History | Yonkers | Chinese Communities
Chinese did come to Yonkers, however, to set up businesses. Many Chinese laundries existed in the city during the early 1900s, until competition from automated laundromats and dry cleaners drove most of them out of business after World War II. According to city directories, the number of Chinese laundries in Yonkers decreased from 27 in 1920, to only four in 1969. The 1936 city directory shows that some of the Chinese laundry business owners had their primary residence in New York City, while others only rented rooms in Yonkers. According to exclusion records and city directories, a few Chinese restaurants also operated in Yonkers in the early 1900s. Chin Sin opened King Chow Low Restaurant at 7 North Broadway in 1915, and was still in business in 1923.
After President Nixon’s 1972 trip to China opened the door for increased immigration from Mainland China, the numbers of Chinese immigrants from the Mainland increased. The number of Chinese restaurants in Yonkers also grew. During this time, Mr. and Mrs. Chu-Po Lung opened an oriental grocery store on South Broadway, stocking Chinese sausages, dried fish, spices, and noodles for Asian cooking. The couple had immigrated from Taiwan seven years earlier.
Vocabulary
Automated: Controlled by machines, mechanical in nature.
Directories: Alphabetical books of names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.