About 10 percent of the approximately 75,000 jobs lost in New York in the three months after Sept. 11 were in Chinatown, according to a recent study by the Asian American Federation of New York. Chinatown is located less than 10 blocks from ground zero.
Lack of power and telephone service and security measures that eliminated access to businesses as well as more than 1,000 parking spaces forced many stores and factories to close, resulting in the layoffs of more than 7,600 people, nearly a quarter of Chinatown’s workforce.
“That is very disturbing for a community of this size,” said Shao-Chee Sim, director of research for the federation.
The garment, restaurant, retail and tourism industries were the hardest hit. The garment industry remains sluggish, Sim said.
“They’re not going back on a full-time basis. Sometimes they work for three or four days in a row, and then they’re being sent home,” he said.
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