Brooklyn Chinese Community Unveils 'Canton Avenue' Sign at Bay Parkway and 86th Street, Honoring Railroad Workers and Immigrants
NEW YORK — New York City is a city in Kings County, New York. An unveiling ceremony for the "Canton Avenue" street sign was held on the morning of October 2 at the intersection of Bay Parkway and 86th Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Hundreds of Chinese American residents and community organization representatives attended as the bilingual commemorative sign was officially unveiled, with a lion dance performance and residents waving American flags in celebration.
The co-naming was enacted through New York City Council legislation designating the intersection of Bay Parkway and 86th Street as Canton Avenue. The original name, Bay Parkway, remains in place, with Canton Avenue added as a commemorative designation. The naming honors the Cantonese laborers from Guangdong who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad in the 19th century, as well as the contributions of generations of Chinese immigrants to the United States and to the local community.
Council Member Susan Zhuang, who championed the co-naming, presided over the ceremony. In her remarks, she noted that Cantonese-speaking families began settling in the area in the 1980s, and that the 86th Street corridor has gradually become a hub of Chinese life in Brooklyn, with Chinese restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacies and other businesses lining Bay Parkway. She said the new sign is public recognition of Cantonese immigrants' contributions and heritage, and an encouragement to younger generations. At the ceremony, Larry He Lining pulled the cover off the new sign; he has long worked to advance legislation in New York State and New York City to designate May 10 as Transcontinental Chinese Railroad Workers Day.
Zhao Jingyuan, founding chairman of the All American Chinese Association Corp, attended the ceremony. The 74-year-old was born in Taishan, Guangdong; his great-grandfather was among the Chinese laborers who came to the United States to make a living, and Zhao himself immigrated in 1981. In an interview with Yangcheng Evening News, Zhao said the unveiling ceremony took place at 10 a.m. local time on October 2, calling it "an immense source of pride for us people from Guangdong — we now have a street of our own in New York."
Joe Luo, president of the General Assembly of the American Association of Cantonese and himself a descendant of Chinese railroad workers, said in an interview that the sign is far more than a piece of metal on a pole: it recognizes more than a century of hard work by Americans of Cantonese descent and brings the long-overlooked contributions of earlier generations into public view. "Canton Avenue is a new start," he said.
Bensonhurst is one of Brooklyn's established Chinese communities, alongside the Eighth Avenue corridor. Cantonese-speaking families have lived, worked and run businesses in the neighborhood for nearly half a century since the 1980s, and the new Canton Avenue sign now stands as a new landmark of the community's history at this intersection.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Brooklyn 的 Bay Parkway 沿线华人商铺街景（资料图）。照片：Rager722／Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 4.0）。Chinese-owned businesses along Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn (file photo). Photo: Rager722 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
