Chinatown Flushing
From Decoding New York
| Introduction |
| Manhattan |
| * Evolution |
| * What's Real |
| * Here v. There |
| * Economy |
| Flushing |
| * Evolution |
| * What's Real |
| * Here v. There |
| * Economy |
| Brooklyn 8th Avenue |
| * Evolution |
| * What's Real |
| * Here v. There |
| * Economy |
| Comparison |
| * Photo Gallery |
| * Sources
|
The Flushing Chinatown is located in Northern Queens, it is found between Flushing Meadows Park and Utopia Parkway. Flushing’s northern boundary is the Whitestone Expressway and its southern boundary is the LIE. The Dutch first settled Flushing in the 1620s purchasing the land from the Matinecock tribe. They named the area Vlissingen for the Dutch word meaning salt meadow. In 1657 the Flushing Remonstrance was issued, as local Quakers petitioned for religious freedom from Peter Stuyvesant. This document would foreshadow the religious freedom that became a pivotal part of the United States government. In 1664 the British took control and renamed the area Flushing. Flushing was part of the original Queens County and joined New York City in 1898. Flushing has long been known as one Queen’s largest commercial areas. Up until the 1970s, Flushin was a middle class neighborhood populated mostly by Greeks and Italians. As New York went through a financial crisis during this time, these people left the area causing housing prices to drop. The low prices appealed to new immigrants from China and Korea who quickly came to dominate the area. Many of the Chinese immigrants came to Flushing from Taiwan and as second-generation immigrants from Latin America. Today Flushing’s population is 44% Asian and of this amount 41% were Chinese and 38% were Korean. The area around Main Street is highly congested with many stores and restaurants. The surrounding area is filled with apartment buildings and multi family homes that are connected. In the Kissena park area of Flushing there are many large single-family homes valued at over 1 million dollars. Flushing is the largest and wealthiest Chinatown, and remains one of New York’s most important urban centers.
