Linguistic Landscape of Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens in New York City is home to the largest Chinatowns as a major commercial and retail area. For example, according to the NYC Community District Profiles, within the district of Flushing, Asians make up about 52.2% of the total population, with White and Hispanic trailing behind with 25.9% and 17.7% respectively. If we compare this data to the entire borough of Queens however, We see that for the entire borough, Asians only make up about 27.9% of the population, with Whites at the top at 46.5%. We see that there is a much larger concentration of Asians within just one specific district of Queens. The intersection between Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue at its core is the third-busiest in NYC, which is where I focused my analysis of boards, posters, signs, and advertisements, allowing us to understand the shift in culture as we observe the changes in language displayed on such forms of media. The data was collected in the intersection between Main Street and Roosevelt, and each picture taken was slightly further up on Roosevelt from one another, with the last few eventually taken to the left of the intersection between Roosevelt and Union street
As I worked my way up Roosevelt, we could clearly see 3 apparent themes: the multilingual signs, containing mainly English and Chinese but also Korean, the shift in the dominant language within the signs, and convenience.
Multilingualism and Multiculturalism
The first theme that is apparent within the images is regarding the multilingual and multicultural signs. For example, if we look at figure 1, 2 and 11, we see that most signs contain a combination of languages, usually Chinese, English and Korean. Some signs such as those in figure 3,8, and 9 show monolingual Chinese signs, however those are typically rare within the data collected. We see themes of multiculturalism here as we see in figure 13, which shows the Bally 868 Food Market. The numbers 6 and 8 are widely considered to be lucky in Chinese culture, so that might be a reason why it was included in the sign. The color red also symbolizes luck and happiness, which is also on the sign. These findings illustrate the Chinese culture that is incorporated within these signs, but that’s not all. In figure 10, we see a Korean restaurant which is just around that block of the food market, which is an example of Korean culture. This demonstrates the multiculturalism that is explicit within the images as we see both Chinese and Korean cultures.
Convenience
Another theme that is seen within the data is convenience. Since most pictures here are taken along the same block, and as we see in figures 15 and 16, there salons across the street from a bank, and in figure 12 we can see a parking lot, wine and liquor store, pharmacy and signs for other businesses like eyelash extensions and internet cafes all in one picture. This suggests the convenience of the location as everything is very accessible and relatively close to one another.
Shifting of Cultures and Language
The last theme, which was also the most intriguing, that is seen within the data is the cultural and linguistic shift from Chinese to Korean. These pictures were taken progressively up Roosevelt and towards Union street as seen in Figure 4. Figures 9, 11, and 15 all show predominantly Chinese signs with minimal English that were taken close to the beginning of the Roosevelt and Main street intersection, however, as we progress towards Union street, we see more and more Korean incorporated among the signs. In figures 5 and 7, we see a combination of Chinese and Korean displayed on the signs, but eventually as we reached Union Street, most signs became predominantly Korean as seen in figure 6, 10, and 14.
History
This is where I learned about the Koreatown of Queens. It originated in Flushing but expanded towards Northern Boulevard. This raised a potential question: Why wasn’t Koreatown and Chinatown able to coexist in Flushing? Why were the Koreans, who originated in Flushing, forced to move eastward? As we move up Roosevelt, we gradually begin to see more and more Korean and their culture (in terms of food). With this we start to actually see a shift in cultures and languages on these posters, with further posters resembling more Korean with English than Chinese with English. If we take a look on the map as seen in figure 4, a potential explanation of this would be the fact that Northern Boulevard, which we learned was where most Koreans moved, slowly begins to intersect with each other. And that when you search up a map of Flushing, you can see the divide between Koreatown and Chinatown.
We can see that after roughly 2 blocks east from Roosevelt, we are not within the region of Flushing anymore, according to the shaded region of flushing in figure 17, but instead we are in areas of Murray Hill/ Linden Hill. From the data, we can reasonably assume that most of Koreatown resides within these regions since as we slowly exit flushing eastward of Roosevelt, we can start to notice a shift in languages. But this raises more questions. Why are certain areas bordered like this? Most of Flushing Chinatown only resides within the northern portion of Flushing, while the eastern and southern areas contain other races. If we take a look at the history of Flushing, we see that Taiwanese influence within this region developed sometime in the 1970s, replacing the predominately White and small Japanese community, and creating what was known as “Little Taipei” or “Little Taiwan”. When more and more Chinese immigrants from vastly different regions and provinces of China started arriving in NYC, they settled in Flushing through word of mouth, creating their “Mandarin Town”, which replaced Little Taipei. If we take a look in the lens of Koreans, during the 1980s, many of them emerged in Flushing, establishing a foothold on Union Street, seeking jobs in the medical field or immigrating here for college. Their growth eastward of Flushing along Northern Boulevard was a result of the growth in wealth and population of their community, allowing them to bring their socioeconomic status up. The pressure to expand eastward was also caused by the presence of Flushing Chinatown which was centered around main street. With this information in mind, we can view the area sort of as a portal to another culture. The Roosevelt Avenue between Main street and union Street shows a combination of both heritages, as seen in the data. We slowly see more and more of one language over the other as we make our way closer to either Union or Main, suggesting that this is the border between Chinatown and Koreatown and the border to their cultures.
We can use this to conclude that the languages of these signs are a direct result of the culture they are located within. Obviously, there exist Korean billboards and signs within Chinatown and vise-versa, however we can use this to establish a sort of imaginary border. The presence of multilingual signs throughout the area highlights the multiculturalism of Flushing, signifying the diverseness of the community. The language shift observed on signs along Roosevelt Ave in Flushing reveals a deeper story of cultural migration and adaptation. The initial dominance of Chinese signs gradually became Korean as we moved eastward, reflecting their historical movement of Korean communities out of Flushing and establishing their own Koreatown eastward of Flushing, along Northern Boulevard.