In the early 1900s, Bensonhurst’s population consisted of a majority of Italians and Easter European Jews. Up until the mid-20^th century, there was a steady flow of Italians into the Brooklyn neighborhood and Jews began to leave by the 1950s. From then until today, Bensonhurst is predominantly Italian-American.

In Williamsburg/Greenpoint, the majority of the population consisted of Eastern European Jews and Poles, respectively. Since the beginning of the 20^th century many Jews resided in Williamsburg, as for in Greenpoint, Poles began to move in towards the second half of the 20^th century. Today both neighborhoods are gentrified and the populations of the two Brooklyn neighborhoods are much more diverse.

The American Fact Finder contains census data on individual PUMAs from 2008 to 2010. The information we looked into is the Caucasian ancestry in the two PUMAs. According to the American Fact Finder, Williamsburg/Greenpoint (PUMA 04001) and Bensonhurst (PUMA 04017) have a population of more or less 143,092 and 167,537, respectively. For Williamsburg/Greenpoint, the largest population is Polish, with 15,952 residents, followed by 9,683 Italian residents. Bensonhurst, on the other hand, has a total population of 34,497 Italian residents, making them the majority in Bensonhurst, followed by 11,872 Russian residents. For each division of the population there are estimated margins of error, which are taken into consideration, but the data appears to be accurate when taken into account of the past immigration history of the two PUMAs.

We also looked at the economic characteristic of the two PUMAs. The civilian employed population 16 years and over in Williamsburg/Greepoint is 13,926 and in Bensonhurst it is 70,365. These numbers are very close. Both in Bensonhurst and Williamsburg/Greenpoint, the majority of the population works in educational services, health care and social assistance. The data once again is very similar, with 13,926 residents of Williamsburg/Greenpoint working in that category, and 12,812 residents of Bensonhurst.