The transition into the twenty-first century brought about new changes in New York City, such as new development, more law and order, and a new wave of immigrants entering the metropolis. Due to the 1965 immigration reforms, New York City’s population began to increase dramatically. In the 1990s, the city became even more global, and the new immigrant wave was so large that between 2000 and 2003, about 340,000 immigrants made NYC their new home causing the foreign-born population to constitute 37.8 percent of the city’s population.
As NYC residents began moving to the suburbs in increasing numbers, immigrants began to fill these vacant neighborhoods up and revive them. For example, one of the areas that was transformed through the new wave of immigration was Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, which was soon found with Russian Jews who had been city dwellers who were skilled and educated. Though they faced some complications originally, the Russian Jews were welcomed into a community that wanted to aid them.
Unlike the Russians, the Chinese tended to be more isolated rather than integrated. Chinese immigrants were suffered from exclusion policies; however, the immigration reforms of 1965, allowed for Chinatown’s population to increase dramatically while also allowing southern Chinese families to reunite. Besides southern Chinese immigration, Chinese immigrants from Taiwan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong immigrated at the same time. However, for these immigrants, they chose to live elsewhere instead of Chinatown. Their presence caused the increase in rent while also financing the development of restaurants or stores. Nowadays, the increase in banks in Chinatown resulted in the gentrification of the neighborhood causing residents to move to Brooklyn or Queens and form Chinatowns there.
The economic and political growth in the Chinese American community lead internal tensions between class lines, resulting from the Asian immigrant stereotype. Asian immigrants are generally stereotyped as ambitious and studious, which lead to an emphasis on education and attending prestigious institutions by their children. On the other hand, adults who have professional backgrounds used their skills to help neighborhoods out. For example, Korean immigrants pooled money together to become business owners that eventually saved declining neighborhoods. Though the presence of Asian immigrants is very high in New York, media still tends to group all Asians together and forgets to acknowledge the different languages and cultures of the separate Asian groups. Nonetheless, Asian immigrants provide a solid example of perseverance and the “American Dream.”
The confusion of immigration and being in a new environment is common among all immigrants. However, for Puerto Rican immigrants, they are torn between their country of origin and their country of residence since they have become American citizens in 1917. Puerto Rican migration reached its peak in the 1950s, but during the 1960s and 1970s, other Latino groups began to challenge Puerto Rican dominance. The tension was prevalent between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and in 2000, Dominicans outnumbered Puerto Ricans and made up 70 percent of the northern area of Manhattan. Additionally, the mass immigration of Dominicans lead to the development of a Dominican community in Corona, Queens. Through this migration, Latina women formed alliances to tackle immediate problems which lead them to create a more unified Latino identity.
West Indian immigrants are also becoming more prominent in New York City. The first major wave of West Indians came during the Harlem Renaissance. During this time, tensions began to grow between African Americans and West Indians due to the rise in West Indian businesses and professions. However, during the civil rights era, the tensions diminished. Nowadays, NYC has the largest number and variety of West Indian immigrants. In 2000, most of the black community of NYC consisted of West Indians. This interwoven identity lead to West Indians and African Americans to be linked together more. Eventually this lead to the development of a pan-ethnicity, which could potentially be used to help people of color gain access to power. As New York City’s demographics continue to make minorities become majorities, pan-ethnicity will be essential in order to form less polar race relations.
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Besides a new wave of immigration, New York City also experienced many changes through the mayoralty of Rudy Giuliani, who focused on limiting public activism and increasing individual initiative and private enterprise. Giuliani believed that social programs allowed lazy people to exploit the hard-working. To combat this notion. Giuliani began to reject welfare applicants and ultimately, removed 600,000 people from welfare rolls. Giuliani also implemented tax cuts to aid business, tax breaks for big corporations, and budget allocations for private institutions that helped the rich but harmed the poor and minorities.
In addition, Giuliani also changed schools. Giuliani shifted school security supervision to the police department and also instituted citywide testing to bring uniformity to the system. Giuliani spent money on books and computers, leading to cuts in operating and construction budgets of schools. He also tended to fund construction in schools in Queens or Staten Island that supported him rather than in schools in Brooklyn or The Bronx that needed it. In addition, Giuliani threatened to cut off CUNY funding unless they university implemented a new entrance exam.
Though Giuliani brought about many controversies in his mayoralty, his past actions were overshadowed due to 9/11. Giuliani’s actions caused his approval ratings to reach 85 percent while also changing his perspective from being a reckless mayor to a strong and sensitive one. Giuliani’s legacy tends to be compared to that of LaGuardia due to their humble backgrounds, love of NYC, or persistent reform agendas. However, unlike LaGuardia, Giuliani tried to divide the city and attack almost every institution. Nonetheless, his actions during 9/11 caused him to be instantly viewed as a patriot. Though Giuliani’s mayoralty was controversial, he will be remembered by his actions during 9/11 since he was the voice of tranquility in a time of insanity for New York City.
