The Numbers Are In:
Queens Deals With Its Diversity

By Angela Montefinise

Whenever Jackson Heights resident Bryan Pu-Folkes drives through the highways and byways of the borough he calls home, he is “awestruck” by the level of diversity he encounters on every corner.

The founder of the non-profit immigrant advocacy group New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) said, “Queens is a very unique place. It has people from all over the globe who speak something like 140 languages. It’s really something very special and very different.”

He added, “We’re one of the most diverse places on the planet.”

Last week, the United States Census Bureau helped back up that statement when it released the results of the 2002 American Community Survey. The survey is a set of detailed demographic questions that will replace the Census Bureau’s long form in 2010.

The Community Survey showed that Queens has the second largest foreign-born population of any county in the United States, with 46.6 percent of people born outside of the country’s borders. That number puts Queens right behind Miami-Dade County in Florida, which has the largest foreign-born population in the United States at 51.4 percent.

The results thrilled Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, who said after the survey’s Sept. 3 release, “Queens County continues to be a magnet for immigrants in search of the American Dream.”  

Marshall noted that the large foreign-born population in Queens also leaves the borough in a unique – and sometimes difficult – position. “And while we embrace this wave of immigration to what is already the nation’s most extraordinarily diverse county, it brings additional challenges related to language and cultural differences,” she said.

Pu-Folkes agreed. “Those people born outside the country have different needs that need to be addressed,” he said. “We have to seriously look at those needs, and work on policy changes and social changes to help the foreign-born population thrive here.”

Marshall has done her part in the effort, forming the Queens General Assembly – a diverse organization that looks to improve communication and information sharing between racial and cultural groups.

NICE, the group Pu-Folkes created and is now executive director of, is also one agency trying to help immigrants in Queens, raising money for their needs, improving their access to governmental programs and fighting to help their voices get heard in the political arena.

One topic NICE is focused on right now is immigrant voting rights. Pu-Folkes explained that under New York State’s current policy, immigrants must become citizens before they can vote, even if they’re already legal residents.

Pu-Folkes said NICE is looking to change that rule, and explained, “Even after a legal immigrant passes the citizenship test, it takes the INS between three and five years to grant citizenship because of backlog. If the State legislature allowed legal residents to vote, then immigrants could have their voices heard even while they’re waiting.”

 In addition to that and other State policies, Pu-Folkes said NICE is also continuing its Government Access and Accountability Campaign, which looks to improve communication between City Councilmembers and new immigrants.

The campaign requires Council members who signed on in 2001 to hold town hall meetings in a variety of languages and send information to constituents to keep them up to date. In addition, it requires Council members to distribute evaluation forms that allow constituents to rate their performances, ask questions and make requests.

Pu-Folkes said the campaign is going to “pick up steam” over the next two years, and he said, “This Council is doing a much better job than the group before, but there is still room for massive improvement . . . If we’re talking councilmanic district, there are districts in Queens with more than 50 percent foreign born populations, like District 25, 20, 21 and so on. It’s important that those leaders reach out to those people.”

To test the campaign, NICE began a pilot program in two Queens districts – Councilman David Weprin’s District 23 and Councilman Hiram Monserrate’s District 21. Pu-Folkes said, “Both have really worked hard to help immigrants in their districts.”  

Pu-Folkes suggested education reform, and said, “Maybe we could put something in our curriculum that would help kids become tolerant boys and girls, who accept differences and embrace each other’s cultures.”

He added that there should be more interaction between ethnicities, either through town hall meetings or neighborhood events. NICE has held several town hall meetings to bring people together, and has one planned for Sept. 16 at the Elmhurst/Jackson Heights Senior Center at 71-05 Broadway.

The town hall meeting will be from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and will be completely community and immigrant led, Pu-Folkes said. The meeting will be translated into several languages besides English, including Bengali, Punjabi, Spanish and Chinese. In addition, Pu-Folkes said, “If someone needs another language, we will provide it there.”

Although he said there is work to be done, Pu-Folkes also called the Census results “positive,” and said, “Queens could be looked at as a model of diversity. That’s why I think it’s important for us to do all we can to help immigrants succeed here.”

Queens may have only the second largest foreign born population in the United States, but its residents still claim it is the absolute most diverse place on the face of the Earth.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Borough President Helen Marshall and former Borough President Claire Shulman have all been quoted as calling Queens – with its multicultural mix of food, shops and people – one of the most diverse places on the planet.

But could it be that Queens is actually not the most diverse county in the nation? Could it be that it’s not even number two?

While the United States Census refuses to interpret its numbers and discuss something as ambigious as diversity, two independent entities have actually done so – and the results are mixed.

According to a survey conducted by the Associated Press, Queens is actually not the most diverse county in the country – Hawaii County is.

The survey puts Queens fifth on the top 10 list of most diverse counties, with Hawaii County taking the prize and the Bronx taking second. Although a separate survey conducted by the independent firm Claritas stated that Queens is the country’s most diverse county, the Associated Press stands by its results.

The AP applied USA Today’s Diversity Index – which measures the probabilty that two people chosen at random in a county will be of different ethnicities or races – to about 4,000 counties in the United States, and found Hawaii County to be on top.

According to a spokesperson from the Associated Press, “The survey is absolutely correct...We used Census data. There’s no two ways about it.”

But representatives of the California firm Claritas – which analyzes Census data for clients such as Newsday –  claims that their company also used 2000 Census figures to do their survey, which also measures the probability of two random people being of different ethnicities. That company’s survey found Queens to be number one. Hawaii didn’t even make the list.

Although representatives from both organizations defended their findings, they also speculated that the difference in results probably stems from the Census’ new breakdown of ethnicities and how the two organizations incorporated those changes into their surveys.

Both companies incorporated the categories of  “white,” “black,” “American Indian,” “Native Hawaiian and other pacific islander,” and “Asian” into their formulas, but incorporated the categories of “two or more races” and “Hispanic” differently.

The Associated Press weighed “two or more races” more, while Claritas weighed “Hispanic” more.

The difference in math accounts for the difference in diversity numbers – Queens has nearly three times the number of Hispanics than Hawaii does, while Hawaii has more than four times the number people who identify themselves as “two or more races” than Queens.

After some research, the Trib found arguments for both counties. Queens has a much larger percentage of foreign born residents – Hawaii County didn’t even crack the top 200. Hawaii, on the other hand, has a larger number of people with mixed heritages and backgrounds.

Queens is filled with ethnic enclaves, while Hawaii’s population is mixed.

The question of which is more diverse will probably never be solved. The only person to take a definitive stand was Borough President Helen Marshall. She said, “No one’s more diverse than us. No question about it.”

The Census Bureau’s website at www.census.gov (shown) features the results of the 2002 American Community Survey, which shows Queens as having the second largest foreign born population in the country.