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From The Peopling of New York City

Coming to New York

New York City has been, and will continue to be, one of the most popular destinations for immigrants throughout the world. The diversity of the groups that have arrived here in New York, have changed our city economically, socially and politically. But just as these people have changed New York, New York has also changed them.

Since 1900, there has been a constant stream of immigration into New York City. This has increased and decreased throughout time, but it has always existed. In addition, there has always been a very diverse group of people that have been coming into New York City. Still, historians have attempted to generalize into two major waves of Immigration that occurred.

The first major wave of Immigration took place in the early 1900s and consisted of predominantly Italians and Eastern European Jews. When talking about Immigration, these two groups often go in hand in hand because they both came at the same time. However, these two groups were strikingly different. Most Italians who came were mere peasants who had come from the agricultural regions of Italy. In fact, “Only 16 percent of Italians who came to America between 1899 and 1910 who reported prior work experience were skilled workers. Three-quarters were farm workers or common laborers.” (Foner, 14)

The Jews were a completely different story. During this same time period, it is estimated that almost two-thirds of the Jews arriving in New York City were skilled laborers. The largest occupation was tailors, followed by carpenters, dressmakers, and shoemakers. These Jews were only 9 percent of the immigrants arriving with previous work experience and yet they constituted an astounding 29 percent of the skilled workers arriving in New York City.

Another important group that should not go unmentioned is the Negroes. Although it is obvious, it is important to note that these people were not immigrants, as they did not come from other countries. During this time, almost all of the Negroes who migrated came from the South, and then inhabited many of the major northern cities. These included New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. From 1890 to 1910, the amount of Negroes in New York City almost tripled. In the South, almost all of the skilled workmen, educated, politicians, and businessman left to go north. However, the overwhelming majority of migrants were young, unmarried, unskilled workers, who were the first generation in their families born into freedom.

The second major wave of immigration began in the late 1980s and continues through today. This wave of immigration is immensely more diverse than the previous one. The major groups of people who have come, and will continue to come, are Hispanics, Asians, West Indians, and Soviet Jews. Of course, there are many other groups who have come as well, and there are also many subdivisions that exist within the groups that were previously mentioned.

Immigration today is much different than what immigration was in the past. Previously, people would take grueling voyages across the Atlantic and would arrive in Ellis Island. Nowadays, Immigrants take a relatively easy flight into JFK. They arrive well dressed and almost mix in with the native population. A major issue within immigration that exists today is illegal immigration. In the past, illegal immigration, although it did exist, was much less common. Now it is very much widespread, and it is a hotly debated topic amongst politicians. Many cross the border from Mexico, and there is also a large amount of people who get tourist visas and then stay here illegally. This can often be a very difficult process. In order to get a tourists visa, you must first prove, through documentation, that you are well established in assets in your native country, and therefore will go back.

Still, there is an interesting advantage in receiving both legal and illegal immigrants. As immigration to the United States occurs, there is a weeding out process in which only certain immigrants make it here, while others do not. “Then, as now, immigrants were positively selected in terms of ambition, determination, and willingness to work and take risks.” (Foner, 14) The result is that the immigrants that do come are more willing to work and contribute to our society than their counterparts still living in their native country.

But what motivates these people to come here? Although there are many diverse reasons for coming to the United States, there seem to be several common threads that exist regardless of time and ethnicity. The most prevalent and logical reason for coming to New York City is economic benefit.

In these immigrants’ native countries, there is often not enough resources or economic development to satisfy the needs and expectations of their growing population (Foner 3). People come to this country, in which the political and economic infrastructure is strong, so that they can get better paying jobs and achieve a higher standard of living than what they had in their native country. In addition, well-educated people are often unable to acquire decent jobs in their home country, and coming to America may allow them a greater opportunity to acquire jobs that are more in line with their level of education.

The next major reason immigrants come is because of poor circumstances in their native countries. These circumstances could be either political or economic. Soviet Jews began to leave the Soviet Union in 1971 because of persecution and anti-semitism. Haitians and Chinese fled from harsh dictators. Lastly, from 1871-1905 Italians left because of a collapsing Italian economy that was destroying the lives and morales of its inhabitants.

In connection with political circumstances, legal restrictions greatly affected the flow of migration throughout the years. In 1965, the United States changed their immigration law to abandon the national origins quota system that had favored northern and western Europeans. The big winners were now the Asians and the natives of the English-speaking Caribbean. Still, many Asians were not able to migrate in large numbers until the late 1970s when China opened its doors and relaxed its immigration restrictions. Similarly, Soviet Jews were prevented from immigrating in the early 1980s when the Soviet government slammed the door shut on emigration from the country. By the late 1980s, political circumstances changed, and Soviet Jews were once again allowed to leave the country.

A major phenomenon that has developed within immigration is chain migration. In chain migration, several people come to the United States and establish themselves financially, while maintaining close ties with their friends and family in their native country. As more and more people come to the United States, the social networks become more and more intricate between the native countries and America. “Network connections lower the costs, raise the benefits, and reduce the risks of international migration.” Potential immigrants are now able to latch on to relatives and friends who have already immigrated before them. These people help them with financial support, getting visas, and eventually finding jobs. With each immigrant that comes to the United States, it becomes easier and easier for subsequent immigrants to successfully immigrate to the United States. This phenomenon has been a major factor in the rapid growth of certain immigrant groups.

Looking towards the future, immigration is expected to continue in high numbers, especially in the near future. Even if there were to be some restrictions by the United States, New York would still receive a very high share of immigrants due to the strong social networks that exist between current settlers and incoming immigrants. Economically, there is expected to be a larger pool of labor available with new immigrants and children of early immigrants all seeking jobs. It is expected that skills and education will become much more important, and it is expected that African Americans and foreign-born Hispanics will suffer the most. Politically, as these groups continue to grow they will gain more and more political power. These minority groups’ abilities to unite in political support will determine how

Racism in New York City

Racism has been, and will continue to be an issue when talking about minority groups within New York City. When comparing the two major waves of immigration in New York City, we see that the perception of race has changed dramatically, and that openness in racism has become less and less accepted. Back in the 1900s, the two most discriminated minority groups were the Jews and Italians.

During this time, racism was open and blatantly expressed in public. It was not uncommon to hear politicians, public intellectuals, and the presses openly express hateful racist views. Jews and Italians were vehemently discriminated against and were labeled by society as inferior races. Hate crimes and banishment from places for these groups were both common and accepted by society. In 1924, a law was passed limiting immigration to 2% of the current population of that nationality in the United States, according to the 1890 census. This temporarily ended the massive influx of people from Eastern Europe.

When talking about the history of racism in New York City, it would be negligent to not mention the Negro population. In the early nineteenth century, there were many legal restrictions that Negroes were faced with. There were restrictions against voting, accessing public facilities, owning land, and segregation within education remained prominent as well. “As the Negro population of New York and other northern cities increased, so did racial antagonism, violence and patterns of social and residential segregation.” (Osofsky, 35)

As the late nineteenth century came around, northern states began to make considerable progress in dealing with institutionalized racial prejudice. The Civil Rights Act of 1873 gave the blacks full voting rights with no restrictions. New laws were passed that allowed Negroes to use any public establishment, such as restaurants, theaters, transportation, and even cemeteries. In 1884, segregation in schools officially ended. Overall, it seemed as if strong progress was being made in the battle against racial tensions.

Still, as laws were passed in favor of blacks, the stereotypes of blacks by white Americans continued. Blacks were viewed as sensuous, lazy, child-like, good-natured, faithful and poor. They were often denied employment based on their race. Moreover, businessman took full advantage of their situation. They offered them meagerly low wages, if any at all, and used them as strikebreakers to control the wages being paid to the white employees. The blacks themselves held a considerable amount of animosity toward European immigrants, most notably the Irish. The reason for this was that jobs were being given to these fresh European immigrants, while the blacks who were citizens of the United States, were continually shortchanged.

Racial tension finally boiled over with several incidents occurring in August of 1900. On August 13th at 2:00 AM, an undercover police officer, Robert J. Thorpe, walked up to a black woman, May Enoch, waiting at a street corner and attempted to charge her of “soliciting.” Enoch’s male partner, Arthur Harris, identified the unmarked man mishandling Enoch and engaged in a struggle with the cop. Thorpe then hit Harris with a club and in self-defense Harris pulled out a knife and cut Thorpe twice. The next day Thorpe passed away.

On August 15th, with racial tensions already heated, a fight broke out between a Negro and a white man near Thorpe’s home. Both sides argued whose fault the fight was but it did not really matter. Mayhem ensued with massive riots against blacks. Any blacks found that night were brutally beaten. To make matters worse, the mostly Irish police crew did not make any attempt to arrest the mobs, and were even accused of participating in some of the beatings. Although this was only one particular incident, in one particular area, it provides strong insight into the racism that existed during this time.

Nowadays, views on race have changed completely. The once vilified Italians and Jews are now considered to be unquestionably white. Our society currently defines race based purely on physical characteristics, regardless of actual ethnicity.

A great example of this is the Jamaicans from the West Indies. Even though they are not African Americans, society as a whole considers them to be blacks. In reality, West Indian society is different from African American society. Unfortunately, they must deal with racism just as if they were black, as people do not recognize their ethnicity. This was proven true by the Howard Beach and Crown Heights incidents in which the media covered the issue in black/white terms, completely ignoring the ethnicities of the victims.

Jamaicans have also had a lot of difficulty coping with discrimination in American society because it conflicts with some of the major views of Jamaican culture. In their society race is deemphasized and achievement is stressed through education. In addition, black people are viewed as “normal”, because in the West Indies black people held extremely high positions, and black people were homeless. No weight was put on skin color to determine your place in society.

As racism has become apparent, Jamaicans have done the best they can to separate themselves from their African American neighbors. Jamaicans want to solidify their reputation as hard-working, success driven, goal-oriented people, in which upward mobility is sought through education. However, as each group is discriminated against, and they tend to live in similar neighborhoods, and the Jamaicans have begun to assimilate. This has become apparent through their close friendships with blacks, and their tendency to vote for candidates supported by the African American community.

Another major race that has developed is the Hispanics. In actuality, this race does not really exist, but rather was created by census takers to make counting the Latin American population much easier. Of this group of people, most want to separate themselves from the black and Puerto Rican minorities. These people identify with their home countries, and many even consider themselves to be white. However, society does not view them in these terms. They will judge any person who looks in between black and white, and has Spanish-speaking background to be “Hispanic.”

The last major minority group that is often discussed is Asians. Although they were harshly discriminated in the past, they are now held in high esteem often tagged as the “model minority.” They have become well accepted in society due to their children’s success in school, and their ability to get middle-class careers and afford middle-class housing. In addition, many of the Asian countries have developed economic and political power of the past years, and this has resulted in greater respect given to their natives.

Even though the Asians are the most respected of these minorities, they still carry with them several stereotypes. First, it is often assumed that Asians as a whole are a smart and hard working group. This is untrue as many Asians simply are not smart and turn to gangs and crime just like any other minority. In addition, many assume that all Asians in New York City are Chinese. This hardly the case as there is a significant number of Asians coming from a diverse number of countries such as Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.

Another interesting phenomenon that has occurred in the past, and continues to occur is that of intraracial racism. A good example of this is the African Americans in the 1900s who migrated North from the South. “Negroes who had lived in the city for generations, especially those who gloried in the easing of racial tensions during the late nineteenth century, blamed the southern migrant for reversing this trend.” (Osofsky, 43) These well-established blacks sided with many whites in their racist views. They were ashamed by the quality of these new blacks entering the city, and felt that their reputations were being tarnished. They agreed with the whites in that the only solution was to keep the blacks in the South.

An additional example of intraracial tensions in the history of New York City was between the older Eastern European Jews and the newer Russian immigrants in the developing Brighton Beach community. Although the Russian immigrants possessed strong Jewish identity, they had been raised in an anti-religious Soviet culture, and had variably low levels of religious observance. This greatly disturbed the older, more-religious, Jews from Eastern Europe who had difficulty accepting these new people into their neighborhood.

A current example of this is within the Asian and Hispanic communities. Many of these immigrants come into the United States illegally from a variety of different countries. The result is a large amount of both illegals and legals competing for a shrinking amount of available jobs. This competition can lead to harsh tensions between various people of the same race.

Politics

Upon analyzing past and present politics within New York City, it is interesting to note some of the trends that have developed. Due to the massive amount of immigrants that have come to New York City, political groups have sought out the electoral support of large ethnic communities. These immigrants often possess strong political and familial ties to their home countries. Understandably, these groups look to push their agendas as much as possible. They are often concerned with policies towards their home countries, as well as issues that affect their current life in New York. Those who have successfully swayed politicians have done so by uniting their resources through alliances and organizations. In addition, it is important to note that money and economics are directly linked to the policies and agendas of both politicians and citizens alike.

The Chinese in Chinatown are an excellent example of the political process and its effect on the people. In 1965, the United States opened its doors by abandoning their previous policy of quotas based on country-of-origin. The big winners from this change were the Chinese. They came in staggering numbers and many inhabited the Lower East Side. “Chinatown” developed and so did its booming small businesses of grocery stores, restaurants and garment factories.

In the mid-1970s, a world recession caused many foreign investors to transfer their money into the relatively strong United States economy. The Lower East Side began to see floods of foreign capital being invested in Chinatown real estate. With time, surrounding areas were bought out as well, and Chinatown began to expand. This gave a tremendous boost to Chinatown’s economy.

Large amounts of speculation within Chinatown’s real estate market have caused real estate prices to increase at astonishingly profitable rates. Similarly, rents have increased as well, forcing low-income residents to move to the suburbs. Retail space has become increasingly scarce and expensive. As overhead increases, businesses will continue to experience reduced profits, and with this comes reduced wages. The real estate market, which once boosted Chinatown’s economy, has now caused it to slow considerably.

This situation has strong political significance. Politicians have allowed this situation to develop in which big businesses continue to thrive at the expense of small businesses and low-income residents. Wealthy real estate investors have exercised a considerable amount influence on the election and policies of local politicians.

It is a well-known fact in politics that the major way for a group to gain support for their agenda is to gain as many supporters as possible. The Chinese inability to unite through alliances and organizations can be directly linked to their inability to gain any political momentum. It is no wonder politicians seem to have no interest in lowering rents or creating low-income housing. After all, the group that supports these reforms does not hold considerable power on Election Day.

A great example that shows the flipside of this situation is the predominantly Irish population that supported the Tammany Hall political machine. This overwhelming support allowed the Tammany regime to stay in power for almost 60 years. Similarly, the Irish population agendas were very successful during this period. The Irish people gained much political support and experienced overall prosperous times. Many leaders of Tammany Hall became fairly wealthy, including George Washington Plunkitt. In his book, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall he explains how he was able to use his position of power to produce wealth. Through the inside knowledge that he was exposed to, he was able to speculate on the real estate the government would need. He would then buy up the real estate and when the government would want to buy it, he would sell it to them at a much higher price than what he paid. Through these practices he was able to produce a large amount of wealth.

However, Plunkitt understood that in order to maintain this profitable position, he must give back to the people who support him with votes, essentially the Irish population. In his book he says, “The district leader promises and that makes a solemn contract. If he lives up to it, spends most of his time chasin’ after places in the departments, picks up jobs from railroads, and contractors for his followers, and shows himself in all ways a true statesman, then his followers are bound to uphold him, just as they are bound to uphold the Constitution of the United States.” (Riordon, 35) Plunkitt’s shows a clear and quintessential example of a symbiotic relationship between political leaders in power, and a powerful group of people who support him. Through his philanthropy to the poor, and ability to create jobs for his supporters, he was able to hold down his position of power, which in turn made him a very wealthy man.

The Dominicans are another important group that has contributed to the political landscape of New York City. Large amounts of Dominicans began to enter New York in the 1960s. This developed out of economic necessity on both ends. “It did not take long before emigration came to be shaped far more by economic needs of the Dominican populace and by a demand for a relatively cheap and vulnerable labor force in New York than by U.S. foreign born policy concern.” (Foner, 253)

In the 1960s and 1970s, Dominicans were viewed by politicians as unlikely to vote and therefore received little attention. By the late 1970s, Dominicans did begin to organize into cultural, recreational, and professional groups. With these organizations, the group developed the potential to unite and become a power.

In the early 1980s, a group of educated, U.S.-born Dominicans sought to claim power in local politics by courting the Dominican voters. At the time, the school system was a major issue amongst Dominicans. This group aggressively recruited people to vote for the school board. In the end they were successful, and the Dominicans were acknowledged for their significant political presence. Dominican activists pushed for a new district that would encompass mostly Dominicans. The New York City Districting Commission granted this when they created District 10 in northern Manhattan.

Dominicans are a group that is known to have strong ties to their home country. With their newfound political power, they sought to address issues that affected their bi-national status. In the 1980s, it was a group of entrepreneurs who lobbied the Dominican government to allow dual citizenship to Dominicans living in the United States. Both sides agreed that it was important for Dominicans in the United States to become citizens and vote, because this would attract greater attention to their issues both here and in the Dominican Republic. It was decided that more Dominicans would become U.S. citizens if they could legally stay Dominican as well. As a result, a change in the Dominican constitution was adopted in 1994 to reflect this adjustment.

Economically, Dominicans working in the United States often send money back home to their families in the Dominican Republic. In addition, Dominican politicians from the United States often come back to the Dominican Republic to raise funds for their campaigns. This monetary support, along with the political support of politicians and natives in the Dominican, can greatly affect the outcome of elections here in the United States. As Dominicans continue to increase in power, it becomes more likely that the United States will employ favorable policies towards the Dominican Republic. These principles have proven to be true for all ethnic groups here in New York.

Ghettos and Enclaves

As people have immigrated to New York City various ghettos and enclaves have developed. As these neighborhoods have grown, populations have become increasingly clustered within people of their own ethnicity. Regardless of race, people move to these neighborhoods for many of the same reasons, and as a result many similarities exist amongst these various ghettos and enclaves. In sum, there are many different advantages and disadvantages of living in a cultural enclave.

There are several different factors that have contributed to this phenomenon. The most obvious is human nature. People are attracted to those who are in any way similar to them and tend to cluster together. Harlem is a great example of this idea, as not only did it have a massive African-American contingent, but also a large West Indian population as well. Chinatown and Flushing are also great examples. Not only have Chinese dominated these areas, but also various other different groups of Asians.

Social factors have also played a considerable influence. Chain migration, in which new immigrants latch on to previous family members and friends for support, has led directly to the development of enclaves. When immigrants come to the United States, they often begin by living with the family who has supported their immigration.

Through this social networking, these people are often set up with jobs that exist within the enclave. As a result, they often live in the area that is close to where any work will be. A great example of this was the Chinese within Chinatown. “The most distinctive feature of New York Chinatown’s economy is that people find jobs within the community, working for Chinese Employers.” (Kwong, 26) The economic growth that developed amongst this whole community allowed all of these jobs to be created. In fact, in 1980 Chinatown had only a 3.4% unemployment rate, well below the national average of 6.4% (Kwong, 25).

The Koreans also employed many of their own new immigrants as well. The difference here is that Koreans work mostly in small businesses as opposed to the very large businesses that exist in Chinatown. “According to a 1988 survey I conducted… 49 percent of Korean wives and 61 percent of their husbands were self-employed” (Foner, 181).

When Korean immigrants come here, they often know that they will eventually start a small business. Many times they come here with a decent amount of capital, but they must first gain expertise in whatever business they want to go into before they can start. They then work as an employee, usually for a fellow Korean, in whatever business they seek to open. Having worked to gain knowledge and amass more capital, they can then break off and start their own business that will eventually employ even more Koreans. Although different, both Chinatown with big businesses, and Koreans with small businesses have shown how the growth of an enclave can develop as a result of economic factors.

Overall, there are several different positives and negatives when it comes to living in one of these enclaves. The first positive is a strong cultural presence. Many different cultures have developed and thrived amidst the conditions of an enclave.

A great example of this is 1930s Harlem in which the Harlem Renaissance flourished despite the terrible living conditions that were characteristic of the slums. This time period produced a great amount of black culture in Jazz, Literature, and Theatre.

In addition, many organizations, most notably churches, moved to Harlem and gave the ghetto its unique Negro flavor. “Practically every major Negro institution moved from its downtown quarters to Harlem by the early 1920’s: the United Order of True Reformers; Odd Fellows, Masons, Elks, Pythians and other fraternal orders; the Music School Settlement; the Coachmen’s Union League; the African Society of Mutual Relief; The New York Age; West Fifty-third street YMCA and YWCA; almost all negro service agencies including the local offices of the Urban League and NAACP; the AME Home and Foreign Missionary Society; all the major churches.” As we can see from this, all of these different groups provided Harlem with the necessary core for its unique culture to develop.

Another major advantage of living in a ghetto is comfort. When living in an enclave, one is surrounded by people of their own ethnicity who likely speak the same language that they do and share the same customs that they have. If times are good in your enclave, this comfort can provide you with a decent life here in America. This was proved true by Chinatown in its early development. Although wages were fairly low, the economy was thriving so jobs were available. For a full weeks work, people could afford to rent an apartment in Chinatown. For many, this was an improvement over the lives they had lived in their previous countries.

However, what can be an advantage of living in an enclave can also be a disadvantage. In Chinatown, these people were stuck in these low wage jobs, and often did not know English. As times worsened and real estate prices skyrocketed, these people experienced extreme difficulty in making a living. Their inability to speak English made them essentially stuck in these enclaves and poor conditions.

Although one cannot understate the importance of learning English when coming to America, it is certainly not the only way to get out of these enclaves. Education can help one achieve upward economic mobility. We see this with many Chinese and Koreans who study in New York’s top universities. In addition, they often aim for careers in Math and Science, because these do not require an extensive understanding of English. Small business is often another route out of the enclave, and we have seen this with the many Korean small businesses that have developed. “Korean immigrants’ ethnic and class resources help them establish and operate businesses effectively, while the language barrier and other disadvantages for employment in the general economy force them to turn to those businesses.”

Conditions were similar in the Brighton Beach ghetto of Russian Jews. Many legal and illegal immigrants were forced into low-paying cash jobs. Those who became successful often did so by turning to small business. In fact, people who amassed an even modest amount of wealth looked to leave the enclave as soon as they could.

Another common theme amongst these enclaves is the presence of organized crime. In the late 1970s, the Russian mob ran some significant operations out of Brighton. These activities included gambling, prostitution, drug dealing, and stealing cars.

In the Harlem slums of the 1930s, crime developed into a major issue. As rents continued to rise at astounding rates, people were forced to rent out rooms and beds to complete strangers in order pay their months rent. There was no way to know how honest these people were, and many cases of robbery resulted. “Urban reformers blamed many of Harlem’s social problems on this “lodger evil.” (Osofsky, 138) In addition, many people threw “Rent Parties” in which they served food for an admission of 25 cents. Unfortunately, “they often degenerated into rowdy, bawdy, and violent evening” (Kwong, 139).

In conclusion, throughout the history of New York City, various enclaves have developed mostly because of social and economic factors. Many of the similar problems have developed such as crime and poor living-conditions. Still there are many positives to living in an enclave in that one can experience their native culture in their native tongue. Nonetheless, it is important to learn English to enhance your ability to get employed in other areas. If one is dependent on their home countries language, it may be difficult to get out of the enclave when conditions are poor.