It’s no secret that I love Jackson Heights. One of the more compelling reasons for this is the historic importance the neigbourhood has for the Colombian community. I can’t help but be fascinated by the stories of migration of Colombians, and wonder if they mirror my own family’s migration to Canada.
From what I gather, Colombians began arriving in Jackson Heights following WWI. The first few waves of immigrants were comprised mostly of professionals from Bogota and other large cities. Jackson Heights was nicknamed ‘Chapinerito’ after an iconic upper-middle class neighbourhood in Bogota, in fact, I see a striking aesthetic resemblance, especially with the old brick homes homes and apartment buildings.
Later waves of Colombians were larger and more diverse socio-economically. In the 70s and 80s so many Colombians made the move northward, that by the 90s, Colombians were New York City’s third largest Latin American ethnic group. While the past 20 years, much has seen many changes for Colombians in NYC, Jackson Heights remains the center, el corazon, of the Colombian community. Here are some interesting facts about Colombians, retrieved from a CUNY study (2008, a little dated!)
- In 1990 Colombians were New York City’s third largest Latino population after Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and accounting for 5.2% of the total with 91,769 people. By 2008, Colombians were the city’s fifth largest group with 4.9%, surpassed by then by Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans and Ecuadoreans, respectively.
- Almost three-quarters of Colombians are foreign-born. In 2008 72.8% were foreign born, while 27.2% were domestic born.
- Numbers indicate that while Queens still concentrates the highest amount of Colombians, the borough’s Colombian population has decreased, especially among the foreign-born. Colombians are moving elsewhere, and I suspect New Jersey has become a destination.
- By 2008, 72.4% of Colombians lived in Queens, 10.2% in Manhattan, 9.9% in Brooklyn, 5.1% in the Bronx and 2.4% in Staten Island.
- 2008- While the largest number of Colombians were still in areas with large Latino populations like North Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, Colombians have a strong presence in neighbouroods with relatively few Latinos like, Bayside, Little Neck and Douglaston.
- Overall, Colombians have continued having the highest household income amongst Latino ethnic groups since 1990s. Median household income for Colombians was at $56, 826 in 2008.
- Social mobility: the percentage of Colombian households earning 200k + has grown from 0.1% in 90s to 6.7% in 2008, among domestic born, and
- Education- over 20% of Colombians 25 years old and over had a B.A or higher in 2008, however almost 34 %considered they did not speak English very well.
- The poverty rate for Colombians in 2008 was of 13.8%, with foreign-born people being more at risk.
- 52.8% of Colombians have U.S. citizenship, a trend that has been steadily increasing since the 90s.
All in all some pretty optimistic numbers and future outlook for the Colombianos in NYC! Now if only, this would translate into better restaurants,
Julian de Mayo 
Leave a comment