Upper Manhattan Sees Chinese Influx
Two uptown Manhattan neighborhoods are seeing an increase in Asian immigrants like never before.
The Daily News reports that Harlem and East Harlem have seen their Chinese population jump by more than 200 percent from 2000 to 2010.
The newspaper cited 2010 Census data analyzed by the CUNY Center for Urban Research.
According to the News, the reason for the change is the same as in any neighborhood — Asians are moving for more space and lower rent.
Harlem and East Harlem’s Asian populations grew from 520 residents in 2000 to 1,766 in 2010, the News said.
“It’s more convenient to live in Chinatown since there is more Chinese food and services there, but the rent is cheaper here,” Yue Wu, 30, told the paper. She moved to East Harlem from Chinatown a year ago.
Some Upper Manhattan Chinese residents told the paper that they still travel to Chinatown for the Asian grocers and other services.
“Chinese people like Chinese food and Chinese vegetables,” Yang Xiu Ain, 65, told the News. She moved to East Harlem from Elmhurst, Queens, two months ago, and shops in Chinatown twice a week.