NEW YORK, NY November 26, 2007 —A new report on immigrants in New York State says they are more a part of the State’s middle class than is commonly thought. WNYC's Marianne McCune reports.

Here are some of the report’s more salient findings: immigrants make up a quarter of all CEOs who live in New York City, more than a third of architects, and half of accountants; upstate, where they make up only 5% of residents, immigrants are 20% of university professors and more than 35% of physicians and surgeons.

In New York's downstate suburbs, immigrants are 41% of registered nurses. Overall, the report says, immigrants make up about a fifth of the state's residents and are responsible for an equal portion of its gross domestic product. The report is by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group focused on New York State’s economy.

It’s part of a larger effort by the New York Immigration Coalition to publicize the positive impacts of immigrants in the state.