As members of our Macaulay Honors College seminar The Peopling of New York City discussing immigration to New York past and present, a recurring theme has been the subject of dreams — specifically the dreams that have brought immigrants to the city ever since they first began arriving on our shores four centuries ago.
In exploring the subject, students threw out various words that suggested the scope and nature of those dreams — thriving, overcoming, making it, the journey, happiness, ambition, discovery, obstacles.
The stories presented on this site tell of New Yorkers who chased their dreams — sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. These people traveled very different paths, but they have one thing in common: All of them sought to make a place for themselves in a big, complicated, challenging but often profoundly rewarding metropolis.
