China News Service, August 10. According to the US "World Journal" report, the Chinese community in New York City has been affected in different ways during the new crown pneumonia epidemic, resulting in an economic downturn and an increase in unemployment. According to the grass-roots organization "Welcome to Chinatown" (Welcome to Chinatown) to Chinatown) the latest report, Manhattan Chinatown has been hit even harder by the epidemic, with an average of one out of every four people losing their jobs, and the speed of economic recovery is still slow.

　　According to the report, the Chinatown community is dominated by daily life services, supermarkets and markets, as well as tourist destinations and attractions, and 94% of small businesses have no more than 20 employees.

According to the pre-epidemic statistics in 2019, the service targets of small businesses in the Chinatown community are mainly residents near the community and living outside Chinatown, accounting for 41.3%; followed by visitors and tourists, accounting for 22.8%; 20.7% of Chinatown residents, and 15.3% of the Lower East Side workers in Chinatown.

　　The data shows that from 2019 to 2021, Chinatown lost 26% of its jobs, which is equivalent to an average of one in four people losing their jobs; compared with 14% in the city and 13% in Flushing, Queens; The city's food and restaurant industry decreased by 45% during the period, compared with 57% in Chinatown; the retail industry decreased by 18% citywide, and Chinatown lost 28%.

　　It will cause such a huge impact on Chinatown. In addition to the epidemic itself, there will also be hate crimes against Asians and prejudice against the Asian community. Small businesses worry that such an image will make people refuse to return to the community. In particular, as many as 64.1% of Chinatown's service targets do not live in the community; in addition, the lack of government resources, epidemic relief plans, etc., are also the reasons why small businesses in Chinatown have difficulty getting back on their feet after the epidemic.

(Yan Jiaying)