User:Jonmchan

From The Peopling of New York City

Hello... My name is Jonathan Chan!

The^[1] story to how I became a New Yorker can be summed up in one sentence: I never “became” a New Yorker; I have always been one. You see, being a New Yorker was not a conscious decision for me, nor was I subject to a lengthy assimilation process – I simply was always a New Yorker from birth. I was born in Manhattan at Beth Israel Medical Center and I grew up in Brooklyn my entire life…

Though that is the simple answer, we cannot leave it at that. I could have easily been born in a whole different country or not at all if my parents did not happen to meet in New York. So in reality, the story to how I became a New Yorker originates at least a generation, possibly two, three, or more back. My parents immigrated into this country when they were children, my dad was 11 and my mom was 5. Though both of their families originated from or near Taishan province in China, my parents did not meet until they came to New York. From what I am told, my grandparents (or great grandparents, or even great-great grandparents) moved away from their villages in southern China to pursue economic success in Hong Kong. This is where both my parents were born. Though Hong Kong was better than China, everyone longed to come to America and experience the American Dream – the land of opportunity where anyone could better himself or herself if they worked hard.

My father’s and my mother’s story differ somewhat and I am missing a lot of the details, but from what I could gather, none of my grandparents immigrated into the United States legally. My father’s father somehow got himself into South America and slipped into the United States. I am not certain, but I believe he had relatives already in New York, perhaps his uncle or brother. For 8 years, he did various jobs sending money to support the family, eventually bringing them over. When the family moved here, they lived in Long Island for a short time, but soon settled into a townhouse in Brooklyn (later the place that I too would call home) buying it for a little over 30,000 dollars. It was the late 1960s.

My mother’s story is even more skewed to me. I am told my great-grandfather came to America early to work the railroads sending all the money to the family. Eventually, they bought a large apartment complex in an upper class neighborhood in Hong Kong. Although they were in a upper class neighborhood, they were unable to maintain the lifestyle and compete with movie stars and rich and famous people that were their neighbors. I am told my grandmother wanted to move to America and paid off people to sponsor the family to come legally. They settled down in Chinatown and lived in a small apartment. In New York, the two families struggled and developed. Sticking close to the Chinese community, my grandparents found it easy to continue living very similarly to how they lived in Hong Kong, even not learning English and using Chinese all the time. My parents though became more Americanized, learning English by going through the public school systems. Even though my parents lived in the same city for many years, had similar backgrounds, and even lived and interacted in the same community, they would have never met if they had never found their need for God. Perhaps the most important and life-changing decision, my parents separately realized that if they were to die and meet their Maker, the pursuit of wealth and economic betterment would not weigh any against their sins and that they needed a savior – Jesus Christ. My father became a Christian when he was fourteen-years-old and my mother when she was eighteen. They continued being faithful Christians for years, and eventually met each other in the church. My parents married when my father was 29 and my mother 23, and I was born two years later.

From my family’s roots in China to my parents and grandparents settling in New York, it has been quite the journey. Although I never moved anywhere outside of New York, let alone Brooklyn, how I became a New Yorker was the result of a dream that brought my ancestors through many twists and turns all around the world. What appeared to be unrelated decisions, such as two separate families’ decision to move from Hong Kong to New York had great consequences in shaping my existence. I believe in the end, it is providence that brought my parents together and that led to my existence as a New Yorker today.