them were denied jobs and many resulted in criminal activities to survive a living, which later began to dominate the crimes that were going on in Manhattan's Chinatown.
Despite the Fuzhou population being large, the Cantonese population are still large on the Lower East Side, especially with the large Cantonese community established a long time ago in the western/historic(Chinatown's original size) portion of Chinatown also still being the main Chinese commercial business district for all of Manhattan's Chinatown and with the Chinatown Chinese businesses still mostly Cantonese owned along with Cantonese residing in more affluent areas also being important customers of Manhattan's Chinatown, the Lingua Franca of Chinatown still remains Cantonese even though Mandarin is becoming more common now as another Lingua Franca of Chinatown allowing Cantonese to dominate the cultural standards and economic resources of Chinatown. This influenced many Fuzhou people in Manhattan's Chinatown to learn the Cantonese language to maintain jobs and as advantages to bring Cantonese customers to additionally contribute to their businesses, especially the large businesses like the Dim Sum restaurants on East Broadway.
Parallel to Mott Street for the Cantonese, East Broadway is the same for the Fuzhou immigrants. The earliest illegal Fuzhou immigrants came as early as the 1970s starting mostly with men. Similar to the early Cantonese male immigrants that had arrived over establishing New York's Chinatown in the late 1800s on Mott Street, Pell Street and Doyers Street and eventually being able to bring their families into America, the Fuzhou immigration pattern started out similarly with mostly men arriving first and then later on bringing their families over.
East Broadway Mall
Under the Manhattan Bridge with the current loudly rumbling BB (New York City Subway service)
The B Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs over the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan....
, D
D (New York City Subway service)
The D Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line through Manhattan....
, N
N (New York City Subway service)
The N Broadway Local is a service of the New York City Subway. Its route bullet is colored yellow, which appears on station signs and the NYC Subway map, as it represents a service provided on the BMT Broadway Line through Manhattan....
and Q
Q (New York City Subway service)
The Q Broadway Express is a service of the New York City Subway. It is colored yellow on the route sign, on station signs and the official subway map, as it represents a service provided on the BMT Broadway Line through Manhattan....
subways lies the "East Broadway Mall" across the street from the previous location of Sun Sing Theater. This mall is the main gathering commercial section for the Fuzhou immigrants in the United States including the 88 Palace Restaurant serving Hong Kong style dim sum meals upstairs of the Mall. The mall is the center of contributing to the growth of Chinese restaurant businesses all over the United States. Many of the employment agencies are located at this mall sending many of the Fuzhou workers to all-you-can-eat buffets. The opening of Goyow, a Chinese prepaid debit card company, has also contributed to the popularity of this mall, as new Chinese immigrants visit the mall to buy a card that allows them to gain access to a Visa card, which they would be unable to otherwise achieve via traditional banks. Chinese buses are also stationed at this mall to accommodate the Fuzhou restaurant workers to locations where they have been arranged by the employment agencies. In the past, there have been issues with the restaurant managers of 88 Palace taking advantage of the Fuzhou workers by taking their tips, making nasty insults and giving them responsibilities that they were not supposed to be assigned to, which then led to lawsuits. Since the managers knew many of them were undocumented, they used their advantage to terminate of their employment of the ones who threatened legal actions against them. There has also been issues where the mall owners have been accused of illegally increasing the rents at very high rates on tenants who have been long time small businesses as an attempt to gentrify the mall. This resulted in protests against the mall owners. There have been accusations that the mall owners were prejudice against Fuzhou immigrant shopkeepers and threatened to clean them out of the mall. One example was a female tenant named Mei Rong Song, originally paying rent less than $3,000 a month, it increased dramatically to $12,000 in 2008. Mei Rong Song went into disagreement with her new rent rate and began fighting the eviction proceedings in court. In retaliation, the mall’s managers closed Mei Rong Song's heat and water services to her 280 square feet (26 m²) space. The property is city-owned and it was once vacant until in 1985, the city signed a 50 year lease with a developer building the East Broadway Mall. It was originally owned by the Cantonese, the restaurant upstairs was originally named "Triple Eight Palace" and the shops were primarily Cantonese. However, when East Broadway became the main gathering place for newly arrived Fuzhou immigrants, Fuzhou owned storefronts slowly grew at this mall and over time completely occupying the mall. Eventually the ownership of the mall was entirely sold to Fuzhou owners.
New York Supermarket
Under the Manhattan Bridge, there is also a New York Supermarket serving to the Fuzhou community as the largest Chinese Supermarket selling different food varieties. There was also another large supermarket named Hong Kong Supermarket located on this street, however it was destroyed in a fire. Parallel to this newly established Fuzhou community, another New York Supermarket also opened up on Mott Street and as well as a new Hong Kong SupermarketHong Kong Supermarket
Hong Kong Supermarket is a growing supermarket chain in the Los Angeles region of Southern California. It operates mainly in the newer suburban overseas Chinese communities, particularly in the Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New York City areas....
opened on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Hester Street serving as the largest Chinese supermarkets within the long time established Cantonese community on the other side of Manhattan's Chinatown.
Satellite Little Fuzhou emerging in Chinatown Brooklyn
In even more recent years, the number of new arriving Fuzhou immigrants to Manhattan's Chinatown have been declining due to increasing gentrification in Chinatown. The increasing Fuzhou influx to New York City has shifted to Brooklyn's Chinatown in the recent decade because Manhattan's Chinatown has also become overcrowded and because of their desire to live in a Chinese community, Brooklyn's Chinatown is now the most preferable Chinese community for them to settle. Brooklyn's Chinatown is increasingly becoming the satellite Little FuzhouChinatown, Brooklyn
Chinatown, Brooklyn, or Brooklyn Chinatown , in the Sunset Park area of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself...
in New York City and may soon surpass the one within Manhattan's Chinatown. Property values have doubled because of the rapidly increasing Fuzhou population concentration. It is also very possible at some later point, Fuzhou residents of Manhattan's Chinatown might start relocating to this new emerging Fuzhou community and/or other Chinese communities in NYC to flee away from the increasing rent prices in Manhattan's Chinatown.
See also
- Brooklyn's Fuzhou Town(福州埠)Chinatown, BrooklynChinatown, Brooklyn, or Brooklyn Chinatown , in the Sunset Park area of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself...
- Chinatown, Flushing (法拉盛華埠)Chinatown, FlushingChinatown, Flushing, or Flushing Chinatown , in the Flushing area of the borough of Queens in New York City, is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself...
- ChinatownChinatownA Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
- Chinatowns in Canada and the United States
- List of Chinatowns in the United States
External links
- East Broadway Storefronts – photographs of buildings and stores along East Broadway from Chinatown through the Lower East Side.
- Sun Sing Theater – a photo of the Sun Sing Theater under the Manhattan Bridge on East Broadway.
- Pagoda Theater – a photo of the Pagoda Theater on East Broadway and Catherine Street.
- Newspaper on Pagoda Theater – a photo of a newspaper article published by Sam Zolotow on May 29, 1964 on the opening of the Pagoda Theater.
