Big trouble brewing for Chinatown?

China’s downtown enclave in Lower Manhattan is shrinking and some Chinatown residents say it’s because their homeland’s booming economy is beckoning.

“I have many friends whose children are learning Mandarin and traveling to China for opportunities after graduation,” said  Jeannie Chin, 60, a longtime Chinatown resident.

Chin said her two daughters, who are 25 and 27, both considered moving back to pursue better jobs — and they're not the only ones.

Chinatown’s Chinese population shrank by 17 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to an analysis of U.S. census data by the Asian American Federation, a national Asian American nonprofit.

Chinatown’s total population has decreased by nine percent in that same time period, according to census data.

Chinatown business owners are also packing up and moving abroad for the rapidly growing economy back home.

Antique dealer Jan Lee, 46, told Metro he has watched at least half a dozen of his colleagues abandon Chinatown for China.

“They can get higher prices out there than they can in New York City,” Lee said. “They took their families, employees and tax dollars with them.”

Lee said that there are many incentives for businesses to leave.

“There’s less regulation and the labor force is cheaper,” he said.

Chumbo rising?

Others argue that Chinese residents aren’t leaving of their own accord, but instead can no longer afford to stay in their own neighborhood.
   
“The reason why the Chinese population shrunk in Chinatown is basically because of gentrification,” said Esther Wang, 29, project director of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, an Asian advocacy group in New York City. “People are getting priced out.”
   
Flourishing cocktail bars, restaurants and condos have earned the area around the Manhattan Bridge the nickname “Chumbo,” Wang said, a play off of pricey DUMBO just across the East River.

Growth in Queens

Some in the community attribute Chinatown’s contraction to residents relocating to other Chinese neighborhoods elsewhere in the city.

New immigrants are choosing growing — and cheaper — Chinese enclaves in Brooklyn and Queens, such as Flushing, said Councilwoman Margaret Chin, who represents Chinatown.

“Chinese-Americans are moving into new neighborhoods,” Chin told Metro.

Others said the falling numbers are due to Chinatown residents’ reluctance to fill out U.S. census forms.

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.