Museums and Culture

On this extremely frigid evening, January 24th, I made my way from Queens to the Gerald Lynch Theatre on the far west side of Manhattan to attend a Macaulay Honors College common event.  Last semester, there were two events held based around the topic of our Arts in NYC course.  We went to the Brooklyn Museum and we had our own gallery opening at the Macaulay building, featuring our photos from Snapshot Day.  This semester, our Macaulay seminar is entitled “Peopling of New York City,” and for this reason, I had to venture out in the cold.  For this event, we had the honor of listening to a lecture given by Joseph Salvo, the director of the Population Division of the NYC Department of City Planning.  Hearing about all of the different people that make up New York City reminded me about my English 110 Honors course from last semester.  So much goes into this city that we are almost unaware or take it for granted.  One of the secret ingredients in our melting-pot is our diverse population.

What’s so important about learning where people are moving to and coming from?  Why is it essential to know about their socioeconomic level, their degree of education, and their family make-up?  And ultimately, why are there population fluctuations in certain areas?

Mr. Salvo tells us that it is inevitable that people move away.  He also says that one thing that makes New York City so amazing is that it draws new people in as well.  In other cities, especially in the middle of our country, there is no such pull and these places are struggling.  We must be grateful for all of our foreign friends stepping foot on “our” soil – they make New York City dynamic.

By studying the movement of peoples – demography – we learn a lot about the region as well as its past and future inhabitants.  Take, for example, the migration of African Americans from the south.  There were multiple periods of this mass movement: first during the post-Civil War and westward expansion era, second during the first chapter of civil rights during the 1920s, and later in the mid-1900s.  Each movement tells a story about the people, the place from which they were escaping, and the place they were heading to for a better life.  Similarly, we can look at a New York City map (including all five boroughs) and find the story of all different ethnic groups.

You might be thinking – the African American migration from the south happened over a really long period of time.  This might be true, but migration happens continually.  Even a period of ten years can mark drastic shifts in our city’s population.

It is important to look at these changes, not only to record and add them to our history books, but to address the needs of our citizens, residents, and visitors.  By learning about the city’s different ethnic groups, we can better help them with tasks such as finding jobs, learning English, better acclimating to a new life in a new place, and enabling them to “pay it forward.”

Many Americans look at foreigners with a slightly xenophobic perspective.  Perhaps, if we change our opinions about our foreign neighbors, we can actually make a better America.  New York City is merely one example of how this has succeeded, a very dynamic and exciting example, and it can teach us a great deal about accepting different people.

Gerald Lynch Theatre
John Jay, CUNY
January 24, 2013
5:00 – 7:00 PM

Marina B. Nebro