Historically, Manhattan's Koreatown has been part of the Garment District. In the 1980s, a Korean bookstore and a handful of restaurants were founded in the area. Their success drew other Korean-owned businesses, sustained by increased immigration from Korea and the high levels of tourist traffic stemming from nearby Midtown Manhattan landmarks like the Empire State Building, Macy's Herald Square, the United Nations Headquarters, Penn Station, Madison Square Garden, the Garment District, and the Flower District.[2] Today, Koreatown is primarily a Korean business district, but the resident Korean population in the area has grown as well. More broadly, Koreatown is attracting new Korean residents to the adjacent Manhattan neighborhoods of Murray Hill, Kips Bay, and Rose Hill.
Demographics
The Korea Way sign illuminated at night, with Hangul translation
The heart of Koreatown is the segment of 32nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, officially nicknamed Korea Way. Korea Way features stores and restaurants on multiple stories, with independently run establishments reaching up to higher floors, exuding an ambience of Seoul itself.[6][2][7] The New York City Korean Chamber of Commerce estimates there to be more than 100 small businesses on Korea Way.[8] Signage in Hangul is ubiquitous. Koreatown's central location and high density of crowded restaurants, bars, karaoke clubs, and spas on Korea Way have rendered it a major tourist attraction and a center of nightlife in Manhattan.[6]
Korea Way features numerous restaurants[9][10][11] that serve both traditional and/or regional Korean cuisine and Korean fusion fare (including Korean Chinese cuisine[12]), several bakeries, grocery stores, supermarkets, bookstores, consumer electronics outlets, video rental shops, tchotchke and stationery shops, hair and nail salons, noraebang singing bars, nightclubs, as well as cell phone service providers, internet cafés, doctors' offices, attorney offices, banks, and hotels. Numerous Japanese restaurants have also emerged in Manhattan's Koreatown. Although Korea Way continues to represent the heart of Koreatown, situated between Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and Fifth Avenue, Koreatown itself as of 2015 has been expanding further eastward from Fifth Avenue along East 32nd Street, toward Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, in the direction of Queens and Nassau County.[13][14][15]
Development as a Korean dining destination
Congregating in Koreatown
Some 24/7 restaurants conduct business on Korea Way.[16] Korean restaurants in the district have had to expand or stay open around the clock to meet rising commercial rents and stay financially viable, given the growing prestige and high customer volume generated by foot traffic in Koreatown, Manhattan, and greater investment and involvement by the Korean chaebol.[1][13] Manhattan's Koreatown, historically known as a more tourist-oriented alternative to Flushing and Murray Hill, Queens (part of the Long Island Koreatown), has since developed a reputation as an authentic Korean dining destination.[13]
^ abSam Kim, photography by Gary He (July 31, 2018). "NYC's K-Town Isn't What It Used to Be". Vox Media. Retrieved November 21, 2018. Most mom-and-pops are gone, and 32nd Street is now dominated by chains due to high rents and policies in Korea itself.
^ abcGina Pace (April 26, 2015). "Koreatown in NYC is now being taken more seriously as a dining destination". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 10, 2015. Koreatown — long centered on 32nd St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves., nicknamed Korea Way — has expanded in recent months. The new Baekjeong spot, for example, is located just east of Fifth Ave...Kihyun Lee took an even bigger gamble by opening a dual-concept spot midblock on 31st St. between Fifth and Madison Aves...
