Ah Ken ( fl. 1858–1896), also known as Ah Kam, was a Chinese American businessman and popular figure in

Chinatown, Manhattan Manhattan's Chinatown () is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 1 ...

during the mid-to late 19th century. The first Asian man to permanently immigrate to Chinatown, although Quimbo Appo is claimed to have arrived in the area during the 1840s, Ah Ken resided on

Mott Street Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown's unofficial " Main Street". Mott Street runs from Bleecker Street in the north to ...

and eventually founded a successful cigar store on Park Row.Moss, Frank. ''The American Metropolis from Knickerbocker Days to the Present Time''. London: The Authors' Syndicate, 1897. (pg. 403)Harlow, Alvin F. ''Old Bowery Days: The Chronicles of a Famous Street''. New York and London: D. Appleton & Company, 1931. (pg. 392)Hemp, William H. ''New York Enclaves''. New York: Clarkson M. Potter, 1975. (pg. 6)

Cigar business mogul

He first arrived in New York around 1858 where he was ''"probably one of those Chinese mentioned in gossip of the sixties as peddling 'awful' cigars at three cents apiece from little stands along the City Hall park fence - offering a paper spill and a tiny oil lamp as a lighter"'' according to author Alvin Harlow in ''Old Bowery Days: The Chronicles of a Famous Street'' (1931). Later immigrants would similarly find work as "cigar men" or carrying billboards and Ah Ken's particular success encouraged cigar makers William Longford, John Occoo and John Ava to also ply their trade in Chinatown eventually forming a monopoly on the cigar trade. It has been speculated that it may have been Ah Ken who kept a small boarding house on lower Mott Street and rented out bunks to the first Chinese immigrants to arrive in Chinatown. It was with the profits he earned as a landlord, earning an average of $100 a month, that he was able to open his Park Row smoke shop around which modern-day Chinatown would grow.Federal Writers' Project. ''New York City: Vol 1, New York City Guide''. Vol. I. American Guide Series. New York: Random House, 1939. (pg. 104)Hall, Bruce Edward. ''Tea That Burns: A Family Memoir of Chinatown''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002. (pg. 37)

Cigar business mogul

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