Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
@ sobroguy there is still a very large portion of NYC that is Puerto Rican and the great thing about it is that unlike the 50s and 60s they encompass almost every income group...
you have your poor-working class folk still living in areas like the South Bronx... believe me I visit family there pretty often and it's still has strong PR population... They are also in areas like Bushwick, LES, East Harlem, Far Rockaway, Cypress Hills/East NY, Los Sures, etc.
you have your working- to middle class folk now moving or growing even more in areas like
Ridgewood, Woodhaven, Glendale, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck, Williamsburg, Jackson Heights, etc.
And then you have your middle to upper middle class Puerto Ricans having small but stable and growing communities in areas like Park Slope, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Bensonhurst, Fresh Meadows, etc.
While I agree with you that Puerto Ricans are moving to the areas you mentioned like PA, Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, etc. they aren't disappearing the way the Germans did in the 50s, they are simply spreading up with a good number of them moving out but other native born PR folk are moving in from all different income levels... Personally I know of a number of folk that have moved into Ridgewood/Bushwick coming straight from PR... Areas like Caguas, Aguadilla, Ponce, Culebra and these aren't the ones struggling to make a life for themselves like it was for my family who was escaping poverty in the 50s (wasn't born yet, but famly came in '58)... working to middle class folk looking to buy a house and settle down and similar to what we are seeing with Black folk from all different parts of the globe, its nice to see minority groups of all different SES contribute to the diversity we see in this city...
Damn, I used to know a website that had detailed demographic profiles of community districts in the city. If I recall, it was a survey that was carried out every year. The website actually gave the percentages of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, and others in the district. Here is a very nice post of mine from 2008, kinda old, but relevant.
I have the Bronx, wish I remembered the website for the rest of the city.
The Bronx is still truly the Puerto Rican borough. Even the Dominican areas have PR percentages in the 30's, higher than most places in the city.
The reason University Heights has so many PR flags is simple. Since PR's are not the dominant group, they feel like they have to represent more. It's a pretty common phenomenon. Why are you gonna flag the PR flag in Mott Haven, when everyone is PR? No point. Instead You have 12 flags hanging in between buildings on Davidson ave and to show your dominance.
I would agree...there are still plenty still here...but really many that are still here are either ones that could not leave due to lack of resources, education, etc, or descendants of those people. There is no PR identity, it died in the 70s along with many of the communities PRs lived. Those that could get out, like everyone else, did....those who couldn't/didn't...well this is the population we are left with here. That is not an identity, that's just, in general, the bottom tier and least capable members of a society.
Of course that is not the case with everyone, as I stated some did stay, have moved to better neighborhoods in the city, but many have left. And the fact that much of my family no longer lives in NYC, but instead Florida and Pennsylvania, is very typical of what is occurring.
I am not surprised though that the South Eastern Bronx is one of the last strongholds for Puerto Ricans...which is also the areas where all the affordable housing is being built, much of the new 2/3 family homes have been built, and has given PRs the opportunity to stay and ascend the economic ladder in their own communities.
@ sobroguy same here but my family is spread throughout the city as well...
and to this statement i agree 100% "There is no PR identity, it died in the 70s along with many of the communities PRs lived. Those that could get out, like everyone else, did....those who couldn't/didn't...well this is the population we are left with here. That is not an identity, that's just, in general, the bottom tier and least capable members of a society."
I don't know why but it seems as if there are not interested in investing in their neighborhood anymore like they used to be... Now everything is either mexican, ecuadorian, dominican or columbian... you don't see any Puerto Rican food spots anymore... even in Bushwick which used to be filled cuchifrito spots, they have been dying out one by one and there are hardly any left... Bushwick still is around 35-40% puerto rican maybe a little more and continues to have people from PR move in here including the ghetto folk along with the hipsters... believe it or not that is a big fad in PR, and alot of them have moved into areas like Bushwick... (personally, they look so ridiculous I don't know how that style stays in)... It seems as if these second and third generation PRs tend to act more black than hispanic and maybe that is why they don't have the same interest first generation PRs used to have to set up shop in their neighborhood and it's kinda sad...
I agree that there are really no more PR restaurants in my area, mostly Mexican, Central American, and some Dominican places...so odd. If I want good PR food I have to go to Sofrito in midtown, or Sazon downtown (same owner)..higher end places but excellent quality. The local spots are all gone...there are some good places to eat in Orlando though..go figure.
And in regards to the movement of PRs from Puerto Rico, it may be that some are moving to NYC, but the overwhelming number are moving from PR to Florida and Texas, with Central Florida seeing major growth. PRs are not moving to NY anymore..it's all about Florida for Nuyoricans and Islanders alike.
I have to respectfully disagree with that statement... they may not be moving at the same level as they were in the 50s,60s and 70s, but they are still coming into the city... like I said before, most of these people aren't moving to the hood and working there way up but have already had a decent job in PR and move into the city to settle into working-to middle class neighborhoods... My neighboehood is pretty diverse but its about 50% hispanic and about 20% of those hispanics are PR another 25% Ecuadorian/dominican and then 5% everything else... While most of these Puerto Ricans are second and third generation, there is a group of Puerto Rican people that are moving into areas like these, purchasing homes or buying condos, or renting in these areas and further continuing to spread out throughout the city... They are not growing in numbers in areas where they at one point were heavy which is why they may not receive the attention that other incoming groups receive but they are still coming in...
There isn't a neighborhood with a concentration of wealthy or high-income PRs that I'm aware of...those folks tend to be scattered about throughout the city and burbs. Generally speaking the PR population in NYC has declined and many have moved to either PA, Mass, or down South.
Talking about Ridgewood, "While most of these Puerto Ricans are second and third generation, there is a group of Puerto Rican people that are moving into areas like these, purchasing homes or buying condos, or renting in these areas and further continuing to spread out throughout the city... They are not growing in numbers in areas where they at one point were heavy which is why they may not receive the attention that other incoming groups receive but they are still coming in..."
the statement in bold is why there isn't one location that is concentrated with high income PR's but they do tend to blend in with any crowd and that is why we don't hear about them but once again the population is still the second largest hispanic population in this city behind dominicans...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
