South Asians are part of the New Wave of immigrants; Queens in particular has seen many of these new immigrants arriving and creating a new home for themselves here. Yet, unlike many of the immigrants that have been arriving in the past few decades, these South Asians-Indians in particular- are highly educated individuals, have obtained secondary school education and even college education for some. This is not such the case for other immigrants; many of the Latinos and Asians that have been immigrating to the U.S. are not highly educated.
These new immigrants have, like others before them, made their presence known. Jack Nicholson, a resident of Jackson Heights, discussed his experience living in Jackson Heights, before and after the waves of immigrants decided to make that neighborhood their home. Jackson Heights, like Flushing, like Corona, was originally a rural neighborhood that was part of a growing metropolis. Jackson Heights was built and created as a home for the whites that were fleeing Manhattan; this was made crystal clear when in Maly’s article, Nicholson recalls that it specifically did not allow any blacks, Jews nor Catholics. This highlights the fact that that area was intended to be a sort of haven for the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants that were still in the city.
Yet, fast forward to the recent decades, there is a diversity in Jackson Heights. To clarify, the Heights draws many immigrants not only because there are already established ethnic communities there, but also because of its convenience. The 7 train easily goes through this neighborhood, which is great for immigrants working blue-collar jobs and have to work longer than the traditional 9-5 PM work day. Ironically, this is what was used to appeal to the original white residents as well. Jackson Heights now has white residents, Latino residents, Chinese, Koreans, South Asians, you name it. Much like Queens, Jackson Heights has come to represent (what Nicholson stressed) would be the world in a few years.
The arrival of South Asians-Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, etc- means that there are new concerns that must be addressed. Nicholson recalls that property values in Jackson Heights dropped dramatically. His home, valued at $90,000, dropped to a value of $35,000. In Chhaya’s article, research found that many immigrants are concerned with jobs, cost of housing, and as one resident put it, “the overcrowding in schools.” (10) In addition, the research and numbers show that while many of the South Asian immigrants have gone to college, the jobs that they are getting are not much better than the ones that uneducated immigrants get. About 80% of the survey’s participants made less than $40,000 but 47% of the participants in general went to university. How is this possible, considering that in Joe Salvo’s presentation and research, we learned that Latino immigrants, most of whom have not gone to college, are earning around $30,000-$35,000? In fact, many of the South Asian immigrants are taking low-end jobs, such as taxi drivers, laundry cleaners, etc. This disparity, however, should not be easily dismissed.
