Diversity Freaking Out Residents In Dyker Heights

Dyker Heights (chris arnade's flickr)

There were a few big take-aways from the latest controversial Census data: even though non-white Hispanics are now a minority, they are still pushing other ethnicities to the outer boroughs; and that NYC has become the most ethnically diverse city, reflecting a trend throughout the whole country. So now diversity is here to stay, whether some people like it or not: “Some of the residents here were so concerned about blacks moving in, they didn’t even notice the influx of Asians,” said Nick Venezia, manager of Ben Bay Realty Co. in Brooklyn.

“Almost half of Los Angeles’ population is Hispanic, but in New York there’s no group that has that same monopoly. New York has a history of being kind of an assimilator of different groups," said William Frey, a senior fellow and demographer at Brookings in Washington. “ And it seems that Brooklyn is Patient Zero for examining the changing face of diversity in NYC. Bloomberg News took a closer look at Dyker Heights in particular, to see how it changed since the 2000 Census.

The diversity gauge of Dyker Heights, a neighborhood of 42,419 people long dominated by Italian-Americans, almost tripled from 9.4 in 2000 to 26.2 a decade later. And the most marked change was in the increase in Asians in the neighborhood. Resident Paul Mak, president of the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association, explained how as the older generation of Italian residents have begun to leave or die out, new Asian residents have taken their place, marking the way of the future: "For many who arrive here from China, their first home is a small apartment in a crowded neighborhood. When they are able to purchase a home, Dyker Heights represents a neighborhood with schools which is near to all the shops and Chinese supermarkets and people of their own culture."

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By Ben Yakas in News on May 6, 2011 6:37 PM

Comments [rss]

robingee

The Italians are not happy about the Asians moving in, I can tell you that. They are also pretty racist, I can tell you that as well.

ButtPlugs

They are really aggrivaetd by this especially since most asians in that area live like slobs and each house in that neighborhood is housing like at least 20-30 people turning them into tenement houses. Its horrible and unsafe and worst is when a fire breaks out in one of these houses and it spreads to the next house and so on.

robingee

I haven't seen evidence of Asians living like you describe, but I know residents who get annoyed at the ladies who come around on recycling day and take cans to return for the deposit. Why anyone would be annoyed at someone who is taking your GARBAGE is beyond me.

ButtPlugs

I guess it has something to do with invasion of property or something. But going back to my statement, its pretty much all over sunset park and they're just spreading to dyker heights. I mean, its not blown up in the news afaik however I heard it via word of mouth of residents living within the area so I could be wrong but you can always take things with a grain of salt no? :P

VelvetTiff

New York might be the most racially diverse city in the US, but it's also one of the most racially segregated cities in the US. Hmmm... Of course driving through the Bronx makes this readily apparent. Actually, I think New York was ranked number 3 in terms of racial segregation (Detroit was number 1), according to some guys named Logan and Stults who did some magic with the 2010 census numbers.