“NEW” LATINA/O/X MIGRATION

BY STUDENT

Migration is the movement by people from one place to another with the intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily in a new location. The Latino/x migration process mostly took place in the mid 19^thCentury and is still taking place now. 

In this post we will look at the pattern of migration of Latino/x which is also known as the  “Latin Boom” across New York City from their countries of origin and also the contribution of the Latino migration to New York City.

The United States Census uses the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino to refer to "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. Between 1990 and 2014, the Hispanic and Latino population in New York grew by 66 percent, reaching nearly 3.7 million. Nearly half of Hispanic New Yorkers, including Latinos, were born here and more than three-quarters are United States citizens by birth or naturalization.

The “Big Three” (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans) comprise some 70% of all New York Latinos. Yet other nationalities (Ecuadorans, Colombians, and Central Americans) figure notably in the mosaic of Spanish-speaking groups. No other city in the country displays such heterogeneity of Hispanic-origin peoples. There is a deep association of Puerto Ricans with El Barrio (East Harlem) and of Dominicans with Washington Heights, both areas located in the borough of Manhattan. 

In 1950, Latinos comprised less than 5% of the total population and by 2010 they were almost 30%: surely, one of the most significant changes in post-WWII New York. 

By 2010, Latinos numbered 2.4 million, 29% of the city’s population. In 1990, by contrast, they were 1.7 million representing 24%. Puerto Ricans were the largest single group during the last century. But the numbers appear to be rapidly changing. The projections of the demographers indicate that the next decennial census will register Dominicans as the largest group (some observers think they already are). Some years later, Mexicans are expected to attain that distinction. According to the 2016 national census, there were some 815,422 Hispanics in the Bronx, 427,224 in Manhattan and 505,183 in Brooklyn. 

Latino immigrants currently account for about 24 percent of New York City’s workforce which is nearly one-fifth of the city’s economic output. These individuals have a strong presence in a wide range of occupations with Latino immigrants making up the majority of workers in the construction, personal services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing industries.

Also Hispanic households in the New York City paid almost $1billion in federal taxes and nearly $800 million in state and local taxes in 2013. 

Latinos are more present than ever in politics and government in the United States, but also in the arts, the media, academia and sports. In New York itself, 18 state legislators are Hispanic, while 10 New York City Council members can trace their origins to Latin America the most notable additions being newly elected U.S representatives for New York’s 14^thcongressional district Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Antonio Delgado.

This map shows the distribution density of the Latino population in New York City with Sunset Park (Brooklyn), East Tremont (Bronx) and Corona (Brooklyn) having the most Latino concentration.

Work Cited

Clancy, . “A Hispanic Powerhouse: The Latino Contributions to New York.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 8 Oct. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/a-hispanic-powerhouse-the_b_12388334.

Robert C. Smith, “Mexicans in New York,” in G. Haslip-Viera and S. Baver, eds. Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 1996).

“Then as Now - New York's Shifting Ethnic Mosaic.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Jan. 2011, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/01/23/nyregion/20110123-nyc-ethnic-neighborhoods-map.html.

Torres, Andres. “Latino New York: An Introduction.” NACLA, 23 Jan. 2014, nacla.org/news/2014/1/23/latino-new-york-introduction.