As I read in several articles in “The Brooklyn Paper,” “The New York Times,” and “The New York Daily News,” there was an evident rise in Asian population in the neighborhood of Bensonhurst. According to the article in “The Brooklyn paper,” In Bensonhurst, one question: What’s Italian for ‘Chinese’? journalist Alex Rush mentions how many Italian delis and bakeries have closed within the last five years due to the increase of the Chinese population. Now those once purely Italian cultural venues have been replaced by markets and restaurants of the Chinese. Indeed, there is a bit of a conflict between the two ethnic groups. The ones accustomed to the Italian neighborhood they remember are not ready to embrace this new culture that has, to them, invaded their neighborhood. From “The New York Times” article Blunting Poison Pen in Bensonhurst George Rhee, vice president of the Korean Association of Greater New York stated that ‘This is a community, not a racial incident. ‘I don’t think there is racial discrimination, but there is community friction between old-timers and newcomers.”
The minute I arrived in Bensonhurst, I automatically was surrounded by Chinese EVERYTHING: Bubble Tea places, bakeries, fish and meat markets, salons, virtually everything had Chinese characters on it. According to The New York Daily News. “In Bensonhurst alone, the Asian population increased by 57% between 2000 and 2010, since 19,747 more people identified themselves as Asian, according to CUNY’s Center for Urban Research.” The once Italian culture in this neighborhood seems to have completely disappeared. I walked along the subway line and only once in a while would I find something that wasn’t Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Thai etc. There would only be the occasional Italian restaurant or pizzeria. The one slightly large Italian restaurant didn’t even seem to be in business, it was closed on a weekend afternoon, which seemed odd. Could be another Italian restaurant out of business?
In The New York Daily News’s article Asian Boom in Brooklyn along N-line neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Census Data Shows, states that “”It’s bad,” Cordero said, pointing to a 30% to 40% drop in sales. “Everyone moved out. It’s different people now and they don’t spend money the way they did years ago.”” Also, looking at the people in this area of Bensonhurst it was a majority Asian, which was understandable because of the large number of Chinese stores. I had been to the area once before but I didn’t pay attention to what kinds of people resided in the area. However, this time, I paid attention to observing to what kinds of people were in the area. It is safe to say that there was a very high percentage of Asians. It was rare to see a non-Asian walking on the streets.
Through observation I noticed that there was a clear separation between the two groups Asian and White. From the articles I read, like in “The Brooklyn Paper” many of the younger generation are fond of the changes, especially the Chinese food. “As much as I lament the loss of some Italian delis, change is good because I love Asian food. I go to a great Sichuan restaurant on 18th Avenue and shop in the groceries there for Thai peppers so that I can cook Thai food at home” says David Sheridan, a resident of Bensonhurst. But this view on the changes of the neighborhood could not be seen on my visit. I did not see any mingling between the two races. There was one non-Chinese supermarket called “Cherry Hill Supermarket” and inside, it was filled with white Americans. Then I took a look inside Chinese supermarkets and everyone inside was Asian. In most of the stores that were not Chinese, I could find the non-Asians of the neighborhood. So contrary to what was said in the articles, I saw a very clear division in the community and racial tension was definitely evident between the two cultures.
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