Live
From The Peopling of New York City
Where they live
On Staten Island, Park Hill/Clifton (along with nearby Stapleton) has the largest Liberian population of any city outside Africa. There was estimated to be a community of 6,000 - 8,000 direct immigrants in 2007. Beginning in the late 1970s, a small number of Liberians, whose nation was founded by freed American slaves in the 1840s, settled in Staten Island. In the late eighties and early 1990s, the Liberian Civil War led to a flood of Liberian immigrants, fleeing ethnic struggles between the between Kru, Gola and Grebo communities, corrupt government, and political strife. The United States government was highly involved in Liberian affairs and began to offer refugee status to displaced Liberians, especially those who had family in the United States. This new wave of immigration settled near the first small handful of Staten Island Liberians in the Park Hill Projects (now private apartments). Many Liberian immigrants settled specially on Staten Island due to the federally subsidized rental buildings. They were attracted by the low cost of living.
In the 1990s, the Park Hill/Clifton area became the hub for the immigrant community from Liberia and West Africans around Targee St. The residences in the neighborhood are mostly one-family houses, but the last decade has seen the development of many attached homes and duplexes on formerly commercial property. Staten Island’s population of Liberian immigrants has certainly increased and sometimes that has caused some conflicts between African immigrants who are well settled on Staten Island and African/Liberian immigrants that just arrived.
African refugees increased 70 percent between 1997 and 2001 but dropped in 2002, and the proportion of refugees accepted from Africa fell tremendously. Many of the Liberians live in Park Hill, an area which attracts intensive patrols under the NYPD's Operation Impact. This neighborhood can be tough, but its not as bad as back in Africa. Facing a rough neighborhood is not the only problem that many immigrants face. Many African immigrants feel that they're in "no-man's-land." They struggle to assimilate in the American society but sometimes face difficulty from the African Americans. A student at College of Staten Island, Hassan Fofana say,"Our African American brothers, every time when they see us walking down the street, they try to bother us, I mean it's all over the place. Some say we are animals, we don't belong here, and we should go back to our country, because we are here taking their money. So I don't really feel fine." This is a struggle that many young immigrant adults face along with their trauma faced in the homeland.
Sources
Dwyer, Johnny. “Trying Times in Little Liberia.” Village Voice 13 August 2003 http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0334,dwyer,46369,1.html
Barry, Ellen. “From Staten Island Haven, Liberians Reveal War’s Scars.” The New York Times 18 September 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/nyregion/18liberians.html?ex=1347768000&en=5aea4cace7b46ef2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
"Clifton, Staten Island." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton,_Staten_Island