A rash of elevator robberies in East Harlem last month targeting Chinese Americans struck fear in the Asian American community. Less noticed has been a population shift which has seen a greater Chinese presence in Spanish Harlem, reports the New York Times.
There’s been a 30 percent rise of Asian residents in the neighborhood since the last census.
“It’s convenient,” said Ms. Jingjing Meng, who moved from Staten Island. “To Chinatown, it’s 25 minutes by the 6 train.”
“The patterns for non-English-speaking Chinese are very systematic and follow a specific logic,” said Peter Kwong, a professor of Asian-American studies at Hunter College. “Are there trains? Are there others up there who speak Chinese? And cost.”
More on Asians in East Harlem and the arrest of a suspect in the elevator robberies in the New York Times.