As a result of the suburbanization of areas like Queens and Long Island, white middle class residents were drawn out of the city.
Minorities–prompted by cheap labor recruiters–took their place by relocating from Puerto Rico to the core of the Lower East Side.
Minorities start forging vibrant ethnic communities, with the opening of bodegas and other uniquely Puerto Rican institutions. On the right is a traditional Puerto Rican piragüer, or snow cone vendor, posing next to his pushcart.
Gradually by 1950, approximately 76% of Puerto Rican males fourteen years of age and older were in the labor force, and 40% of Puerto Rican women were in the labor force (Mele 124).
Women specifically were employed in the least skilled and lowest paying jobs in the garment trades.
“Financial differences among Puerto Ricans in New York City are growing, as some join the economic mainstream and others remain mired in poverty…over all, more Puerto Ricans left the city during the late 1980’s than arrived, with many of the poorest returning to Puerto Rico and the middle class moving to the suburbs.”[i]
[i] Sam Roberts, “New York’s Puerto Ricans Split in Economic Success,” New York Times, December 28, 1993, B.
