Chinatown Reaches the Shores of Brooklyn
By Linda Li
As Brooklyn’s Chinatown in Sunset Park expands southward, the city’s Chinese population begins to settle along the shoreline. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Coney Island and Sea Gate have a total of 2,066 Chinese, a nearly 35 percent increase over the number of Chinese residents accounted for in the 2000 Census. In spite of worries about hurricanes and flooding after the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, residents are drawn to the area by affordable real estate and access to the beach.
Recent transplant, Danny Chin, a fifty-one year old chef, vigilantly flood proofs the basement is preparation of future storms. As he continues renovating his new home, he anticipates strolling the boardwalk and lounging at the beach as temperatures begin to rise. Since he is keeping his apartment in Manhattan’s Chinatown, the new home will be a sanctuary for weekend getaways.
His close friend and neighbor, Ming Leu, embraces the arrival of his childhood friend. They intend on fishing and crabbing on their days off once warm weather approaches. After his home was flooded in the storm, he insists Coney Island is still the place he wants to call home.
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