Fujianese community @

Manhattan, New York

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East Boardway #2. New York City. 2007

The emergence of the Fujianese community introduces new dynamics of "transnational politics" in Chinatown. Most Fujianese are pro-mainland China. In contrast, the Chinatown old-timers are more likely to be pro-Taiwan. So, for the first time in 1995, a Fujianese-led organization (the United Chinese Associations of New York) celebrated China's National Day on October 1, but the Chinatown old-timers (led by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association) continued to celebrate October 10 ("double 10" as some call it), the day of the birth of the Republic of China. So far both celebrations have been peaceful.

source: From Fujian to New York: Understanding the New Chinese ImmigrationExcerpts from "Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives," edited by David Kyle and Rey Koslowski By Zai Liang and Wenzhen Ye (The John Hopkins University Press, 2001)

East Boardway #1. New York City. 2007.

East Broadway is sometimes called "Little Fuzhou" because of the recent influx of so many new legal, and illegal Chinese immigrants, most of whom are from Fuzhou, China.

The entry of large numbers of Fujianese into New York and especially their concentration in Manhattan's Chinatown have implications for the ethnic economy and politics of the city. Increasingly, the Fujianese, as new blood in Chinatown, are playing a greater role in the Chinese community and in many ways are rivaling the old-timers from Guangdong and Taiwan. Lii (1996a, 1996b, 1997) noted that Fujianese have taken control of almost all the takeout places in the New York area that used to be owned by ethnic Chinese from Guangdong and Southeast Asia. The entry of a large number of Fujianese immigrants is also providing a new source of labor for the garment industry, which often pays less than the minimum wage. Furthermore, there has been a heavy concentration of Fujianese immigrants in some sections of Manhattan's Chinatown; for example, some have called East Broadway "Fuzhou Street". At the same time, there is also evidence that Fujianese are expanding their businesses to Texas and Indiana.