According to the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn, Bensonhurst was primarily an Italian and Jewish community prior to World War II. In the 1950s, a considerable number of immigrants from southern Italy arrived and the Jewish population began to move out. According to the 2000 census, the Italian-speaking community remained 20,000 strong and the UCAOB notes that this population is “increasingly elderly and isolated, with the small, tight-knit enclaves they built around the city slowly disappearing as they give way to demographic changes.”

In the ACS Data NYC from 2012, the population of Italian ancestry (not necessarily speaking the language) in the neighborhood remains at 17,804 people, which is considerably lower than the 20,000 Italian speakers of 2000.

 

 

Bensonhurst and Staten Island were relatively untouched by Italian immigration in 1930.

 

 

Bensonhurst’s greatest immigrant group were the Italians in 1940, with nearly 10/11 of all immigrants identifying as Italian.

 

 

After World War II, the Italian population began to grow rapidly, especially in the south part of Bensonhurst where they began to make up the greatest percentage of both immigrant groups and the total population.

 

Bensonhurst began to be heavily populated by Italians in 1960, with the highlighted tract being typical of the population.

By 1970, the largest population of immigrants in both Bensonhurst and Staten Island was by far, Italian.

 

In 1980, the Italian population hit it’s peak and escalated to numbers that could not be matched by any other group in both Staten Island and Bensonhurst.

 

By 1990, the population had begun to shrink and new immigrant groups entered, making the density of Italians smaller. The Staten Island Italian population grew to 99,004.

 

In 2000, the Census was viewable by zip code, and Bensonhurst’s main zip code, 11214, was a mere 27% Italian.

By 2010, the Italian population had almost disappeared from Bensonhurst and Staten Island had a dense population of them.

Sources: ACS Data NYC 2012

 

http://www.ucaob.org/aboutus/bensonhurst-population-demographics/

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