New York - Flushing, 2nd Chinatown

29/5/2010(Sat) Flushing
30/5/2010(Sun) Time Square Church(NY) and Lobster dinner at Elmshurst

The 2nd Chinatown - Flushing(法拉盛)

Since we have only two days left in New york, we decide to spend more time with the host family. Have some good rest and washing of clothes. Today we are going only to Flushing, some said Toilet City, but it is actually the 2nd Chinatown in New York City. More vibrant than Manhattan Chinatown. you can get anything Chinese here....


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Flushing is north-central Queens, a historical and bustling commercial downtown and Chinatown, surrounded by residential neighborhoods.

Flushing defines north-central Queens. The historic neighborhood core is the largest urban center in the borough, and it's the wealthiest and the largest Chinatown in New York City. Since the economic blight of the 1970s, Flushing has changed dramatically. Increasingly prosperous Chinese and Korean communities have grown to be the dominant groups. The downtown, a transportation hub, is now the busiest shopping district in Queens, with big money pinned to planned real estate developments.

Flushing is a mecca of Asian dining, especially Chinese and Korean. Main Street puts most Main Streets to shame with its range of shops from Benetton to Chinese herbalists, from Starbucks to dumpling stands. The heart of downtown--Main south from Northern to Kissena--is a barrage of restaurants, signs, traffic, and people. Don't miss the bargains or noodles at the Flushing Mall (39th Ave at Prince St).
Northern Boulevard also bustles, but with less foot traffic. It's an extended Koreatown strip that stretches east through Bayside and into Nassau County.

Downtown Flushing is the largest urban center in Queens, and home to the second largest Chinatown in New York City. Get off the 7 subway or the LIRR at Flushing Main Street and step into the crowds. The downtown sidewalks pulse with people – of all nationalities but predominantly East Asians, specifically Chinese and Koreans. Signs in Chinese are at least as prominent as those in English. This Chinatown, though, is a real American fusion. For food there's everything from McDonald's and Chinese seafood restaurants to street vendors selling fried noodles.

The shopping ranges from the standard Old Navy and upscale Benetton to Chinese bookstores, herbal medicine shops, Asian groceries, and music stores that stock the latest hits from Shanghai.

Chinatown in Flushing is home to a vibrant middle class and blue-collar community, and is wealthier than Chinatown in Manhattan. Until the 1970s Flushing was mostly an Italian and Greek neighborhood, but the downtown was shaken by the economic turmoil of the 1970s. People left Flushing and housing prices dropped. Korean and Chinese immigrants began to settle in Flushing by the late 1970s, and have predominated since the 1980s. Many of the Chinese arrivals to Flushing have come from Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and even Latin America (from earlier immigrant groups). The representation of the extended Chinese community makes the eating possibilities in Flushing most delicious.

Flushing is now the second largest Chinatown in New York City, after Chinatown in Manhattan. The 3rd is Elmhurst, also in Queen, and the latest is the 8th Avenue, Sunset Park in Brooklyn. Flushing is also one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself. Main Street and the area to its west, particularly along Roosevelt Avenue, have become the primary nexus of Flushing Chinatown. However, Chinatown continues to expand southeastward along Kissena Boulevard and northward beyond Northern Boulevard.A 1986 estimate by the Flushing Chinese Business Association approximated 60,000 Chinese in Flushing alone. By 1990, Asians constituted 41% of the population of the core area of Flushing, with Chinese in turn representing 41% of the Asian population. However, ethnic Chinese are constituting an increasingly dominant proportion of the Asian population as well as of the overall population in Flushing and its Chinatown. Massive and relentless immigration from Mainland China, both legal and illegal in origin, continue to spur the ongoing rise of the ethnic Chinese population in Flushing Chinatown, as in all of New York City's Chinatowns. Given its particularly rapidly growing status, the Flushing Chinatown may surpass in size and population the original New York City Chinatown in the borough of Manhattan within a few years, and it is debatable whether this has already happened.

The New York City Subway Number 7 subway line has its terminus at Flushing-Main Street; the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, at the heart of Flushing Chinatown, is the third busiest intersection in New York City, behind only Times Square and 34th Street/Herald Square.



Catholic Meeting and Dinner
There was a gathering with Indonesian Catholic in Elmshurst, our host Mr Oon's house. After the gathering, we have pot luck dinner. Some Indonesian traditional food was prepared by some of the members. We also have Indonesian chendol...

Wah, an Indonesian night in New York....Terima Kasih, orang Indonesia. Salam sayang....(Thanks, Indonesian. Greeting)..

Terima Kasih, Abang Oon; kenyang; makanan sedap, tidor mesti sedap...(Thanks Mr Oon, delicious food, good sleep tonight)