By Congressman Gary Ackerman,
Queens Tribune Founder

Before the United Nations moved into their headquarters on Manhattan’s east side in 1951, much of the world body’s activities took place in Queens. Through the 1940s, the General Assembly met in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and most delegates resided in Flushing’s Parkway Village, the massive UN housing complex. But it wasn’t only back then that Queens was the epicenter of world affairs.

Today, the borough remains the “Capitol of the World,” with the most culturally and ethnically diverse population in the land.

Starting with the first large wave of immigration to new arrivals from other far away lands, Queens is continuously being discovered by people from all points on the globe.           

As a senior member of the House International Relations Committee, I am often involved in events occurring in all of the different areas around the world. To most members of Congress on the panel, the committee’s work doesn’t translate into much as it relates to their districts. But here in Queens, international relations is a local issue.

The Local Issue

Whether the region involves the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Northern Ireland, Europe or any other area in the world, there are many people it affects in Queens.

The amount of diversity that exists here is simply outstanding. Queens has evolved into a county where more than 150 languages are spoken. Numerous forms of art from dozens of cultures are displayed in our museums and galleries. Different styles of architecture make up the borough’s buildings and infrastructure.

Music and dance are as diverse as they come  . . . whether bopping to sounds of salsa, moving to the beat of rap or moshing to the riffs of heavy metal.

There is also an abundance of literature, newspapers and television and radio stations, all in different languages that cater to the borough’s vibrant ethnicity and their lifestyles. Not to mention all the different forms of religion and houses of worship from Catholic, Greek and Korean churches to mosques to Jewish synagogues.

Queens boasts the entire rouge of international cuisine.

Go to Flushing and you’re in East Asia,
Jackson Heights for South Asia, Astoria for Greek, Jamaica for Caribbean, Roosevelt
Avenue for South and Central America, Forest Hills for Russia, Glendale for German, Woodside for the County Cork and for Italian, French and . . . well, just name it, we’ve got
it all. Not to mention some of the best
steak and seafood restaurants as well as Greek diners.

The World’s Energy

It almost goes without saying that such multi-culturalism is a source of vitality and energy. Diversity is good; choice is good; exposure to different cultures and ideas is good. It makes us more educated, better rounded people and it improves our communities. We live happier and more fulfilling lives as a result of it.

But it’s not just all the culture that we benefit from.

The variety of ethnicity and diversity in Queens, has been extremely positive for bolstering our local economy and creating jobs. Without immigrants from regions such as Mexico and Latin America, our farmers couldn’t bring in the crops, our hospitals would have a catastrophe instead of a mere nursing shortage crisis and our high-tech info industry would close down for lack of programmers (India and South Asia).

In addition, the restaurants, galleries, newspapers, etc. also create many jobs as well as continue to spur economic development.

The Stew Pot

Some describe Queens as a melting pot, but that implies a blending of cultures into one amalgam. Queens is really a stew pot in which each ingredient retains its own identity but absorbs some flavor from the others.

Whenever I tell my colleagues from across the nation about the culture and diversity in Queens, I think to myself how lucky we are to have it all right here.

Indeed, we have much to benefit from. Never has the phrase “Our strength is in our diversity: E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many, One” been so true than here in the county of Queens, New York.

So I invite you to celebrate with me, all the many differences that Queens has to offer as our great borough ventures even further into the 21st century.