In “Immigration to Queens” the author Michael Jones-Correa discusses the concept of community and how it can be distinguished from other areas. From what I can tell, the author believes that immigrants and older residents live in separate communities because of cultural differences. He generalizes the older residents as “white ethnics” and describes their reaction to the influx of new immigrants in a largely negative light. His conclusion in this reading leaves me with the impression that the immigrants and “white ethnics” lead completely separate lives with rare overlaps and interactions because of the “white ethnics” unwillingness to accept the culture and language of the immigrants.

However, the writings of Ines Miyares, Milgaros Ricourt and Ruby Danto describe the lives of older residents and new immigrants overlapping and coexisting. This is a perspective I more strongly agree with. Though they do explain how within the neighborhood, even amongst immigrants, there is a sense of separation and aloofness from other ethnicities and groups. But it is not as extreme as how Jones-Correa describes it. In Miyares’ writing, she describes this overlapping seen in Churches and organizations in Jackson Heights that provide translations in various languages because of the many ethnicities that utilize these institutions. In the writings by Ricourt and Danto, they describe the conflicts between long-time Italian residents and the more recent Hispanic immigrants. Though these are conflicts, the fact that there are interracial conflicts demonstrates how the supposedly separate communities and people do in fact overlap with each other.

I believe that though the lives of new immigrants and long-time residents may differ, they are not completely separate. They coexist surprisingly well despite having drastically different cultures and values. The tendency for people who share similar values or cultures to congregate is natural, but they do not completely detach themselves from others.