The influx of Russian and Chinese immigrants became a growing concern for the Italians of Bensonhurst. Their reaction encompasses the fear of the loss of culture and tradition. New concerns arose, such as the changing look of storefronts and language.
Bensonhurst became home to the largest number of Chinese immigrants in New York City, with an estimated population of 31,658. Chinese merchants came to dominate the main commercial street. Russian-owned businesses, particularly those of new immigrants, only display signs written in Russian. The president of a Bensonhurst residents and merchants association, Rocco Miele, said the signage deprives “non-Russian residents of potentially important information.”Although the Russians assert that it is a way of assisting Russian immigrants in retaining their own culture, many Italian Americans in the neighborhood view the storefronts as exclusionary and not American.
