Syrian Americans in New York City
The city of New York City includes a large Syrian population. New York City's Syrian community was historically centered in Manhattan's Little Syria, but is now centered in Brooklyn. Historically, Syrians in New York City were predominantly Christian. In the modern era, the city is home to the world's largest Syrian-Jewish community outside of Israel. 75,000 Syrian Jews live in New York City, mostly in Brooklyn.[1] New York City is also home to a smaller community of Syrian Muslims who have lived in the city for over a century, but most of whom have immigrated since the 1960s.
| Part of a series on |
| Ethnicity in New York City |
|---|
History
Between the 1870s and the 1930s, thousands of Syrians immigrated to New York City. They immigrated from the region of Ottoman Greater Syria, now known as the Levant. Greater Syria includes what is now Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. Immigrants from Ottoman Syria were known as "Syrians", although after the independence of Lebanon in the 1920s, some of the Syrians began to identify as Lebanese. While Syrians/Syro-Lebanese immigrants settled across the United States, New York City became the central hub of the Syrian diaspora in America. The heart of New York City's "Syrian Colony" was Little Syria in downtown Manhattan. By the early 1900s, Syrians from Little Syria began to settle in Brooklyn.[2] Syrian Christians belonged to multiple denominations, including the Maronite Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and the Syrian Orthodox Church, among others. Prior to the 1960s, Syrian Muslims were a small and largely invisible population compared to the Arab Christian population. Many of the Syrian Muslims emigrated from the region of Palestine.[3] There are educational and economic divides among the Syrian population, with Syrian Christians and Syrian Jews having higher levels of educational and economic achievement compared to the Syrian Muslim community, which is more likely to experience poverty and educational barriers.[4]
Demographics
By 1910, the Syrian population of Brooklyn had surpassed the population in Manhattan. By 1930, Brooklyn was home to 10,000 Syrian-Americans. The South Ferry neighborhood was the center of Syrian Brooklyn.[5]
See also
References
- "The Sy Empire". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
- "Syrians in New York: Mapping Movement, 1900-1930". ArcGIS. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
- "History of Arab New York". Gotham Magazine. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
- "Home for a Century: The Syrians of Bay Ridge". NY City Lens. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
- "Debut of Syrians in New York: Mapping Movement, 1900-1930". New York State University. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Syrian diaspora in New York City. |