Characterize the 62 counties of New York (Yonkers, Syracuse: transplants, neighborhood, university)
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I'll start:
Suffolk County - Significant Italian American population. Mix of white collar and blue collar. Safer and less (sub)urbanized than Nassau County.
Nassau County - Significant Italian American and Jewish populations, but also very racially/ethnically diverse. Mostly made up of commuters. Middle to upper middle class, more white-collar than blue-collar (although there are exceptions).
Westchester County - Where most uppity, upscale NYC commuters reside. White-collar to the core, and very WASPish, with some exceptions.
Now, for those of you more familiar with Upstate (as well as NYC/Long Island), break down and characterize (ethnically/culturally/politically) as many counties as you can.
Westchester County - White people with money who work in NYC.
Saratoga County - Basically white people and some Indians/East Asians who work at Global Foundries.
Albany County - Decent mix of people from all walks of life. Blacks/Latinos on the north/southeast end. White people/college kids/young families everywhere else. Seems to be a lot of Irish and Italians who were part of the older generation.
Schenectady County - Blue collar area with a good mix of people from all ethnicity. Lots of Irish/Italian but also large amount of blacks/Puerto Ricans/Guyanese.
Montgomery County - Rednecks. Also lots of Irish and Italian. Amsterdam has a lot of Puerto Ricans.
Fulton County - Rednecks and heroin addicts. Also lots of Irish/Italian. Gloversville has far more black people than Johnstown with some Latinos mixed in although I wouldn't call this place diverse at all. Very few Asians/Indians.
Cortland County - Meth and farms. Literally everyone is white. Many have been there for generations, like hundreds of years.
Not a ton of Asians/Mexicans unless they work at the local restaurants it seems.
Westchester County - White people with money who work in NYC.
Saratoga County - Basically white people and some Indians/East Asians who work at Global Foundries.
Albany County - Decent mix of people from all walks of life. Blacks/Latinos on the north/southeast end. White people/college kids/young families everywhere else. Seems to be a lot of Irish and Italians who were part of the older generation.
Schenectady County - Blue collar area with a good mix of people from all ethnicity. Lots of Irish/Italian but also large amount of blacks/Puerto Ricans/Guyanese.
Montgomery County - Rednecks. Also lots of Irish and Italian. Amsterdam has a lot of Puerto Ricans.
Fulton County - Rednecks and heroin addicts. Also lots of Irish/Italian. Gloversville has far more black people than Johnstown with some Latinos mixed in although I wouldn't call this place diverse at all. Very few Asians/Indians.
Cortland County - Meth and farms. Literally everyone is white. Many have been there for generations, like hundreds of years.
Not a ton of Asians/Mexicans unless they work at the local restaurants it seems.
For Westchester County, I would say it has quite a few culturally diverse cities and villages(Yonkers, New Rochelle, White Plains, Peekskill, Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow, Port Chester, Elmsford, Mount Vernon(its northern half), Ossining, Tuckahoe, Pelham, Mamaroneck, etc.).
I'll start:
Suffolk County - Significant Italian American population. Mix of white collar and blue collar. Safer and less (sub)urbanized than Nassau County.
Nassau County - Significant Italian American and Jewish populations, but also very racially/ethnically diverse. Mostly made up of commuters. Middle to upper middle class, more white-collar than blue-collar (although there are exceptions).
Westchester County - Where most uppity, upscale NYC commuters reside. White-collar to the core, and very WASPish, with some exceptions.
Now, for those of you more familiar with Upstate (as well as NYC/Long Island), break down and characterize (ethnically/culturally/politically) as many counties as you can.
I wouldn't say it's safer ... in fact, I know it isn't.
I wouldn't say it's safer ... in fact, I know it isn't.
In Suffolk, you get more heroin/drug problems and ms-13 gang issues.
In Nassau, you get more burglaries and robberies (especially in western Nassau places like the Green Acres mall since crooks can get a quick getaway back into the city).
For Onondaga County, one of the few counties in the state with legitimate Black, White, Asian, Hispanic and Native American communities. All have diversity within them as well. A mix of white collar, blue collar and rural.
Cayuga County, mostly White, but has a visible long time Black community(actually 2 of first 4 non Native settlers were enslaved Africans ironically currently with the last name Freeman that still lives in the area) that is concentrated in SW Auburn. Ethnic Whites(Italians, Polish and Ukrainians) are found in or are/were concentrated in the western half of Auburn as well. Mainly blue collar and rural, with some white collar thrown in. Has some suburban development outside of Auburn south of the city.
Oswego County, mostly White, with a visible sprinkle of Blacks and Hispanics in Fulton and Oswego due to SUNY Oswego and farm/other types of work, etc. Good sized Italian populations in both as well. Very rural and blue collar, with again some white collar thrown in there. Has some suburban development outside of the small cities and in the southern portion of the county.
Madison County, a mix of rural/small town, with a small city in Oneida. A mix of blue and white collar. Suburban development near Chittenango and Oneida. Native American presence in/around southern edge of Oneida/Stockbridge Valley area. Small but long time Black presence in Canastota and Peterboro/town of Smithfield, with colleges bringing in some students as well. Cazenovia is known for its relative affluence, as is Hamilton due to the presence of Colgate University.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 05-12-2018 at 12:08 PM..
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Schuyler county, changes dramatically from the south end to the northern ends. The east side and west side of the lake have a political rivalry with the west side being more conservative old family farmers, and the east side being more wealthy transplants from Ithaca and elsewhere. The south end is solidly southern tier country. Watkins Glen wishes it was Ithaca.
Chemung county, Elmira surrounded by a mini red state. Elmira is very much an indicator of upstate NY being in rust belt.
Tompkins county, Severe concentration of smug on the lake surrounded by farms and more southern tier. Ithaca wishes it was NYC. Tompkins county liberals love to have protests in neighboring counties on "their behalf", even if the locals don't agree with them.
Cortland County - Meth and farms. Literally everyone is white. Many have been there for generations, like hundreds of years.
Not a ton of Asians/Mexicans unless they work at the local restaurants it seems.
At that level, this description could be 45 out of 62 counties.
Cortland has more exchange of population than many out of those 45 - it still has some industry, a state college, commuter base to Ithaca and Syracuse (less so Binghamton), and considerably fewer white original-settler descendant types than one typically finds in PA (the property tax burden in NY, shorter growing season causes more moving on, I think). Italian-Americans from the Two Sicilies were once common, actually in the City of Cortland the East Side Italian neighborhood now seems more stable than the north-west side areas. Catholic Lebanese and Ukrainian Pentecostals are noticeable more current ethnic groups. Town of Virgil attracts some of the Ithaca rimshot folks who otherwise might be in Hector, not just in the Greek Peak-related developments.
Also, unlike (say) Seneca and Yates counties, farms in Cortland are more likely to have reverted back to forest than gone to Amish (though there are now a few of those, around Marathon). The corn and hay land I remember seeing from my bedroom window as a kid, just sold for timber.
At that level, this description could be 45 out of 62 counties.
Cortland has more exchange of population than many out of those 45 - it still has some industry, a state college, commuter base to Ithaca and Syracuse (less so Binghamton), and considerably fewer white original-settler descendant types than one typically finds in PA (the property tax burden in NY, shorter growing season causes more moving on, I think). Italian-Americans from the Two Sicilies were once common, actually in the City of Cortland the East Side Italian neighborhood now seems more stable than the north-west side areas. Catholic Lebanese and Ukrainian Pentecostals are noticeable more current ethnic groups. Town of Virgil attracts some of the Ithaca rimshot folks who otherwise might be in Hector, not just in the Greek Peak-related developments.
Also, unlike (say) Seneca and Yates counties, farms in Cortland are more likely to have reverted back to forest than gone to Amish (though there are now a few of those, around Marathon). The corn and hay land I remember seeing from my bedroom window as a kid, just sold for timber.
Good info, and I apologize for making it sound like having a white majority was a bad thing. It's good you have info on the European immigration to Cortland and surrounding areas as I'm only familiar with it in the major urban areas of upstate NY.
Many small industrial towns received direct immigration during the Ellis Island era. Auburn was already mentioned, but some pretty small places (the example that comes to mind first is Elkland PA, a borough literally bordering NY state, with Polish immigration to work in its tannery) did too.
Here's an interesting example of migration from a village in Galicia (Żołynia, near Łańcut and Rzeszów in present-day southeastern Poland) peopled by both Christians and Jews (from http://www.zolynia.org/leaving.html )
Quote:
Many Gentile immigrants from Zolynia moved to mill towns in upstate New York, New England and the midwestern United States. There were colonies of Zoliners in Amsterdam, New York (near Albany) and Fall River, Massachusetts (near Boston). * * * Many worked in mills which weaved cloth and fabrics that was sent to New York City's "garment district" to be cut, sewn and assembled into clothes and drapes by Jewish immigrants from Zolynia.
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