How Chinatown was built on NY's Most NOTORIOUS Slum | How it Became Manhattan

[@valmarsiglia]

I love Columbus Park. When I lived in NYC, I used to love going to Chinatown on a sunny day, getting a nice meal, then sitting in Columbus Park watching the traditional Chinese musicians. One of the best spots in NYC.

[@rustybearden1800]

The area of Mott and Canal streets was one of my favorite places to go and really just wander around. Electronic shops, quasi hardware/houseware shops, furniture and decorative lighting stores, incredible culinary supply shops for any and everything Asian, clothing stores and, of course, the amazing restaurants and food shops. You could find the most amazing pots and pans, woks, kitchen utensils, cleavers and knives of all shapes and sizes for a very affordable price. I used to frequent a wonderful Vegan Buddhist restaurant right next to a storefront Buddhist temple on Mott Street. SO GOOD! Damned if I can remember the name of that place but it WAS Chinatown and you hardly heard English even spoken so I usually remembered places by their location. This was old fashioned NYC, bustling and loud and crowded and full of people and things to do. One of my best memories of my many years spent in NYC. I get very homesick for it to this day.

[@BruceLibertine10]

Loved the video and all the history surrounding Chinatown. Fortunately I’ve visited New York several times and it’s always fascinating to learn new things about the city. 🗽

[@BrightTripTravel]

The curiosities are endless!

[@ElizabethHernandez-ub7mv]

12:12 Wasn’t there protests surrounding the Museum of Chinese in America bc the board chair happened to be one of the biggest landlords in Chinatown who allowed de Blasio’s administration to construct a large mega jail in the heart of Chinatown? I remember hearing that the museum got like $35 million as a bribe & the landlord displaced a big restaurant. Asking bc I haven’t been to the city in about 2 years so I don’t know if there was any development with the mega jail but I really hope it doesn’t destroy Chinatown

[@ihaverandomlifevideos]

yes

[@Paperskinglassbones]

yep. As a Chinese-American, I can't support this museum

[@KC4NY]

Great Show! Chinatown taken over much of Little Italy. Another Little Italy 116th St. Grandparents had 3 pasta, pork shops and brownstone up there. Perhaps you can sleuth there?

[@halchemy]

I lived right next to it for 4 years as a city student (on lafayette street), walked through that street every week, and never knew it had so much history.

[@tjdomerny4847]

My only real problem with this vid is its use of euphemism. These were not "working class" nor "marginalized". The were POOR, destitute. The bigotry v the Irish was because the were CATHOLIC. Until really the 90s, the inhabitants of 5 Points were invariably Irish, who weren't escaping "potato famine" but British starvation. There was no dearth of food in Ireland. It was all owned by British who exported it all to England.

[@anonymousanonymous-u9f]

They basically bullied and robbed half the world. Maybe the British government needs to do repatriation to those they have exploited.

[@biggreasy1221]

O’poor me - they’ve stolen me lucky charms - have a pint and write a poem about it

[@patavinity1262]

There was indeed a potato famine (caused by the potato crop entirely failing) which did indeed cause a dearth of food. That's a matter of historical fact.

[@ivand9610]

The 90s? Like 1990s? Lol

[@mizsevenoneeight685]

@@patavinity1262#criticalthinking 🧐 The reason potato crop failure caused widespread famine amongst the Irish population is because all of the other food crops in Ireland (of which there were plenty) were usurped by England for their own consumption, leaving only 🥔 for Irish people. Had that not been the circumstance there would have been no need for Irish people to leave and seek food elsewhere.

[@SarthakAgarwalClientNo23]

"...and most importantly Understand Where You Are". Great perspective to have when traveling.

[@DanielsimsSteiner]

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@Zizazap23]

Well done! You should do one on Coney Island. Very interesting stuff with John Y McCain and the other Barons of Coney Island.

[@Lenorven]

Thanks for making this I need to make a presentation about China town thank you you save me I can keep you updated if it went well❤

[@tristanwong9740]

How did it go?

[@potatoindespair4494]

great video! as an ABC I spent my life visiting chinatown frequently but I never knew some of the early history. I must say it would have been nice to interview a local as well for their perspective, though!

[@robertewalt7789]

For the uninitiated, ABC means American Born Chinese.

[@CuriousEarthMan]

Great retelling of nyc history, thank you! I'm always amazed at how Manhattan's natural features were altered to suit development, whether the grid plan in itself, or other endeavors over the years!

[@VoyagesJapan]

Really awesome job on this story!! So much information that I had no clue about, even after living in NY for 13 years. That’s how Canal Street got its name?! 😮 Well done on the storytelling and research!

[@DanielsimsSteiner]

Thank you sm!

[@AbbyDavis-k6x]

Love your videos!

[@jimhays2772]

Great history content. I have been digging up some stuff on five points ,maps etc. But here is a good amount. I've learned also how in gangs of new york that I thought was mostly fiction and far fetched was actually mostly all true or even beyond. Like the fire department, war recruitment, government and gangs was all like it was in the movie.

[@simonfea2]

Hay, The Tenement Museum is great! Kinda close to Saul's deli too. ❤

[@anatly]

This NYC series is so good and interesting. Love it!

[@DanielsimsSteiner]

Thank u! That means a lot!

[@nothing2seehere34]

Too bad it's only the good parts of the story.

[@aaronweaver4553]

Really well-done. As a one-time New Yorker, I would have loved having this kind of info at my fingertips at the time to influence my city exploration. Tap into that Johnny Harris energy to reach more people!!

[@TheStockBrain]

Fascinating 🤯

[@earthmamass]

Great video. What kind of camera do you use?

[@patavinity1262]

Last time i visited NYC I made a point of visiting this spot just to try and imagine what the Five Points used to look like. Pretty difficult.

[@tjdomerny4847]

Read The Alienist. It's quite descriptive.

[@Sacto1654]

Personally, the work of Jacob Riis in documenting the _awful_ tenements of this very area may explain the rise of suburbanism at the beginning of the 20th Century. It's probably not a coincidence the first major suburbs in New York City took off early in the 20th Century, first along the rail lines radiating out from central New York City and eventually along the new limited access Interstate highways built in the 1950's and 1960's.

[@starventure]

Jacob Riis "arranged" quite a few of his photos in the same way that Matthew Brady staged many of his battlefield shots.

[@baxpiz1289]

@@starventure yes e.g. the sleeping street urchins

[@kathycasey9153]

The suburbs in NJ began booming once the George Washington Bridge was complete.

[@aldente80]

Nice job putting this story together, that you accurately point out, does not appear in history books.

[@sirrahca]

Good information. Would love to see some primary source info from a current or former vendor or resident who is actually Chinese

[@arieldelgado2583]

Awesome! Love this series

[@cinema104]

Excellent work.

[@valmarsiglia]

Wait, you think 1811 was 150 years ago?

[@Option1666]

Over 150 years ago.

[@ktchpmn]

Such a well produced and researched video! I'm loving your videos

[@joejones9520]

collect pond was a beautiful spring-fed 40 foot deep 40+acre lake with a scenic bluff beside it, in 1700s it was a popular ice skating spot, before that an Indian tribe lived beside it..such a shame to think civilization ruined it then eradicated it like itd never existed

[@tjdomerny4847]

It was a swamp and malaria factory. Or do you have photographs from the 18th century?

[@joejones9520]

@@tjdomerny4847 google is your friend

[@MyNewYorkCity.]

My family came from the Dominican Republic in the 40s to Elizabeth & prince! Now we are all over N.Y & America, living the dream.

[@CoreyMason-r8g]

Very interesting episode ❗🔥💯👍

[@Plumbingadjacentdrainguy]

Are the central booking Manhattan tombs the same "tombs" as the 5 points prison? 100 center st.. spent my 21st birthday weekend getting shuffled through them.

[@wayne2816wayne]

Interesting video. cheers.

[@regwellz93]

This was awesome 👏🏾

[@Option1666]

Hmmm Collect Pond Park.

[@halluciongen3000]

Loved it! Maybe there aren't as many sources but like the gap between the chinese arrivals and then almost a hundred years later. How was life for the chinese people how did they manage to stay there etc would be a great topic for maybe another video? regardless super nicely done with today's attention span watching a full video is not that common lol

[@rolitosebastian]

amazing job !

[@matheusmoscardo]

Great, love this ❤

[@SamsonBiggz]

You said they tore down all the buildings and built parks but what happened to all the people that were living there????!!!!! They didn't just magically disappear. They were kicked out and had to find a new places to live. Geez poor people can't catch a break.

[@stardustring]

Funny in gangs of New York the movie you hear him say " the bowery boys" that st still exists today in Manhattan.

[@vominator]

"playing cards".....aka gambling

[@bmichael8187]

Most immigrants in US started out living in self segregated areas or "ethnic" neighborhoods. It's the whole history to NYC. My grandparents lived in neighboring Lower East Side after arriving from Russia in early 20th century. It's also not unique to NYC, there are Chinatowns in may cities in US and all over the world. It's a diaspora called "overseas Chinese".

[@PrincepsAve]

COOL FILM SCHOOL VIDEO

[@MbisonBalrog]

I’m gonna eat lunch in Chinatown now

[@Gunnercv]

Nice

[@TravelClast]

The Tombs are still there. Trust me.

[@tam-tam1970]

Yes, i am in it. Nowadays it is called NYC.

[@muffineyes]

10:35 not sure if this is really true anymore (highest concentration of Chinese). Manhattan Chinatown is shrinking and will continue to shrink. With congestion pricing coming, sadly its going to probably crush Manhattan Chinatown. In the future, Manhattan Chinatown probably be a tourist shell a la Little Italy. The world's largest Chinatown is Flushing, NY is far more diverse types of Asian business with locals living there. Brooklyn have a few genuine Chinatowns as well.

[@anonymousanonymous-u9f]

Wonderful! Thank you for introducing the soon to be forgotten Chinatown. Chinatown has always been a neglected NYC community. From the terrorist 911 attack, rapidly rising rents, the pandemic, and congestion pricing, The city never try to do much to protect or cleanup this historical community. If it wasn’t for the few Chinese social organizations fighting to keep the community together and working with the local 5th precinct to keep crimes low, Chinatown would have been wiped out from NYC years ago. The Chinatown today has lost almost all of its charm compared to what it was 35 years ago. It was a thriving community where it gave hopes to so many immigrants a chance to achieve the American Dream. The community was decently safe compare to many other immigrant communities. Most of them worked and studied very hard to get out of poverty. People from nearby cities and boroughs went to school, summer school, church, grocery shopping, doctors, dentists, shopping, and all types of daily life activities in Chinatown. Some of them commuted from Staten Island and Jersey. It was not a place just for immigrants. It was a community that gave a sense of belonging to all Chinese Americans in the nearby cities. Chinatown under Hochul, De balsio and Adam’s leadership has been terrible. They built a center for drug addicts for them to use drugs, migrant shelter and homeless shelter. They have been trying to build a new prison there again. The community fought back deblasio with strong resistance. These politicians are turning Chinatown back to a slum just like it was in the 1800’s, wiping out 200 years of hard work from the community.

[@baxpiz1289]

horrible politicians who do not represent voters

[@annoy_ken]

You spelled Jacob Riis' name incorrectly

[@Mncrr]

I saw a documentary about the German immigrants in New York. Anyone know what it was called?

[@KoreaWalkingToursTV]

Great🎉🎉🎉

[@dominickmoriziojr4677]

Alas, it’s but a shadow of it’s previous self now. Flushing is the new Chinatown.

[@MbisonBalrog]

I thought Little Italy was the Five Points/Bowery.

[@Historian212]

Little Italy didn’t exist in the early years of the Five Points. The big influx of Italian immigrants started decades later. In the early years, it was mostly Irish and German immigrants. Like Chinatown, Little Italy’s boundaries grew and then shrank, over the decades. Same thing with the Jewish Lower East Side.

[@MbisonBalrog]

@@Historian212 I mean five points became little Italy when Italian came

[@Mncrr]

@@MbisonBalrogyes. The Dutch were first. They brought Germans to work their Hudson valley/ Mohawk valley farms. Then came the Irish, then the German and German Jews. Then the Italian and Eastern European Jews. Then everyone else.

[@notpurrfect6397]

​​​@@MbisonBalrogThe Little Italy immigrants moved up and out over tine. Chinatown has been slowly taking over little Italy and it has shrunk to a couple of blocks. What's left is not even all Italian anymore.

[@KY-xo9yt]

Is Chinatown shrinking though? I’m from Queens and I swear every time I come by, there a new Starbucks and places turning into dive bars and Speakeasys.

[@thewonderfulwizardoftheweb1053]

Tenement museum is such a racket, I don’t care how “skilled” fhe tour guides are 😂

[@twlee1930]

The peak of Manhattan Chinatown was maybe 20 years ago and has only declined since covid. Several other Chinatowns popped up in Queens and Brooklyn and have overtaken the Manhattan Chinatown in size. Also the nature of the Chinese immigrants have changed from working class Cantonese speakers to student and wealthier mainland Chinese Mandarin speakers. Gentrification has also pushed a lot of Chinese out of Chinatown. Plus the plans for the new jail.

[@twlee1930]

Also Little Italy was right by here. My childhood friend's family used to run Caffe Roma. I wonder if it is still there.

[@baxpiz1289]

& ended the street trade in chinese new year/4th of july fireworks

[@baxpiz1289]

​@@twlee1930 internet says yes

[@corvettelady58]

I go to Chinatown every time I go to NYC.

[@errolthomas9426]

Certain parts of Chinatown in NYC barely look and feel like it these days

[@nothing2seehere34]

You completely skipped the information on where they put the people that were already living in the area before they made the improvements you said that the Irish purchased some of the buildings. Where did the people go?

[@dagvilledelavigo]

"African immigrants?"

[@july07071996ify]

I noticed that

[@pepsiq11965]

Into beautiful Chinatown? Wow, never heard of Chinatown here in NY referred to as beautiful. lol

[@Sacto1654]

I believe there are something akin to _nine_ Chinatowns in the New York City region. Most of them in what is now Queens and Brooklyn boroughs.

[@pepsiq11965]

@@Sacto1654 The largest in NY is in Flushing, Queens. It has surpassed the original and Iconic Manhattan's Chinatown

[@anonymousanonymous-u9f]

Manhattan Chinatown is the original Chinatown in NY. There is no charm in flushing. The buildings were built in a more modern era. There is no tenement in flushing. Tenements in chinatown had shared bathrooms in the hallway and it was common to have a shower stall with just a curtain in the kitchen. Many of those tenements didn’t get an update on the interior structure until the 21st century. People in the 1990’s still paid rent to live in a tenement in its original condition with few minor updates like paint job or window replacement. Ask any Chinese adult from 40 yr old and up, the chance of them lived or knew someone who lived in one of those is high.

[@Did.You.Forget]

Are these the same editors as Vox? Nice vid but try a new style

[@Futuristbillpicone]

ALSO DONT FORGET THAT DOWNTOWN WAS BUILT ON A NATIVE AMERICAN GRAVEYARD. THESE EUROPEANS AND ASIANS ARE NEW HERE.. 400 MEASLY YEARS

[@avivabumgardner6107]

African “immigrants”??

[@baxpiz1289]

ha! that was a doozy

[@Leslie-ge2dt]

African immigrants??????

[@sashabrown6865]

He used the phrase free blacks not African immigrants. Everyone didn’t come to America in chains.

[@tjdomerny4847]

PS Chinatown is still not pretty, not at all what any reasonable person would call beautiful. Since the 1990s , Chinatown expanded to overtake "Little Italy" and the old Jewish area of the "Lower East Side" so that it now is extended up to Houston St.

[@keithpucarelli6991]

You mention Italians once in passing. No mention of the work on the transcontinental railroad. And you only mention anti-Irish and Chinese sentiment. What about how a lot of Chinatown today was Little Italy. Kind of BS revisionist history in my opinion.

[@Historian212]

And zero mention of the Jews, when there was a massive concentration of Jewish immigrants from the 1880s through the 1920s, living side by side with Italians and Irish.

[@jonathanyuen8820]

Not so much working class. wrong terminology i would say.

[@downieduck2414]

that historian woman flops her hands and head so much it is VERY DISTRACTING

[@Historian212]

Don’t be a bigot. That’s how people from many cultures express themselves when they talk. She wasn’t “flopping” anything.

[@baxpiz1289]

yes & used bs euphemisms. prob guilty trust fund brat

[@ErnestoMercer]

Funny you missed how the entire area was called “Little Africa” after Angolan indentured servants (several of whom built the wall on Wall Street) won their freedom & were compensated with plots of land at Collect Pond, becoming the center of Black settlement ther from the 1640s on into the 19th Century. A long history, unmentioned at all. Also: African “immigrants”? Do better