Within recent decades, the population boom of Mexican immigrants in New York City has made them the third largest ethnic group in New York City. With this statistic in mind, what neighborhoods do these Mexican immigrants settle in and for what reason do they choose these neighborhoods? The map below is taken from Joe Salvo, who is the director of the Population Division at the New York City Department of City Planning. It portrays the most densely Mexican populated neighborhoods in each of New York’s five boroughs.

As we can discern from the map above, neighborhoods dense in Mexican population include: Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, Crown Heights and Bushwick, Queens’ Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona and Kew Gardens, Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem.

You may note that while the Mexican population in New York City has been growing enormously, there are specific neighborhoods Mexican immigrants choose to settle in. These neighborhoods serve as a type of sanctuary for Spanish-speaking immigrants who may not yet be adjusted to the United States. In these densely populated Mexican neighborhoods they find comfort in familiarity. They can converse in their native language, find a job, and seek help. The Latino culture thrives in these communities and gives the immigrant comfort. Due to the fact that immigrants tend to settle in areas where they have friends, family, or other people who share their culture, they live in what is considered “overcrowded” conditions. This type of condition happens more frequently in American suburbs. The U.S Census Bureau considers residence overcrowding to be more than one person to a room. Hispanic overcrowding cannot be explained by simply one factor. Reasons include economic necessity, cultural preferences, since Hispanic immigrants usually live with extended family back home, or simply living differently from people of other races.

The map above is an earlier census (1990-2000) of Mexican immigrants in New York City. The map does not categorize statistic by neighborhood but evaluates regions instead.