When people think about New York City, they think big, diverse and just a mix of cultures. And yes, it is a mix of cultures and races/ethnicities. But as racially diverse as it is, it is still a pretty segregated place, although some places more than others. In my neighborhood, East New York, Brooklyn it is mainly Hispanic, Black and East Asian.
I don’t associate myself too much with the neighborhood I live in today, because I don’t have friends in the area. I grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and that’s the community I tend to associate myself with, it is where i spent my childhood which is why I also took pictures of Williamsburg. I believe Williamsburg to be pretty diverse, and before really observing the whole area I thought it was quite integrated and mixed.. However, it is actually really segregated.
In East New York, walking down one block can show you how diverse the place really is. You may encounter an Indian or Pakistani person, then take one step further and find a Hispanic person and right after them a couple of black people ( demonstrated in the picture below).
I don’t associate myself too much with the neighborhood I live in today, because I don’t have friends in the area. I grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and that’s the community I tend to associate myself with, it is where i spent my childhood which is why I also took pictures of Williamsburg. I believe Williamsburg to be pretty diverse, and before really observing the whole area I thought it was quite integrated and mixed.. However, it is actually really segregated.
In East New York, walking down one block can show you how diverse the place really is. You may encounter an Indian or Pakistani person, then take one step further and find a Hispanic person and right after them a couple of black people ( demonstrated in the picture below).
It’s really interesting to see because when you walk down a street you may not necessarily pay attention to what’s going on around you with relation to people and race. But when you capture it in a photo, you can really see how heterogeneous a community is. Something else that is interesting to note is that, the block in which this picture was taken is just a regular block filled with brownstone apartments and a small park with a field across the street. There were no stores around, nothing too exciting that would attract people from other communities to come in, which leads me to believe that the people on this block live close by and are part of the community/neighborhood. East new york can seem diverse at times. But there is still a concentration of Hispanics, Blacks, and East Asians. You’ll see only a couple of Caucasians if any. I walk down this block often when I take the long way home and I can say with certainty that you do more often see Blacks with Blacks and Hispanics with Hispanics and just a few East Asians scattered her and there, which shows segregation in the area. And the fact that I don't often see any white people or Chinese people In my community makes me question what diversity really is. Does diversity mean ALL the races are incorporated or does it mean just more than one ?.
Now if you step into a New York City subway you’ll find a really huge mix of cultures and ethnicities but depending on what neighborhood you’re passing or what area in the 5 boroughs you are in, things will begin to change. For example on a train heading to the upper west side from Brooklyn the train becomes more dominated by Caucasian people. You can see what type of people hopped in from that particular station. When I was on the J train going to williamsburg I saw a nice mix of everything; White, Asian, black, and Hispanic, the traditional division of ethnic groups.
Now if you step into a New York City subway you’ll find a really huge mix of cultures and ethnicities but depending on what neighborhood you’re passing or what area in the 5 boroughs you are in, things will begin to change. For example on a train heading to the upper west side from Brooklyn the train becomes more dominated by Caucasian people. You can see what type of people hopped in from that particular station. When I was on the J train going to williamsburg I saw a nice mix of everything; White, Asian, black, and Hispanic, the traditional division of ethnic groups.
The three people seen above, one Asian the other black and the young lady who looks to be Hispanic all stepped into the train cart from a platform in Williamsburg. With my experience living in Williamsburg it is really common to see something like this all around especially in and around the train station because there are a variety of stores and small restaurants and diners. People are attracted to this particular area in Williamsburg so that might explain the mixture of ethnicities that are there.
When you get off the train In south side Williamsburg, you will find Caucasians, Hispanics, blacks as well as Orthodox Jews. BUT it is riveting to see how they tend to flock and stick together in a certain block. For example in south 1st you will find mainly Hispanics and a few white people. Recently the lower south side has increased its white population in the area due to gentrification. The buildings have changed a bit in appearance, they look more expensive and the building in which I grew up has increased its rent drastically since I lived there about 7 years ago. There has been racial change but the ratio between whites and Hispanics in the area is still unequal...
There are more Hispanics in the lower south side than there are in the upper section of the south side.When you begin walking up towards south 5th and south 6th is where you begin to see a shift... you will notice the increase in Caucasians and decrease in Hispanics. It becomes more dominantly white area. Even though it is still the same neighborhood and it is diverse, it is segregated.
This picture on the left of a small cafe was taken around south 6th and you can clearly see that ALL of the people sitting in this cafe are Caucasian. This particular avenue is predominantly white so it wasn’t much of a surprise.
When you get off the train In south side Williamsburg, you will find Caucasians, Hispanics, blacks as well as Orthodox Jews. BUT it is riveting to see how they tend to flock and stick together in a certain block. For example in south 1st you will find mainly Hispanics and a few white people. Recently the lower south side has increased its white population in the area due to gentrification. The buildings have changed a bit in appearance, they look more expensive and the building in which I grew up has increased its rent drastically since I lived there about 7 years ago. There has been racial change but the ratio between whites and Hispanics in the area is still unequal...
There are more Hispanics in the lower south side than there are in the upper section of the south side.When you begin walking up towards south 5th and south 6th is where you begin to see a shift... you will notice the increase in Caucasians and decrease in Hispanics. It becomes more dominantly white area. Even though it is still the same neighborhood and it is diverse, it is segregated.
This picture on the left of a small cafe was taken around south 6th and you can clearly see that ALL of the people sitting in this cafe are Caucasian. This particular avenue is predominantly white so it wasn’t much of a surprise.
The upper south side is a predominantly Jewish area in Williamsburg, between south 8th and south 9th the Orthodox Jews are like their own separate community. You will see a couple of blocks of just orthodox Jews and not much of anything but them in that area. I think this is the case because they share so much in common. They have the same beliefs and religion, therefore they feel more comfortable as a group. I think this is the case for much of the segregation that exists.
I found after taking these pictures and really observing the areas that East new york and Williamsburg are diverse but segregated.
I found after taking these pictures and really observing the areas that East new york and Williamsburg are diverse but segregated.