Dominicans in New York City

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Dominicans in New York City. Dominican Day Parade 2019 (50335870922).jpg
Dominicans in New York City.

The city of New York includes a sizeable Dominican population. Dominicans are one of the largest Latino groups in New York City followed by Puerto Ricans. [1] [2] Dominicans are the largest immigrant group in New York City. [3] Dominicans are concentrated in Washington Heights and the Bronx in the city proper; by 2019, the share living in the city fell from 92% to 62%. The rest lived in outlying counties in the metro area. [4] Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey found that 702,000 Dominicans live in New York City. [5]

Contents

History

Dominican police officers in New York Dominican day parade. Dominican Day Parade 2019 (50335044373).jpg
Dominican police officers in New York Dominican day parade.

Immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 19th century, with New York City having a Dominican community since the 1920s. [6] Large scale immigration of Dominicans began after 1961 onward when dictator Rafael Trujillo died. [7] Other catalysts in Dominican immigration were the invasion of Santo Domingo in 1965, and the regime of Joaquín Balaguer from 1966 to 1978. [7] In part due to these catalysts, starting in the 1970s and lasting until the early 1990s, Dominicans were the largest group of immigrants coming into New York City. [8] Now, Dominicans compose 7% of New York's population and are the largest immigrant group. [9]

Dominicans in New York city. Dominican Day Parade 2019 (50335880937).jpg
Dominicans in New York city.

The first mass immigration from the Dominican Republic to New York City began in the 1960s. [10] At around 2013, Dominicans surpassed the older and previously larger Puerto Rican population to become the largest Hispanic group in New York City, however Dominicans are still second in the overall New York metropolitan area.

“Dominican migrants arriving in the New York metropolitan region settled primarily in New York City, in Washington Heights and the Bronx. In 1970 92% of all Dominicans living in the region were found in the City although this percentage steadily decreased in each decade until 2019 when 62% lived there, the other 38% in the surrounding counties.

Within the City, the epicenter of Dominican settlement shifted from Washington Heights to the Bronx. By 2019 47% of all Dominicans in the City lived in the Bronx compared with 24% who lived in Manhattan.” [4]

The NYC Dominican population was 702,330 (7.9% of the city) in the 2020 census, representing an increase from the 2010 census number 576,701 (7.0% of the city). [11]

Enclaves

Nearly 70% of Dominican New Yorkers live in the Bronx and Manhattan. In Manhattan, Washington Heights and Inwood are majority Dominican neighborhoods. The Dominican population of Washington Heights is significant, and candidates for political office in the Dominican Republic will run parades up Broadway. [12] In the Bronx, Dominicans are present in large numbers in neighborhoods like Highbridge, University Heights, Morris Heights, Concourse, Kingsbridge, and Fordham. The northwest tip of Upper Manhattan and western portions of Bronx have some of the highest concentrations of Dominicans in the country. In many of these neighborhoods, shops advertise in Spanish and English, the Dominican flag is hung from windows, storefronts, and balconies, and the primary language is Dominican Spanish. [9]

Aside western Bronx neighborhoods, smaller numbers of Dominicans can be seen in other parts of the Bronx. Dominicans can be seen in sizeable numbers in neighborhoods that are dominated by other Hispanic groups, and smaller numbers in predominately black and even white neighborhoods close to Washington Heights/Inwood, such as Harlem, Hamilton Heights, and Upper West Side. Significant numbers of Dominicans move into historically predominant Puerto Rican neighborhoods throughout the city.

In Queens, significant Dominican populations are in Corona, Woodhaven, and Ridgewood. In Brooklyn, significant numbers of Dominicans are in Bushwick, Williamsburg, Cypress Hills, and Sunset Park. In Staten Island, small numbers of Dominicans can be seen scattered in the northern sections of the borough.

2020 NYC Dominican population by borough

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 702,330 Dominicans in New York City, representing 7.9% of the city. The 2020 populations and percentages by borough are: [13] [14]

Notable New Yorkers of Dominican descent

This is an incomplete list of notable New Yorkers of Dominican descent. It includes Dominicans of full ancestry who were born in Dominican Republic and raised in New York or born in New York to Dominican parents, as well as New Yorkers of partial ancestry who have one Dominican parent and one non-Dominican parent.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bronx</span> Borough and county in New York, United States

The Bronx is the northernmost borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York City borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx, the only New York City borough not primarily located on an island, has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km2) and a population of 1,472,654 at the 2020 census. Of the five boroughs, it has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Heights, Manhattan</span> Neighborhood in New York City

Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the northern part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest natural point on Manhattan by Continental Army troops to defend the area from the British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Washington Heights is bordered by Inwood to the north along Dyckman Street, by Harlem to the south along 155th Street, by the Harlem River and Coogan's Bluff to the east, and by the Hudson River to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Harlem</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsbridge, Bronx</span> Neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City

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New York City is a large and ethnically diverse metropolis. It is the largest city in the United States, and with a long history of international immigration. The New York region continues to be by far the leading metropolitan gateway for legal immigrants admitted into the United States. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominican Americans</span> Americans of Dominican (Dominican Republic) birth or descent

Dominican Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The phrase may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. As of 2021, there were approximately 2.4 million people of Dominican descent in the United States, including both native and foreign-born. They are the second largest Hispanic group in the Northeastern region of the United States after Puerto Ricans, and the fifth-largest Hispanic/Latino group nationwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Ricans in New York City</span>

Puerto Ricans have both immigrated and migrated to New York City. The first group of Puerto Ricans immigrated to New York City in the mid-1800s when they were still colonized under Spanish rule. The following wave of Puerto Ricans to move to New York City did so after the Spanish–American War in 1898. Puerto Ricans were no longer Spanish subjects and citizens of Spain, they were now Puerto Rican citizens of an American possession and needed passports to travel to the Contiguous United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Philadelphia</span>

At the 2010 census, there were 1,526,006 people, 590,071 households, and 352,272 families residing in the consolidated city-county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The population density was 4,337.3 people/km2. There were 661,958 housing units at an average density of 1,891.9 units/km2.

The demographics of Brooklyn reveal a very diverse borough of New York City and a melting pot for many cultures, like the city itself. Since 2010, the population of Brooklyn was estimated by the Census Bureau to have increased 3.5% to 2,592,149 as of 2013, representing 30.8% of New York City's population, 33.5% of Long Island's population, and 13.2% of New York State's population. If the boroughs of New York City were separate cities, Brooklyn would be the third largest city in the United States after Los Angeles and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Queens</span>

The demographics of Queens, the second-most populous borough in New York City, are highly diverse. No racial or ethnic group holds a majority in the borough.

The demographics of the Bronx are characterized by a Hispanic majority and by the lowest percentage of Whites among all boroughs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stateside Puerto Ricans</span> Ethnic group and nationality and citizens of Puerto Rico in the US

Stateside Puerto Ricans, also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans, or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who are in the United States proper of the 50 states and the District of Columbia who were born in or trace any family ancestry to the unincorporated US territory of Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of New York (state)</span>

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2023, New York was the fourth largest state in population after California, Texas, and Florida, with a population of 19,571,216, a decrease of over 600,000 people, or −3.1%, since the 2020 census. The population change between 2000–2006 includes a natural increase of 601,779 people and a decrease due to net migration of 422,481 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 820,388 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of about 800,213.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City ethnic enclaves</span>

Since its founding in 1625 by Dutch traders as New Amsterdam, New York City has been a major destination for immigrants of many nationalities who have formed ethnic enclaves, neighborhoods dominated by one ethnicity. Freed African American slaves also moved to New York City in the Great Migration and the later Second Great Migration and formed ethnic enclaves. These neighborhoods are set apart from the main city by differences such as food, goods for sale, or even language. Ethnic enclaves provide inhabitants security in work and social opportunities, but limit economic opportunities, do not encourage the development of English speaking, and keep immigrants in their own culture.

Caribbean immigration to New York City has been prevalent since the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. This immigration wave has seen large numbers of people from Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others, come to New York City in the 20th and 21st centuries. Caribbeans are concentrated in the Bronx, particularly in the area from 211th Street to 241st Street and along Gun Hill Road. There are also large Caribbean communities in Brooklyn, especially in the neighborhoods of Flatbush and Prospect Heights.

Hispanic and Latino New Yorkers are residents of the state of New York who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of 2013, Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 18.4% of the state's population. The Hispanic and Latino population is especially large in New York City, where the 2.49 million Hispanics make up 28.3% of the city's population, the second-largest population group second only to non-Hispanic whites at 30.9.%.

The city of Baltimore, Maryland includes a large and growing Caribbean-American population. The Caribbean-American community is centered in West Baltimore. The largest non-Hispanic Caribbean populations in Baltimore are Jamaicans, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, and Haitians. Baltimore also has significant Hispanic populations from the Spanish West Indies, particularly Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans. Northwest Baltimore is the center of the West Indian population of Baltimore, while Caribbean Hispanics in the city tend to live among other Latinos in neighborhoods such as Greektown, Upper Fell's Point, and Highlandtown. Jamaicans and Trinidadians are the first and second largest West Indian groups in the city, respectively. The neighborhoods of Park Heights and Pimlico in northwest Baltimore are home to large West Indian populations, particularly Jamaican-Americans.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, there were a total of 8,804,190 residents in New York City. A total of 2,719,856 residents identified as Non-Hispanic White, followed by 2,490,350 people of Hispanic origin (28.3%), 1,776,891 Black residents (20.2%) and 1,373,502 people of Asian origin (15.6%). A total of 143,632 residents identified with a different race (1.6%), while 299,959 identified with two or more races (3.4%).

References

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