New York City is a place where the population of minorities
are growing tremendously everyday. Most people forget about the borough of
Staten Island or know nothing much about it except the fact that it is
considered a “dump site”. I’ve always wondered how the Puerto Ricans living in
Staten Island felt. Port Richmond is a neighborhood on the North Shore of
Staten Island which contains mostly Hispanics living there. Staten Island is
such an ethnic diverse place that many people don’t realize it. According to
SILive, the young Hispanic population is booming on Staten Island. How did the
space of Port Richmond shape the way for Hispanics living there?
There were many development tactics that were used to make
New York City the best it can be. City elites wanted to attract people from all
over which was why many immigrants wanted to live and settle there. Focusing
back in Staten Island, Port Richmond is seen as a run down place. It has been
known to be a neighborhood of high-level crimes. The demographics of this area
is 45.7% Hispanic. Despite such high crime rates in the neighborhood, many
still are using the space they have in order to create a sense of community.
Referring to Deborah Young from SILive she stated that, “they work in such visible fields
as restaurants, construction, landscaping and are opening small businesses,
even as their presence has triggered backlash from those looking to demonize
them as outsiders in these tight fiscal times”. These stores and businesses
serve as a mean to unite the community together even if their presence is seen
as unwelcomed by others. Also, after an increase in stores there are more
families coming and settling in.
In “What’s
Yellow and White and Has Land All Around It?: Appropriating Place in Puerto
Rican Barrios.”, the “casita” is different from the stores opening up in
Staten Island because they
are taking what they have and making the best out of their environment.
For instance, they’re using their history and limited resources. They are
transforming and reshaping their fragmented landscapes into landscapes of hope
since they didn’t have much to offer. Looking back to today, Puerto Ricans are
in almost every neighborhood in Staten Island. One of the Staten Islanders that
works in the College of Staten Island stated how immigration patterns usually
work. There are a bunch of people known as “trend-setters” who will settle in
an area and find success. This will then be a call for their families and
friends to migrate and seek the same success. Sooner or later the entire
community will settle in and expand.
Resources:
Wassef, Mira. “Young Hispanic Population Booming on Staten
Island.” SILive.com, 3 Apr. 2015.
Young, Deborah. "Staten Island Reshaped by Hispanic
Wave." SILive.com. N.p., 22 May 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
Aponte-Pares,
Luis. 1998. “What’s Yellow and White and Has Land All Around It?: Appropriating
Place in Puerto Rican Barrios.”
This blog post really informed me about a specific place in Staten Island that we haven't gone into much detail about in class. I really liked how you focused in on one neighborhood, Port Richmond and discussed that even though it has a high crime rate the people there are using the space to create a sense of community. We have talked about the use of "casitas" as a place for the people of the neighborhood to come together and unite the community and I think that was a great way to integrate similar topics for discussion.
ReplyDeleteThe focus on one specific neighborhood was really interesting to read. I was not aware that so many Puerto Ricans lived in Staten Island. I totally agree that there are "trend setters" out there that influence others to follow in their foot steps in seek of a similar lifestyle. Casitas were probably centers where these "trend setters" were able to inform others of their new lifestyles and unite the latino community.
ReplyDeleteI have lived in New York City all my life and I have to say I feel like it is true that most people forget about Staten Island because even I do at times. I never knew that there were a lot of hispanics living there and that crime levels in that neighborhood were so high. I wonder why things are so bad there regarding crime levels, but Im happy that there is still a sense of community there. Hopefully in the future crime rate will decrease and the community will prosper.
ReplyDeleteComing from Long Island and not knowing a thing about Staten Island, this post educated me on the fact that Long Island may not be the only island around here that has an expanding Hispanic population. I would have never guessed the population of Hispanics in Port Richmond, Staten Island was at ~45%. This is very interesting and I could imagine their lifestyle by comparing this percentage to a city with a similar population rate in the areas I am from. It is a very inspiring and positive touch to your article when you reinstated the fact that Puerto Rican's come here from nothing to create a life that is successful, giving hope to other hard working people willing to leave their homelands seeking a better life for their families and themselves. I enjoyed this very much!
ReplyDeleteIt was very different to hear about Staten Island because I’ve never stepped foot there nor did I know much about them. Growing up in long island all of my life I never thought to think about what other lives of the Hispanic population in other states/cities. It was very eye opening to hear about the crime and criminalization of the Hispanic population in Staten island, I really did think that Staten island consisted of just upper-class white people. Great post by the way!
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Staten Island nor have met many people whom lived there; in that saying, this blog post was very informative. I never knew that there was a high crime rate in parts of Staten Island. That's great that even with such high crime rates, Hispanics living there are still able to create these spaces in order to feel a sense of community. I really enjoyed how you started the post with what people think about Staten Island to what Staten Island truly is, a community.
ReplyDeleteAs someone that lives in New York City, I can say that a lot of times Staten Island is "forgotten" or placed on the "back burner" when it comes to landmarks in NYC. However, I never knew the Latino population was as dense as 45.7% in Port Richmond and I also wasn't aware that it was considered to be a high crime area. At this, the news that the community has come together in order to keep the sense of community. Although families tend to follow their own families when it comes to relocation, reshaping the area definitely has an effect on that decision to relocate.
ReplyDeleteI am guilty in believing that Staten Island doesn't have much for diversity whenever I would visit the borough. Having a lot of family in Tottenville, the sense of diversity for Staten Island to me was lackluster because I believed the borough was dominated by white, specifically Itallian families. But reading your post really changed my perspective on the borough. Before I would think that neighborhoods in Grasmere were diverse, but now seeing Port-Richmond being 45.7% Hispanic is really great to hear. Hope to see more "trend-setters" come and spread more diversity on the borough because I believe diversity is always a plus in any community.
ReplyDeleteI liked your post it was very informative. As a person that grew up in the Bronx, I was made to believe that Staten Island did not matter much, as the other four boroughs did. With that said, I also believed that Staten Island lacked diversity. To learn about Port- Richmond was very interesting. For one, even though the area has a high crime rate, people are using the space to benefit the community.I feel that as these benefits grow, it will raise people's interest in understanding how the community developed itself into a better state (economically, culturally, etc.)
ReplyDelete