Counting
Diversity: The Changing Face Of Queens
By Angela Montefinise When Michael Lau left China and came to Flushing in 1991, he had one goal – to make enough money to bring his wife Jane and his nine-year-old daughter Mary to America where they could “make a better life together.” Lau rented a one-room apartment in the downtown area and found work as a cook in a small Chinese takeout restaurant. “Late hours,” he told the Tribune, “Always late. I worked hard there. And I made little money.” He learned English from a Chinese American who lived in his building,” which was mostly filled with Koreans. “It was hard to speak to people. I knew no English, and everyone was [Korean]. So I took a class with a friend who spoke English. I learned enough to get a job as a waiter.” And as a waiter in a more upscale Chinese restaurant in downtown Flushing, Lau made “much, much more money,” and could move into a larger apartment. As he saved money to bring his family to the country, he noticed the neighborhood around him changing. “Less Korean signs and more Chinese signs were here,” he said. “Things changed since 1991.” In 1999, Lau’s daughter Mary came to America and learned English from the same friend that her father did. “She learned much faster,” he said. “She’s smart, you know.” One year later, Lau’s wife Jane moved to Queens and took a job at a garment factory in Long Island City to make money and she started learning English. She said, “When I came, we wanted to send Mary to school. We needed more money, so I worked…Two buses! Two hours it would take to get there.” This September Mary – who went to Flushing High School for three years – started college at the University of Iowa, to take pre-med classes. Michael Lau is now a manager at a restaurant, and said, “It’s amazing, America. Such chances here.” As for Queens, Lau said with a smile, “We will never leave. This place is how we made it. We love it here.” The story of the Laus is common in Queens where thousands of immigrants have settled for better lives and to fulfill a dream. Since the 1990 Census, more and more immigrants have headed to Queens, creating enclaves of cultures that mix to make the borough the City’s most diverse and most unique. The 2000 Census proves that here, every corner of the Earth is represented, sometimes on one block. From Astoria to Glen Oaks, no part of the borough has been untouched by the wave of immigration that has changed the sights, smells and look of Queens over the past 10 years. The 2000 Census confirms what a quick drive through the borough also shows – the borough’s foreign born population increased by 36 percent since 1990, making multiculturalism a way of life amongst the more than two million people living in Queens. To Census takers, that huge change from 1990 and 2000 makes Queens an interesting case. For the Lau family and thousands of other immigrants, that change simply makes Queens “home.” Just The
Facts The number of Hispanics increased from 381,120 to 556,605, and the number of Asians increased from 229,830 to 390,164, making those two broad ethnic groups the two that grew the most in Queens. New York Department of City Planning Population Division Director Joseph Salvo, who worked closely with the Census to compile New York City’s demographic information and spoke to the Tribune at a press conference when the Census was released, said, “Queens has, by far, the biggest foreign-born population in New York.” The areas of Queens with the most immigration, the biggest population and the greatest population increase were Jackson Heights and North Carolina, according to Census statistics. That area had a 31 percent population increase since 1990, and now has over 169,000 people living there. The Woodhaven and Richmond Hill area experienced a 28.3 percent increase in population, and the population of Elmhurst and South Corona increased by 21.9 percent. The area with the least population growth was the Rockaways, according to Census statistics, and the population still grew by six percent. Salvo told the Tribune, “There is a clear correlation between immigration and population increases in New York City. In Queens, where immigration is the highest, we’ve seen the most changes in area population. In areas with extremely high immigration or migration, like Jackson Heights and particularly Richmond Hill, population increases were huge…Queens really stood out in the Census. The changes were fascinating.”
Uniquely
Diverse Salvo excitedly told the Tribune, “If you look at any one area in Queens, there is no ethnic group that dominates. Even in Flushing, where there is a strong Asian presence, no one group is the dominant ethnicity. You know how many Asian groups there are? Chinese people only make up 15 percent of the area. “It is conceivable that an area can have a large number of different ethnicities, but no diversity, because the groups stick together and don’t mix. That’s not the case in Queens at all. Southeast Queens may be primarily black and Flushing may be primarily Asian, but within those groups is tremendous diversity. I just love to look at Queens.” United States Census Bureau Regional Director Tony Farthing – the man in charge of New York State’s Census count – agreed with Salvo, and told the Tribune that driving through the borough of Queens is like driving through “a cross-section of the world” where “no one ethnic group stands out in any area. It’s a rarity.” The Most
Diverse Salvo said, “In
Jackson Heights you still have pockets of working class European immigrants,
you have blacks and Asians, and you have Hispanics, who come from a
variety of countries. Many Mexicans are moving there from other parts
of New York, as well as Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. The category of
Hispanic doesn’t mean just one group. That group is diverse within
itself.”
The percentage of Asians also increased, mostly in the form of Indians and Pakistanis. Salvo said, “There is a mix of Hispanic culture in Jackson Heights, and large numbers of Caribbean people. You can really find any ethnicity there.” Bryan Pu-Folkes, the founder and executive director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) – an immigrant advocacy group – was born in Jamaica, grew up in Flushing, and currently lives in East Elmhurst, and said, “I’ve seen a of changes in Western Queens. I’ve noticed that the old European populations are older. I’ve noticed that the younger people are Ecuadorian, Colmbian, Puerto Rican and mostly South American.” The People In Your
Neighborhood As Michael Lau pointed out, where there were once Koreans in Flushing, there are now Chinese immigrants. Where there were once Europeans in Jackson Heights, there are now Hispanics. Where there were once whitest in Bellerose, there are now South Asians. Salvo told the Tribune, “You see Hispanics moving into areas like Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village, Jackson Heights and Corona, which used to be havens for Italians. Germans, Irish and other working class immigrant populations. Those populations have moved East or out of New York State…We see Korean populations that used to live in Flushing moving further down Northern Boulevard to Douglaston and Little Neck. These people have been the country for several years, and are affluent enough to move.” Besides internal population shifts, Salvo said there has been a tremendous amount of immigration from South Asia, the Caribbean and South America.” The neighborhoods that show this the most are Woodhaven and Richmond Hill in Community District 9, according to Salvo, who said, “Those areas have seen unbelievable growth and a complete change in its population.” Census numbers show that in 1990, whites outnumbered Hispanics in the area two to one, and the Asian population was less than 10 percent. In 2000, Hispanics outnumbered whites, and the Asian population doubled. City Planning’s online analysis of census numbers said, “Community District 9 has achieved an unprecedented mix of population by race and ethnicity.” Salvo said, “People from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are coming here, and they’re moving to Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Woodhaven. That’s a major change for that area.”
Farthing mentioned that Bellerose’s population also completely changed, and said, “That change was overnight. In 1990, that area was almost all white. Now, it’s mostly South Asian, Indians and Pakistani people have moved in and taken over the stores. It’s truly fascinating what happened there.” In areas with older populations, like sections of Flushing and Eastern Queens, Salvo said there have been major ethnic shifts because people are either moving away or passing away. He said, “In Douglaston, we’re seeing whites leave for other places and seeing Koreans move in. This has to do with the fact that Koreans have been here a while, and have made enough money to move to the more upper-class areas.” Salvo said the neighborhoods to watch over the next 10 years are Astoria and Long Island City, and said, “I think you’ll see the ethnic mix of Jackson Heights move over to those areas. Their populations are already changing somewhat.” More Information |
