Chinese people began moving to New York in significant numbers in the late 1870s. Widespread anti-Chinese sentiment forced them from California, where they had been working mainly as miners and on railroad construction. They began heading east to New York, which was appealing because it was a large commercial center.
Quimbo Appo, a tea merchant, was believed to be the first Chinese resident to move from California to New York. He established his home on Doyers Street and continued his tea business. A Chinese community gradually evolved on Doyers Street and expanded around the corner, on Pell and Mott streets.