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I was reading some articles and heard from a few friends of mine of both races/ethnicities that there is problems between the two groups in the neighborhoods and high schools. Here is what I came across online;
The Bronx is home to roughly 26,000 Albanians, and their numbers have swelled in recent years with the flight of ethnic Albanians from the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Some Albanian students said the administration was quick to blame them, rather than black and Hispanic students, for any problems among ethnic groups. Most of those suspended and arrested, they said, were Albanians.
Although neither Columbus nor Lehman is besieged by violence, there are gang flare-ups outside the schools, the majority of them escalating from small misunderstandings. In the most recent one, which took place six weeks ago outside Lehman, the Bloods, who claim the colors red and black as their own, spotted a teen-ager outside the school wearing a red and black Albanian flag as a bandanna.
It became a matter of honor: Blood pride versus the sort of ethnic identification that led young Albanian-Americans to Kosovo to battle Serbs. The fight engulfed about 15 students. One of them, an African-American Blood member, was badly beaten and hospitalized.
Mr. Leder said another brawl began on Dec. 13 when a couple of Albanian students, whom the administrators did not identify, tried to yank a silver pendant from the neck of a Hispanic student. Several fights broke out in the hallways, involving Albanian, black and Hispanic students. Some Lehman students said both sides agreed to meet later to fight outside the school, where the arrests took place.
''They're a bunch of racists, all of them,'' said John, a 19-year-old Albanian and Lehman senior who did not want his last name published for fear of retribution. ''The kids think because we're white we're not going to fight back, but where we are from we have to fight to survive. And the principal's with them because they're on the football and basketball team.''
The Albanian students said they were simply coming to the aid of friends. ''We stick together,'' said Ylli Mujaj, a 15-year-old freshman. ''We give as good as we get.''
Some black and Hispanic students at Lehman said it was not that the Albanians were pushed away, but rather that they chose to stand apart. ''The Albanians think they're better than everyone else,'' said Tina Feliciano, a 17-year-old Lehman student who was standing with her friends in front of the White Castle. ''They want to be the only group left in this school and they are trying to take over.''
''We don't bother nobody,'' said an Albanian student, who is in his fifth year at Lehman. ''We just like to have fun. But if they do bother us, we go after them. If we have to, we fight them, we aren't scared at all.''
Historically, there have been several incidents in the neighborhoods of the two schools. In two separate bias incidents in 2002, black and Hispanic children en route to local high schools were accosted by Albanian teen-agers who identified themselves as members of A.B.I. and tried to paint them white, investigators said. In another incident, which took place outside Columbus four years ago, two teen-agers were hospitalized after a brawl between Albanian youths and members of the Zulu Nation street gang.
We can't get rid of our own ghetto wildlife. Why do we keep importing more of future gangbangers? Immigration reform now! Concentrating on illegal immigration is pretty pointless.
Only merit based immigration (entrance exam-based).
I've been to Russian neighborhoods, Polish(I live in Greenpoint), and other Eastern European neighborhoods as well as Italian but never felt uncomfortable until I went to Little Italy in the Bronx and walked past a few Albanian bars/restaurants. There were huge, 6'5" dudes that were staring my wife and I down(I'm Black and she's Italian/Portuguese). They made comments in their language but kept walking. Funny thing is that one block away, it was mostly Blacks, PR, Mexicans, and Dominicians hanging out. I'm not too shocked about this but the punk gangmembers who can't fight better not start stuff with the Albanians because lots of them are just as ghetto and can fight(formal military training). I have a few Albanian friends out in Astoria and they're more tame than the ones in the Bronx. By reading these threads, i'm getting the impression that the few Whites left in the Bronx(other than those in Riverdale) are tough and won't take any stuff therefore are respected or should I say feared.
I've been to Russian neighborhoods, Polish(I live in Greenpoint), and other Eastern European neighborhoods as well as Italian but never felt uncomfortable until I went to Little Italy in the Bronx and walked past a few Albanian bars/restaurants. There were huge, 6'5" dudes that were staring my wife and I down(I'm Black and she's Italian/Portuguese). They made comments in their language but kept walking. Funny thing is that one block away, it was mostly Blacks, PR, Mexicans, and Dominicians hanging out. I'm not too shocked about this but the punk gangmembers who can't fight better not start stuff with the Albanians because lots of them are just as ghetto and can fight(formal military training). I have a few Albanian friends out in Astoria and they're more tame than the ones in the Bronx. By reading these threads, i'm getting the impression that the few Whites left in the Bronx(other than those in Riverdale) are tough and won't take any stuff therefore are respected or should I say feared.
I agree with you on that, I'm Cambodian and whenever I go through Belmont or an Albanian hood, I feel uncomfortable as well, the ones in the Bronx are known to jump people at random. Yeah your right about that, the only white left in the Bronx are either Albanians, Italians or Irish and they are all pretty tough. Irish hold their own through-out most of the North Bronx and the Albanians and Italians in the all of the East and some parts of the South Bronx. Pelham has all three (Irish, Italian and Albanians) that is a very roughneck neighborhood.
I see not too much has changed at good ole Lehman HS. I went there umpteen years ago, and back then the neighborhood around the school was mostly all Italian. The dominate Latin group at the time was Puerto Ricans. There weren't enough Black and Puerto Ricans to stand seperately against the Italians, so it was the Blacks and Puerto Ricans together, against the Italians.
It was a crazy time. For the most part everyone got along in class, laughed and joked with each other ect. But at lunch time it was Blacks and Puerto Ricans on one side, Italians on the other. It was also seperated in the yards. You just sat with your group and dealt with it. It wasn't like you were going to get along with everyone in your group either.
All groups were just as wild and crazy as the next group. If you want to call it ghetto, then everyone was ghetto. You couldn't walk around alone and get caught out there away from your group.
There was no immigration problem back then, because everyone was American. They could be Italian or Carribean descendants, but they were all born here.
Academically it was a good school at that time, and they had a great honors program. I also enjoyed playing woodwind instruments in the band, everybody got along in the band. All the people I hung out with did pretty well in life.
I really don't think there is any big deal between the Albanians and Blacks and Hispanics except as DAS points out maybe in high school where there has always and will always be problems between different groups.
I live in Pelham Parkway which has the highest number of Albanians in the whole city but the neighborhood is actually at least 30% Hispanic and 20 or 25% black.It is one of the most peaceful neighborhoods in The Bronx and has a pretty low crime rate.Everyone get along here and I don't sense any tension at all.
Actually,I think the reason there are so few problems here is because nobody has a real majority.
Albanians have problems with everybody, not just Blacks/Hispanics. Take a look at Europe, wherever there are Albanians there are trouble aka criminal activities and plain violence. They don't possess the ability of integration/assimilation but instead they tend to form "ghettos" of their own people in the neighborhood.
Firstly the title should read "Are there any problems" or "Is there a problem". Secondly, there are no problems with Blacks / Hispanics /Albanians / Italians / Koreans / Bangladeshis / Russians / etc. Kids will be kids..and High School is only representative of..well High School. Why even bring it up? Because 2 5th graders argue about something, it represents a racial divide in our community?
Today these issues are basically nonexistent (outside of kids), however in the 40s/50s/60s it was a very tumultuous time, with waves of all kinds of people flooding into the city. Street fights/gangs were all over their place...this block vs that block, this building vs that building, PRs vs Italians, Blacks vs Jews, brown vs white, and every variation you can imagine.
Our society overall has become much less violent, especially in NYC (those high profile news stories are the exception, not the rule). So to answer your question...absolutely not.
From what Ive heard. In St Raymonds highschool Puerto Ricans and Italians team up to beat up Albanians with bats. Also Lehman Highschool used to have the same problem with Italians and Puerto Ricans teaming up against Albanians. By Kingsbridge section of the Bronx there is a buffer zone between Dominican Gangs like DDP vs ABI. like that Dominican DDP and los Trinis and the Blacks Bloods and Crips, that ABI stuff is just as equally stupid. A shake my head when Albanians try to mimic Bronx Albo and Cova.
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