At the beginning of the 20th century, the stretch between 34th Street and 42nd Street housed more than a thousand garment manufacturers. Now, one can barely find a sewing shop in the area. But how did it come to this? Watch this video explainer to find more about what led to the downfall of the city's Garment District as we speak to remaining factory owners and longtime observers of the area's economy.
Karen Sadaka decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps at the age of 15. She started sewing with her brother Teddy. Now, after 53 years in business, Sadaka finds herself grieving over a gradual decline of the city's garment industry.
“The industry here used to have about 400,000 workers at one point. Today, maybe it’s 80,000 in total,” says Sadaka, looking outside her office window with a brooding expression. “Garment manufacturing was the largest industry in New York back then. And today it’s not.”
The industry now faces a new era of decline as inflation and scarcity of workers continue to test its survival. While manufacturers continue to lose major retailers to foreign competition, owners after COVID-19 also recall losing workers.
“One of our employees, unfortunately, passed away, but we also lost a lot of employees because they went ahead into different fields and did not come back here,” says Asha Singh, a supervisor at manufacturing firm Four Fashions, who like Sadaka inherited her firm from her father, a Guyanese immigrant.
According to a non-profit organization Garment District Alliance, the block stretching from 34th Street to 42nd Street had more than 10,000 manufacturers in 1958, which dropped down to merely 3,000 by 1977. By the end of 2020, the industry lost more than 80% of manufacturing jobs.
A steep decline in the industry can be traced back to the 1970s, as major American clothing companies – in search of cheap labor – moved production overseas.
“People [clothing companies] did not think it was important to buy things made in the U.S.,” says Margaret Chin, a sociologist at CUNY Graduate Center.
While owners such as Sadaka and Singh manage to keep their firms running against all odds, a lack of competition is slowly turning into a major concern.
“I am very upset about it, it’s tragic to see the neighborhood collapsing,” adds Sadaka.
Comments