The beginning of the twenty first century can be considered a new beginning for New York City: popular views changed, politics changed, the economy changed, the population grew (because of the 1965 immigration reform), developments were made, and new challenges emerged. The new, global New York population included people from the Caribbean, East Asia, Central Asia, Latin America and other foreign locations. The population shifted so much that in 2009 minorities became the majority of voters.
Republican mayor Rudolph Giuliani served two terms working to strengthen New York conservative views which caused conflict over topics such as race, civil liberties, police, education, and more. During his mayoralty the World Trade Center tragedy occurred. Mayor Michael Bloomberg then worked in the resulting depression to restore New Yorker morale. Over the next decade New York and “its identity as a Resilient City” (206) would be tested time and again.
The Newcomers:
As previously stated, New York became a global city. There were Indian, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Irish, Asian, African American, Russian, and so many more ethnic communities all within a few miles of each other. There was a mixing of cultures: music, cuisine, art, dance, languages (over 100 different languages), religions, etc. Many in the younger generation contributed to a ‘cosmopolitan identity’. There was no longer citywide domination of one ethnic group.
Many Russian Jewish immigrants settled in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn where they reinvigorated the economy and community by sharing their own capital and skills. That area of Brooklyn greeted them with open arms, as it was already mostly populated by Eastern European Jews.
Asians
Chinese New Yorkers maintained segregation and isolation in lower Manhattan (in Chinatown). For over 50 years, the Chinese were restricted. Denied citizenship, they were isolated to restaurant, laundry, tourist, and underground businesses. When laws changed in 1965, Chinese population started to grow exponentially. Many Chinese immigrants found exploitative employment in the garment industry. Wealthier Chinese immigrants, known as ‘Uptown Chinese’, brought about gentrification in Chinatown with the construction of larger apartment buildings. In 2009 City Councilman John C. Liu “became the first Chinese American citywide official” (209). Asian immigrants held high expectations for their children. Education was highly valued. They prided themselves in the positive stereotype of Asians being industrious, ambitious, and intelligent.
Latinos
Puerto Rican immigrants were in a unique situation. They were “torn between their country of origin and country of residence, Puerto Ricans travel back and forth both figuratively and literally” (210). This identity conflict has been coined in the term ‘Nuyorican’. Puerto Ricans were the dominant Latino group in New York City. They contributed music, language, and family values and traditions. Many of the labor workers after World War II were Puerto Ricans. In addition to economic influence, they became a political force in the 1960s. Examples of this would be Herman Badillo, a Borough President and congressman and Olga Mensez, a female legislator. While their population continues to be substantial, they have mostly remained in the lower class due to lower education levels and poverty.
Another ‘transnational’ group that is torn between its country of residence and of origin was the Dominican population. Many Dominicans maintained dual citizenship. They participate in politics in both countries. Dominicans, too, suffered from low wages in poor working conditions and little upward mobility.
West Indians
Reitano begins this section by noting the uniqueness of the West Indian American Day Carnival and how it celebrates pan-ethnicity. Now on this day multiple groups celebrate, such as Trinidadians, Caribbeans (Jamicans), and Haitians. During the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s West Indians first began migrating. Since West Indians were classified as racially black by the New York government, there was a lot of resentment, competition, and tension harbored between them and African Americans. West Indians worked to establish a firm separate identity.
… The Social Contract
Mayor Giuliani was unique in the fact that he focused on the middle classes while other mayors such as LaGuardia, Lindsay, and Dinkins focused on helping the poor. He wanted to make more public services, such as water, hospitals, education, and sanitation, private. He named his programs “compassion industry”. He wanted to remove the poor from the city… he saw them as lazy leeches. He was the first mayor to request a reduction in state funding for welfare and medicate program. Over 600,000 people were rejected from welfare roles (which only increased support for Giuliani). This resulted in an increase in the number of New York City homeless and not the expulsion of the poor from the city. He then turned the welfare centers into job centers. New requirements for welfare caused over 16,000 CUNY students to drop out of college (and, ironically, reduce the likelihood of them improving their circumstances).
The mayor offered tax cuts to businesses but this actually mainly helped large corporations and big business, while the working class and minorities were hurt. Other alterations he made affected the school system, police, and enforcement of protection of rights. He worked to bring about his agenda and improve standards through testing, reduce bureaucracy, and bring about uniformity. He enforced the censorship of art through public criticism and reduction of funds. When a controversial portrait of the Virgin Mary was put on display at the Brooklyn Museum, he called the show vulgar and threatened to cut public funds to the offensive museum. “Giuliani’s impact on the city was immense. For all the conflict he caused and the resistance he met, he revolutionized the city’s social contract” (225).
