Since many of us are first generation children born in the United States from foreign born parents, we’d heard countless stories about how they initially believed that New York is the city of equal opportunities for prosperity and happiness. As much as we’d like to believe that this is the truth for many immigrant families, it isn’t. One glance at the census data and Salvo’s presentation, the economic disparity between different neighborhoods in the same city is undeniable.  There’s also a massive correlation between the areas in which different ethnic immigrants congregate and the poorest neighborhoods, with minimal increase in economic prosperity within the past few decades. Many immigrants who came prefer to stay in neighborhoods with similar ethnicities and they can’t really afford housing anywhere more affordable. Thus, it feels like many of these neighborhoods are stuck in a vicious cycle in which poverty perpetuates itself.

I agree with Allen’s post below, about how that notion of New York City as a melting pot is incorrect. It’s not a nice, homogenous mixture, but clumps scattered all around. For example, check out this fascinating interactive link from the New Yorker, which shows the median household income in the city based on each subway stop. http://www.newyorker.com/sandbox/business/subway.html

It’s just baffling to see how on the 1 line, how annual median income can range from over $200,000 near Chambers Street to about $25,000 near City College. That’s almost 8 times difference between two locations in Manhattan that aren’t even THAT far apart (only roughly half an hour on train). How could a city that’s so well known for being the land of opportunities have this much economic disparity?

I agree with Alina, I’m also a bit skeptical on the census data since there are many undocumented cases. Although it is the closest we have to accurate representation, I hear many stories from my parents about immigrants who don’t really report their information or documentation, as in they might work and get paid in just a few dollars a day. The data could be affected in this way, and the situation could be better or worse than it seems.

However, I’m curious to see how the census can change in 10-20 years, when the children of many foreign born New Yorkers are grown and get their college degrees, as we are right now. Possibly we’d be able to bring the prosperity to our ethnic neighborhoods and realize the vision we had about New York, that even though it might not seem like the land of opportunities at first, eventually all the hard work and dedication the foreign born New Yorkers will pay off.