Arabic neighborhoods

A R A B I C N E I G H B O R H O O D S

by Michael Sayegh, Elias Taouli and Tarek Amro

ORIGIN

EARLY MOVEMENTSTO NY B

etween 1880 and 1930, over 300,000 Arabs immigrated from lands of the eastern Mediterranean. At the time, the region they came from was part of the Ottoman Empire known as Greater Syria (which encompasses today's Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine). Therefore, they were identified as Syrians. They settled throughout America and especially in New York City, which was called the Syrian Colony and it was the biggest hub of Syrian culture. The heart of this ethnic enclave was the lower Manhattan, Washington streets, and in this neighborhood, which was very influenced by Syrian culture, you could find many: Syrian households, businesses etc… This community thrived until the 1900’ s, where many residents of the Syrian colony started their movement to Brooklyn. Many factors were the reason for this move from Manhattan to Brooklyn. First of all, for many the living conditions were terrible: the apartments in Manhattan were expensive and small, they were very dark and dirty. Meanwhile in Brooklyn, the houses were cheaper and much more spacious, it soon began to be a symbol for the middle-class Arab. There were also some ethnic tensions between the Syrians and the Irish. By the early 1900’ s Brooklyn south Ferry neighborhood became a burgeoning ethnic enclave for Arabs and mirrored Manhattan Washington street. Finally, by 1930, Arabs expanded through Brooklyn and created many new communities, these communities included: Sunset Park, Park Slope, Bay Ridge, and Bensonhurst.

PAST GROWTH OF ARAB POPULATION IN MID 20TH CENTURY

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n the late 1930s, Little Syria began to go into decline due to the construction of skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan. In the name of urban redevelopment, the era of high-rise buildings began prior to the demolition of an ensemble of five-story apartment buildings that the Syrian people called their hometown. However, what really sprouted Little Syria began in 1940 with the construction of the battery tunnel in Brooklyn. Most of the community has moved to the downtown area of Brooklyn. A large percentage established business and shops on Atlantic Avenue. St. George's Syrian Catholic Church is the last physical reminder of the Syrian and Lebanese-American community that once lived in Little Syria. In Brooklyn, there are still two well-established stores on Atlantic Avenue. Damascus Bakery has been in operation since 1936 and Sahadi's has maintained neighborhood success since 1948. In addition, in the 1960s, this community moved again; this time to Park Slope and Bay Ridge. Although Western culture has been adopted by so many of these immigrants, they have retained key elements, visible in their day-to-day lives. We interviewed Halima Sifi, a Moroccan immigrant and student advisor living in Manhattan. Halima Sifi, living between East Harlem and the Upper East Side, says her neighborhood is "a place with many ethnicities. You can find Latinx, Asian, Moroccan [...] , and Turkish people. It's very diverse. [...] It's an amalgamation of everything. " It appears that overtime, New York's Arab population has scattered more and more, becoming more widespread across the boroughs. You can still find the concentrated neighborhoods formed in the mid 1900s, but as Halima Sifi mentioned, Manhattan's neighborhoods are very diverse.

NOW 21ST CENTURY ARAB POPULATION AND CULTURE

here are now around 160,000 Arabs in NYC.

According to the Arab American Institute, the population of people who identify themselves as Arab, grew by 23% between 2000 and 2008. There are Arabs in all 5 boroughs of New York City. In the Bronx, there is a recently named area located on White Plains Road in Morris Park called “Little Yemen" , due to the growing population of Yemenis in this area. This area contains Yemeni delis, pharmacies, and supermarkets that surround the intersection. Astoria, Queens, is another place with a lot of Arabs. It has an Egyptian American community dubbed “Little Egypt, ” located on Steinway Street between Broadway and Astoria Boulevard. It has many Arab cafes, restaurants, and shops, as well as other businesses with owners from countries like Algeria, Lebanon and Syria.

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Brooklyn however, has now the most distinct community of Arabs in the city. Atlantic Avenue has historically been known to have a big Middle Eastern presence, with famous shops such as Sahadi’ s located on it. However, more recently, The Arabs of Brooklyn have moved to Midwood, Brooklyn and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Especially Bay Ridge has had a dramatically growing population of Arabs. Most common nationalities in Bay Ridge are Palestinians and Yemenis. Finally, Staten Island has also had a growing Palestinian community in the New Springfield Area. There are also a lot of Middle Eastern restaurants in Manhattan. However, the higher cost of living in NY has recently pushed Arab communities to surrounding suburbs like Paterson NJ, where you can find many Lebanese and Moroccan grocery stores.