Not even five pages into the chapter and I was slapped in the face with “Jewtown,” a term that was used to described the Lower East Side due to the large congregation of Jews in the area. I did not find it offensive; it was just a funny little reminder of home. I grew up on the North Shore of Nassau County, Long Island, where I attended Jericho High School, or better known as “Jew-icho” or “Jap-icho,” referring to the term JAP, or Jewish-American Princess. Yes, at times in my school you feel like a minority if you don’t own at least three menorahs or a Mercedes-Benz, but there has been a large influx of new immigrants recently, but I’ll get into that later.
At least once every year our history teachers would ask who had grandparents or great-grandparents that were immigrants who moved to New York City, and almost every Jewish kid raised their hand, including myself. Whether it was to escape religious persecution or to join family members already in the States, everyone seemed to have at least one Jewish relative that ended up in New York City, and none of us could ever fathom why.
Once many of our relatives moved up, as Foner says, they moved out to the suburbs for more space, and better educational opportunities. When reading the description of Brownsville, where eighty-percent of residents were Jewish and where Yiddish could not be avoided, again I thought of my town, where many kids still throw around an assortment of Yiddish words in everyday talk. Words that make my friends from other parts of the country tilt their heads in confusion.
Kids in my school claim that if you’re not Jewish, you’re very likely to be of Italian or Asian decent. Foner says in the 1910’s neighboring towns such as Westbury and Glen Cove attracted Italians from the city for a variety of construction projects, so that undeniably made some light bulbs go off in my head. In regards to today’s immigrants, Foner explains that many Asian immigrants can afford to move directly into middle class areas, and that’s exactly what’s happening. My school district has seen a large influx of Asian and Asian-American students, whose parents moved to the states and the area so their children can have access to a better education. Not to mention many of their parents work or have relatives in Flushing.
Obviously not everyone in my school fits the exact descriptions above, nor is everyone Jewish, Italian or Asian, but what’s certain is the presence of immigration, both past and present, as well as the ever-changing demographics of the area. Like the great city we live in the shadow of.
