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New York, Have Your Say!
New York thinks of itself as the most multicultural city in the world. But London, Toronto, and Sydney all make the same claim! Which city is right?
Today we're participating in the BBC program World Have Your Say, a daily interactive program where listeners set the agenda. World Have Your Say will decide which city should be held up as the best multicultural example for the rest of the world.
The Leonard Lopate Show will be simulcasting with three other radio stations - in London, Toronto, and Sydney - with advocates and listeners in each city arguing that their city should win. At the end of the hour, a panel of listeners will crown the winner. For more information about the contest, check out the show's blog here. Leonard needs your help to make the best case for New York!
UPDATE: The panel of voters chose London as the world's most multicultural city. If you disagree, keep posting your comments here.
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(1) What other city has well over 200 languages spoken in it's public school system?
(2) What other city has not one, but 3 "Chinatowns" within it's borders (in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, in our case)?
Is this the "hooray for everyone" show? There are plenty of other cities around the globe that are very multicultural - London, LA, Chicago...
I have spent lots of time in other "multi-cultural" cities and sad to say, I and my friends in those cities have experienced some racism. The thing that sets NYC apart from, lets say, London, Sydney or Toronto, is that there is MUCH less racism against other cultures. There is less segregation and more integration. I think the beauty about the multi-culturalism in NYC is that you can choose to integrate if you want to, but it is not necessary either.
Within a 5 block radius from where I live, you can get Japanese, Thai, Tibetan, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Ukranian, Indian, Venezuelan, Peruvian, Indonesian, Basque, British, French, Mexican food. How's that for multi-cultural?
In addition to "world class" diversity, New York City shares the distinction of being the only destination city for imigration. Historically, New York stands alone as an icon and archetype of world society. From the waters of this great harbor was launched the world's first government based on individual personal freedom and two centuries later repeatedly comes defends against aggressors and tyrants. The thrust forward into this new millenium was fostered by western human migration and the resulting acquired resouces. All this through the open doors of New York City, her Lady Liberty, and the American Dream. To be sure, no other port of call can claim this history. We are the Grandfather of Diversity and its Gleaming Tower.
Sincerely, Erik Frampton
Just to briefly touch upon two of the cities mentioned, London has a deeper, richer history as a city of culture, commerce and power while Toronto is at least the equal of New York in diversity and is much more tolerant and inclusive.
We need to fight for more affordable housing, better schools and a decent transport system rather than bragging rights on a radio program.
I often hear New Yorkers say, "New York is the greatest city in the world!" Instead of continuing to mouth this annoying provincial boosterism, let's get to work on buidling a city that is truly great.
One word - QUEENS.
New York City is the only place I know of that you can walk the length of a single street and meet folks from around the world.
When I was a young girl I flew alone from NC to NYC and I was astounded at how many "foreigners" lived in our country!
New York is simply amazing. New Yorkers are amazing!
Jackie
One word= The New York Yankees.
Everybody in the world knows the Yankees are the best. End of story.
Unlike Montreal, London, Paris, etc, New York's diversity is not found in ghettos. People from different countries, of various faiths, speaking their native tongues, live side by side with the rest of us. This is especially true in my wonderful neighbor to the north, Queens. However, even on my block there are first generation representatives of at least 22 different nations representing nearly all of South America and Central America, Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Ireland.
Just take the R or 7 train to Queens and see the people on the subway; they're all from different ethnicities.
My neighborhood is mostly comprised of Chinese and Chinese Americans, as well as people from the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Korea, and Pakistan.
I've never been to Toronto so I can't say anything about it. I visited London and Sydney; both cities are not as diverse as New York. And I agree with the previous poster about the racism there.
New York wins hands down. Where else can you find such a hodge-podge of skewered meats that taste like bus fumes.
Manhattan is VERY diverse, with people of German, English, Scandinavian, Scottish, Irish, and Dutch descent literally EVERYWHERE!
Only in New York's rich, diverse neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side and Gramercy Park can we see descendants of Angles and Saxons living together so harmoniously.
Places like Paris are wonderful because of the way the people embrace art and culture. However, almost all the art that you see in Paris is European. Nothing against European art, but I am grateful that New York has a wider range of cultural institutions (i.e. African Art Museum, Rubin Museum of Art, El Museo del Barrio…).
Cultural diversity is not just about restaurants. It’s festivals, religion, art, music, sports, politics ….
I love my city.
In NY, everyone mixes. In other large cities (I've traveled to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Montreal, Rome, New Orleans, DC, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, SF), the elite and the destitute tend to live in widely separated areas. While NYC has distinct neighborhoods, it's still possible to have a multi-million dollar, celebrity-owned townhouse almost directly across the street from a public housing project. It's still possible to share jury duty with white, black, gay, straight, college students, grandparents, artists, businesspeople, at a trial that involves both Vietnamese and Russian interpreters, in the heart of Chinatown. It's still possible to see people reading newspapers in 7 different languages in a single subway car. It's still possible to see performers from Nashville, New Orleans, Canada, Europe, India, Africa, France, the Caribbean, Mexico, and NYC - performing in English, Spanish, French, Creole, Yiddish, and other languages - all at the same venue, for a suggested donation of only $3. And they ALL have enthusiastic fans from back home in the audience.
Any one or two of these things might be true of many places, but only NYC has them all!
I live in Chicago, and although Chicago can claim cultural and multi-ethinic diversity through representations from Latin America, Europe (particularly Eastern Europe)Asia, the Middle-East, etc. I do have to say that New York has more representation from around the world. I would put Toronto on the same scale as Chicago. As far as London and Sydney are concerned, I never have been to either, so I don't really know.
One thing that "provincial" New Yorkers should do is to become more educated about their own country. I am amazed about some of the questions I get about Chicago from New Yorkers. One time, a New Yorker asked me if Lake Michigan had marine life! There is a lot to see and explore in this country west of the Hudson River, and I don't mean Los Angeles.
New York is obviously a great city but I would be really reluctant to say that it is the most multicultural city. Toronto (not Montreal) has the same number of languages spoken and just as many different cultures...however when you visit Toronto it's refreshing to see an Indian, a Caucasion, an Asian, etc serving your food or making your hotel bed. Unfortunatley that is not so evident here. Lets not worry about who is the most multicultural city, rather, lets focus on making equality a bit more apparent. That being said, most "online" research suggests London is the winner.
I agree with "Jane" and "Jean Grazie" -- yes, people do and can segregate themselves, but they also can mix as much as they feel comfortable with ... many churches serve 2 and 3, even 4 language cultures ... while many may be one-language based, they are aware of the diversity in their sister / brother houses of worship. The hoity-toitiness of some folks is reserved for their 2nd homes elsewhere ... but 95% of NY'ers do NOT fall in that category of finances. Most restaurants serve reasonable if not good-to-excellent food -- because if they don't, their patrons can very easily walk elsewhere. Because of its excellent transportation system (irrespective of fluke rain, strikes, weekend service outages (maintenance is important!!)), anybody can afford to get anywhere in a (usually) reasonable amount of time at a very reasonable cost. NYC drawback is its housing costs ... if it was more affordable to live here, the population would be even MORE diverse!
Star Trek:
Infinite Diversity in
Infinite Combinations (the IDIC)
I cannot say I love NYC ... but living anywhere else is boring by comparison.
According to my sketchy web research, the population breakdown is as follows:
NYC- 56% minority
Toronto- 43% minority
Sidney- 38% minority
London- 29% minority
I'm moving from NY to London in a few weeks, and when I mentioned to one of my future London co-workers (also from the NYC) that one of the things that I liked about London was its diversity, she literally laughed in my face.
These claims of ethnic and cultural diversity seem somewhat a fanciful expression of a quiant nostolgia that harkens back to a 1950's United Nations film strip. Certainly the various groups are represented, but that doesn't mean there's this open and free exchange among them. Most people are independent-minded and move within their own circles, without even language in common, making it difficult to mingle without feeling like an idiot or a crazy person or a stranger in your own land. The billionare would prefer NOT to have a housing project across the street, and I personally get no thrill from having a "minority" serve me food or make my hotel bed. It's embarrassing. Are we not all Americans?
This segment should really have the listening audience asking themselves the question what's more important, equality or diversity? Sure, New York is culturally diverse and that should be celebrated but, my previous snide comments aside, the economic stratification is deplorable! Just walk up Lexington Avenue in the '80s past 96th Street and see the "diversity": we may be a very multicultural city, but money still talks. We laud what immigrants bring to the table as far as "culture", but could care less if some people are (much) better off than others-- Walter Benn Michaels discusses this subject length in his book, "The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality".
What city in the world has the least disparity in income among its residents? Is there a city in the world where the rich are not getting richer, and the poor are not getting poorer?
Its a question any real progressive might ask, instead of paying lip service to a corporate buzzword, "multiculturalism".
Trevor i was injured and had to have a car service for several weeks - in the course of these many conversations with immigrants, some very young, i was astonished at what they have built here - owning buildings, cars. car service car numbers are $100,000.! Big families with houses and kids i private schools. These are non-native, motivated individuals surpassing my ilk with their determination just like my ancestors came with nothing and wound up in amazing places in US society. Nobody owes anybody a living. Could income disparity be about our willingness to roll over and play dead about our impotent congress and the looting of the public trust that has been happening since Bill Clinton left office? or was it since Nixon took office? When exactly did the crooks get teh upper hand? Why do we let them get away with it?
>> What city in the world has the least disparity in income among its residents? Is there a city in the world where the rich are not getting richer, and the poor are not getting poorer?
I don't know, but the answer ain't London and it ain't Toronto. London is quite probably the most expensive city on planet earth right now, and getting worse every day; if you want to see the future of Manhattan, take a look at the City and its surroundings: jet-setters and financial services industry professionals driving prices into the stratosphere and pushing the non-wealthy utterly away, spreading up and spreading out. Diversity in central London, like in Mahattan below 96th Street, is vestigial. True diversity in New York is a borough thing, to be found in Queens and Brooklyn and the Bronx (with upper Manhattan thrown in on an honorary basis, at elast for the time being), as well as nearby parts of Jersey. And as far as that goes, it is as deep, rich, intense and real as anything anywhere.
I confess I haven't been to Toronto, but if it's anything like Vancouver (which also bills itself as a diversity capital), diversity there may be a lot like diversity in San Francisco, which certainly exists but is rather mild and mannerly compared to the shuffling, bumping, elbowing, galling and thrilling cacophony of New York borough life.
My living situation is a perfect example, as well as a microcosm, of New York's multiculturalism. There are three of us in total. Not one of us was born in the United States. I am a Mexican citizen of Eastern European Jewish descent. My first roomate is a black Puerto Rican. My second roomate is from Ethiopia.
I've worked jobs here with people from Albania, China, Jamaica, Yemen you name it.
I can not see how another city can claim to have more diverse cultures than new York.
Yes, New York is wonderfully multi-cultural but how do our increasingly restrictive immigration policies compare with those of other countries like the UK, Canda, and Australia? Just the fact that London can draw people from all over the European Union, allowing them the absolute right to live, work, and contribute to the vibrancy of that city makes me wonder how we will compare in the future.
Chestine- I don't doubt many immigrant families find economic prosperity, especially in New York, a notably small-business friendly city for quite some time (at least, in the past). I do feel the majority of immigrants here in the city probably don't enjoy such success however-- ride the 7 train at 6am in the morning and tell all the commuters about starting their own businesses and all the rich culture they bring to the city working twelve hour days below industry-level wages.
I only mean to raise the subject of economic equality as important, if not more, than cultural diversity. A bit off topic, I apologise, but it is an issue I think left-minded voters should pay more attention to. After all, what is the difference between a rich immigrant and a rich native? How about a poor immigrant and a poor native?
If working Americans possessed any sort of class consciousness perhaps this would be a more salient issue. Instead, we use the word "multicultural" to gloss over our similarities, and ignore the fact that the top 1% percent control most of the wealth, and actually believe think they deserve it (i.e. NYTimes' recent article about new billionaires' attitudes toward their fortunes).
But yes, New York probably wins over other cities: I myself lived in a warehouse with an ex-Hasidic Jew, two Peruvians, an Argentinian, a Columbian, a French person, a Japanese person, a Chilean and two people from Ohio!
Beat that.
One word: Subway.
I've lived in Boston, Melbourne, and visited Sydney several times. When i was walking down the street, or riding the commuter train in Sydney, most of hte faces were WHITE! The other groups were Asian and Southeast-Asian. Same with Boston. When i ride on the sunway in NYC, i see faces of all colors, and hear multiple langauges: Spanish, Hebrew, Chinese, German, Japanese, every day.
I live in Morningside Heights, which is now safer and more gentrified than it was when i was a growing up in teh 1980's, but the choice of cuisine in a ten block radius reflect the diversity of the city: Japanese, Chines, Korean, Italian, French, Southern US, Lebanese, Greek, Hungarian, Indian, and Thai.
i dont particularly think new york is the most "multi-cultural" city by way of accommodating multiple forms of cultural expression. its surely less culturally-imperialist than paris, but one obvious fact is indisputable: the UN is here, duh.
The Aussies get a pass because they're Aussies. Buy them a beer and they will concede the debate. Toronto is a magical city....if it were in America, it would put Chicago to shame. Alas, 'tis in Canada. London may compete on the numbers, but it is completely resistant to its changing demographics.
Also, if you google the name of the second poster, you might consider deleting that post.
The social experiment of “pluralism” from Horace Kallen to the birth pangs of the Civil Rights Movement is a success here in New York, and in certain other pockets of the country. Some of the descendants of the forefathers of the liberal tradition that I’ve spoken to will admit in private that the whole pluralistic shtick is nothing but a business. In the beginning it was legitimate because many people ran from European fascism. But what are they running from now? Greed seems to have gotten the best of them. In New York nothing is done for the good of the country – only for the good of the pocketbook. I should know. I’ve been living here most of the forty eight years of my life. New York is five to one democratic, mostly liberal – and that’s OK, for New York. However, many liberals do not understand that this fermenting cesspool of pluralism is beginning to threaten the South and parts of the Mid West, by the liberal lawmakers and educators who take up jobs in small towns and in rural communities – who seek to escape the political and spiritual communism they left behind. These people rape the intellectual resources and hospitality of their own country to fuel a socialist agenda. Let’s hope these liberal descendants are wise enough not to recapitulate the profiteering of the GWP of their forefathers.
NYC, and esp. the boroughs, are as diverse as anywhere, but NY is also an imperial city that makes newcomers and the rest of the world do things its way. NYC is a truly wonderful place --- vibrant, creative, powerful --- but NY is diverse because of the people, not as a result of its claim to be center of the world. A big city in a small or less powerful country must deal with the rest of the world on the other's terms. This is fundamental to a truly open diversity.
How many different kinds of cuisines can you eat in a 10-block radius of your home or workplace?
Peruvian, Columbian, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Honduran, Ecuadorian, Dominican, Mexican, Italian, Sicilian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, French, Australian, American, Jamaican, Grenadan, Haitian, Bajan, Eastern European/Kosher, OH MY!!
I think NYC is the only city that if i walk in a bar and see everyone is white-american i'll be surprised.
As a young white man I feel there's a limit to the insight I can have on racism, certainly what it means to be on the receiving end. I'm also from Canada, some eight years in this country spread across three cities. My experience is that New York, like the rest of the United States is great as long as you aspire to the same values and goals as other white people in this country - make money whatever the cost to yourself, your family and the community. Having returned to Toronto recently, I was taken aback when I was reminded how people there, white or otherwise, are encouraged to live their own truth, to find their own blend of their culture of origin and the culture of Canada. On a separate note, it was a breath of fresh air to watch new broadcasting not sponsored by drug companies trying to market anti-depressants.
I don't think economic equality is that important actually. And I'm saying that as a person with relatively little in the way of material goods, though I'm not starving, thank God. Democracy doesn't imply equality of outcome, but a chance to run the race. We can't all be winners financially, but that doesn't make us less important as people, as artists, as bike messengers, whatever. By this reckoning, cultural diversity is more worthwhile than economic equality. The poor will always be among us, as will the rich, but those who can should make sure the poor don't starve.
Right, well I guess the point that I was trying to make was essentially that for the most part, the ultrarich are all white.
The ultrarich could care less if there's cultural diversity, but the system being built by economic inequality (i.e. wage slave class buoying upper castes of moneyed families) must never be questioned. Thus we get apologist "a chance to run the race" arguments. The race itself is fixed to begin with.
Culture is a process, not an event. Hitler failed to understand this, and multicultural postmodernists fail to see this as well. Until something is done about capitalism's ravages on the environment and on humanity itself, things will continue as they are-- violent, destructive and hierarchical.
The local chinese dry cleaner speaks Spanish! I have a lot of respect for this hard working lady. I only speak 1 language but she speaks 3.
New York definitely has better food than London!! That should count for something.
on my hallway: Croatians, Congolese, Senegalese, a family from Kirgistan, Belgians, Brazilians, and the other half are American-born. It smells amazing at dinnertime, depending on who's cooking!
I don't know how many cultures are represented in my bldg of 20 floors...
Trevor - like the stasi and rule under stalin and mao are warm and fuzzy? i would venture we are all made of opposite sides (bright/dark) and so will forever create that tensions
I think it suffices to say that harbor/port cities tend to attract people from all over the world throughout history-- Venice, Constantinople, London, San Francisco, New Orleans etc.-- and New York, becoming the most powerful, became a self-propellent mythmaking machine in a sense, in that its unconscious aesthetic attraction, coupled with obvious economic benefits, is enough of a draw for people everywhere no matter what language they speak.
I know that's why I moved here.
And sadly, since I've moved to a bit of Queens a short time ago, much of my neighborhood has become noticably whiter.
Careful New York-- you are certainly the coolest and most multicultural of cities, but you'll lose your edge with all this gentrification and condo building...
As a transplanted, native New Yorker, Brooklyn born and bred and having lived in Queens and Manhattan as recently as 2000-03 again, I'd say my current home city of Toronto where I have resided for most of the last 20 years is the most multicultural society of the cities you mentioned. I've visited London and I've also lived in Chicago but Toronto wins, sorry Leonard. I used to teach Adult ESL here for more than four years and was really surprised at our cultural riches. Our diversity of quality eating spots will attest to my decision. Yum, yum.
Chestine-- I don't think to advocate more economic equality is to endorse Stalinism or Maoism (if that's what you are implying), or even Communism.
As for "opposite sides", I don't really think of concepts and subjects in such binary terms.
I have only been to London a couple brief times and never Toronto, but what I do know:
NYC- i walk out of my house and think about what I could eat:
South African, Senegalese, French, Cuban, Mexican, Italian, Middle Eastern, South Indian, Greek, Pan-Mediterranian, West Indian, Thai, Japanese...and more i'm sure I'm forgetting.
I also know when I walk down the street I hear a mingling of languages and accents, I see people of many ethnicities and cultures sharing, building, maintaining this crazy, beautiful city NEW YORK that we call home.
The most encouraging thing to me is despite many problems and issues that need to be continually addressed, we are competing for which city is the most diverse. Thats beautiful.
i think ny with its degraded infrastructure, could become more like a third world city and eventually if this continues unchecked, the economic class differences could be as extreme, with upper class people living behind walls with guard dogs that get poisoned by the desperate, as in pretty old cities like Rio. Where will New Yorkers flee to then, like everyone coming here? I think we need to fight to keep some balance and when we get mad enough, we will. Maybe Toronto's a good idea. Kurt is right, they do have good food up there and it is a kinder, gentler place. And newer and cleaner and walkable (but less sunshine by far) or maybe NY will start to cycle down and re-balance.
My landlord, as well as my next door neighbor, are from Croatia. The fruit and vegetable store I shop at is run by Turks, while the delis are owned by Yemenite arabs. Koreans dry clean my suits. I hang out at a pub where the owner and bartender are Irish, and the chef is Venezuelan. At my job, I work along side Filipinos, an Ecudoran, and Grenadans. Multiculturalism for me is part of every day life.
In Flatbush, the Chase ATM asks you if you would like to proceed in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese or Korean.
If I may cite some history, New York City has continuously been the most culturally diverse community in the world, since the first European settlers came in 1624. At that time, the Dutch were the only nation that tolerated religious dissent, so the colony attracted a diverse group of refugees. In 1643, a visiting French Jesuit reported that "on the island of Manhattan there may well be four or five hundred men of different sects and nations: the Director General told me that there were men of eighteen different languages." During the 40 years of Dutch rule (1624-1664), only about half of the immigrants to New York City were ethnically Dutch. The others included Germans, Belgians, Frisians, French, English, Norwegians, Swedes, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Swiss, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Portuguese (both Catholic and Jewish), Spanish, Italian, Czech, Lithuanian, Croatian, Brazilian, Indonesian, African, and Native American people, among others. Two particularly exotic characters were Jonas Bronck, first settler in the Bronx (=Bronck's), who was a Faroe Islander; and Anthony Jansen Van Salee, alias "Anthony the Turk," son of a Dutch pirate and an African woman, who was raised as a Moslem in Morocco, came to Manhattan in 1630, and died in Brooklyn in 1676. Some of his descendants still live here, but are now numbered among the non-diverse elements of the community (including the Vanderbilt and Whitney families).
I like real answers
I am Ecuadorean - German - Jewish , Bisexual, and my ex wife was American- Korean-french - catholic.
We together speak or use , English, Spanish , German, French, Korean, Quechua, Chinese, Japaneses. Hebrew, Italian.
We use all that in one day with out even trying in nyc.
hugs
I have always lived in the Shadow of NYC. 'Sneaking' into The City in High School, travelling from my Upstate college to see all of the latest art shows and museum exhibitions, visiting Broadway, working for two major NYC Art Galleries and an Auction House. I searched for the Greatness and Culture everyone kept touting and promising but never found it. New York always failed to meet my expectations of a cultured city. NY Museums are expensive, Art Galleries pretentious and impenetrable, Broadway shows equally expensive and static. I relocated to London just over a year ago and was greeted with the City I had hoped NY would and could be for so long. Free Museums, Public Art, Weekly Cultural and Artistic Festivals, Exhibitions, open air markets, living history (ALL FREE). London is a city where you will actually meet and interact with people from other countries and cultures who live in the City and meaningfully engage in its progress. Comments regarding racism being more prevalent in London as opposed to other Cities are misguided. Racism is rampant in each; the difference is Londoners (as a collective) are more aware, affected and appalled by it. This is all without mentioning the public and private Environmental awareness and initiatives in London, an awareness and practice that Collectively, New Yorkers do not share or practice on their best day. It is a naive belief that NYC is remotely rich in culture as other 'International' cities. My vote is decidedly for London.
Rapid, destructive gentrification is slowly destroying everything that was great about NYC in the first place. We'll have ethnic diversity-Park Slope style while our serfs from the suburbs wait on us.
I guess most people seem to think "ethnic food" means wonderful diversity.
As someone who has been to Sydney, London, and New York City, I have to say New York is pretty multi-cultural. Sydney is a beautiful, wonderful, vibrant city, but it still suffers from residual hatred of it's Neo-Nazi groups, which are still actively hostile to the large Asian population and the sad history of the government's policy towards Aborigines. London is pretty amazing in terms of its culture, but I feel the scale and breadth of NYC is much greater. Though I do agree with previous writers, this should be a celebration--not just a competition--of our collective multi-cultural societies.
Thank you Jose.
Its clear "multiculturalism" is a class issue. The yuppies in Park Slope, Williamsburg, DUMBO and Manhattan champion this so-called diversity in the form of consumer activities (i.e. ethnic food menus) but could care less about effectively causing real social change; let's go to Queensbridge or Ravenswood or Jamaica or East New York and talk about 'multiculturalism'. Ha!
The "liberal" professional class (the Obama votes) pats itself on the back yet again.
I wish we were doing this on "What's The Greenest City?"
I think it's funny that a competition like this is happening right now, with a large percentage of New York's ethnic diversity being forced out of the city due to terribly inflated housing costs and Bloomberg's attempts to remodel New York. Look anywhere in the city, and you'll see the effects of the uber-gentrification that has swept our great city: Coney Island's corporate, Red Hook's getting the second largest Ikea in the WORLD, and the Lower East Side is now an interactive Sims game on MTV.com.
If you want to see New York's cultural diversity, follow it to the Poconos and Florida.
New York is a city of ghettos. I'm unsure what the term multicultural means as used here. It is ripely appearrant to me that people from all over the world come to New York and America and within a very short time assimiliate into the greater, blander culture. I once lived in London. And although I feel like the colors of the faces on the streets of New York are more varied, in London foreign residents seem to maintain closer ties to their national identity and culture, immeidately visible in their clothing. (this was of particular interest after it was discovered the 7/7 bombers were "home-grown"). So which would be considered more "multicultural"? The woman in full-on African head-dress you encounter turning a street corner, or the Muslim boy with iPod and wearing Sean Jean denim?
Just FYI: IIRC, Queens County is currently the county in the US with the most languages spoken. However, that's a fairly recent development. That distincion was formerly held by Hudson County, NJ, which is still pretty high on the list.
While unsavory, the wide variety of ethnic escort services advertised in numerous NYC newspapers can be interpreted as indicator of NYC's multicultural greatness.
I agree on what many people here conspire of the meaning of diversity. NYC's most diverse demography and culture mean nothing when we think of how many diverse people actually live (within) and enjoy the harmonized way of multiplicity.
At some point, as we witnessed through 9/11, the city is only manifest what America can do the best: ethnic profiling and to top it all, we just live on the police state. I've had this ambiguous feeling of living this city when I heard claims that NYC is a totally different place from other major cities in the US. As a member of a minority group, however, I have felt that it's not always truth. It's so much like many people believe that racial conflicts has been eased off significantly in this country.
So I believe the question we should ask is "How do we think about/look at the multiplicity in this city?" only if we can count a few dishes and come up with jokes about some particular ethnic groups. I doubt that this is the true meaning of diversity.
Because Wikipedia says so.
In my neighborhood there is a mosque, several synagogues, several catholic churches, and several protestant churches - all nearly within eyesight of each other.
London's "multiculturalism" originates from integration of former English colonies, so they share the same underlying culture.
There are very few african and spanish influences in Australia.
Toronto is a wonderfully diverse city on par with New York, only orders of magnitudes smaller.
People come to New York not because they have to, not because their former colonial oppressors have seen the light, but because they want to.
I LOVE NEW YORK!
Q: Why are the "competitors" all Anglophone cities? Is that because we're omitting diverse non-Anglophone cities like Montreal or Marseille - or are English-speaking countries for some reason more likely to have more diversity?
There are more parades from different countries in NYC than any other city.
We have no problem with people flying their flag next to an American Flag indicating their country of origin.
You can live in many part of this city and not speak a work of English for all your life.
I went for a run around Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens last weekend. I didn't thing anything of the Orthodox Jewish couples and families walking around or the Muslim woman with her head and body covered. It was only when I passed a Tibetan monk that it occurred to me what a wonderfully diverse city this is!
Cuisine: Mexican, Kosher, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Continental, American, Irish, Greek, Spanish;
One local ATM in Hebrew, Russian, French, Spanish then English.
Two synagogues, one Catholic church, a number of Protestant churches. My parish church has mostly 1st and 2nd generation Irish and Italians with a good number of Filipinos, Haitians, Africans.
I was recently at a Mets game (they WON!) with a bunch of English men sitting in front of me; three lesbian girls discussing the game with them and three very young excited Jamaican boys behind me. On the 7 coming home, there were veiled women, sari-ed woman, capri pants women, turbaned men, dreadlocked men and lots of different languages being spoken. In other words, an average trip on the 7.
London's a beautiful city but I was amazed at some of the racial/ethnic insults I heard being casually used.
I heart NY.
GET a GRIP! Shanghai, Hong Kong, even Beijing I wonder about Dubai soon
I visited NYC last winter, white bread! Went to the tiny plastic China town melted in only a block into italy and...
Queens is the most diverse county in the U.S., according to census data, and is home to people of more than 150 nationalities. I have, just this week, had pan de bono from the colombian bakery around the corner for breakfast, had dinner at a thai food on roosevelt ave at "Rice Ave", took a beginner's salsa class a few blocks from home, snacked at
the indian bakery on 74th street, and
bought a sari to make curtains for my
bay windows. Where can you step outside your door and walk to all of that and still be a 10-min subway ride to manhattan, one of the most famous cities in the world?
When I grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn in the late 60's, myself, my friends, my entire neighborhood was only comprised of white people of Irish or Italian descent. And between those two ethnicities there was much division. Today, the park and playgrounds are filled with children whose parents hail from Asia, Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and the Ukraine, all of whom happily co-exist.
The decision to locate and retain the United Nations headquarters in NYC supports the notion that the world recognizes New York City as the most international of cities.
Everyday I walk two miles. I love it as I feel I am visiting many countries on my walk. Take 14th St. for example. The world is represented. From Gucci to tattoos. From pushcarts to the Green Market. What a great place to live. Incidently, I was a travel agent for many years and had the opportunity to travel all over the world. No place, no where is like NYC!!!
Time and again one hears New Yorkers say "This is the best city in the world," and each time I can only respond with "Excuse Me???" Even if it is the most multi-cultural city in the world, which may well be the case, then what about its status in terms of education system, spread of wealth, average happiness, upkeep of infrastructure, maintenance of buildings, amount of crime, level of corruption, and so on? Despite undeniable charm, NYC is not the best city in the world by any stretch of the imagination.
I've never been to Sydney, but I have been to NYC, Toronto, and London. New York wins hands down! I've never heard so many languages in any other place. When we first moved to New Jersey, my husband had the misfortune of getting lost while driving through Queens and Manhattan (no map!). He had to stop four times along the way and ask for directions. Each time he was in a different ethnic or religious community. It was quite an adventure! NYC has immigration history like no other.
All that said, I think Toronto is a good role model for a multicultural city and London is just lovely! But - my vote still goes for New York!!!!!!!
I can confirm as a college professor at a CUNY community college that New York City is the most multicultural. In fact, I purchased a Rand McNally World Book of Facts to find information about the countries in which some of my students were born -- Chad, for one. Other birthplaces include Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Paraguay, Ecuador, Guatamala, Mexico, Guyana, Ghana, Russia, including Uzbekistan, all parts of Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland, Greece, Egypt, Israel, much of the West Indies, China, Japan, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bengladesh, Korea, Greece, Columbia. I know I've left out even more, not to mention Puerto Rico (I know it's a commonwealth of U.S.) and the Dominican Republic.
Yes, I agree about what this city will become if housing is not made more affordable and all else in this town that has gotten outrageously expensive. I moved in over 30 years ago, and if I had to do it now on what I had then, I'd be commuting from upstate New York.
As far as restaurants within a 10-block radius -- French, Italian, Cuban Chinese, Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Jewish Deli(?), What culture is corn beef and pastrami? Greek as in diner. And a neighborhood that includes Zabars has salmon from Nova Scotia, Scandinavia, etc and foods from all over the globe.
Right from the beging New York Ne New Amsterdam was a multicultural city. I believe that in 1642, Johanness Mikalous (spell?) wrote in is diary that there were 17 different languages being spoken on the street of the colony.
In my own experience I recall that shortly after I went to Hunter college I showed my year book to a friend from Iowa. On a certain page there was a picture of people rushing to class. He asked me if it was halloween when the picture was taken. I looked at the photo and there in the shot was a man in african garb and a group Monks in their safron robes walking through the hallway.
What I took for granted stood out to my friend. NYC is the world's city
If Bergen County, NJ, counts (it is "greater NY")... We spent last year in Bergen County. In my son's preschool class, 22 children spoke 12 different languages among them. Only 3 children spoke only English at home, one of whom came from a single-sex, multi-racial family.
When my son was getting dressed with his Asian Indian friend, the other boy looked at him and said "you're yellow." My son looked at himself, agreed, and said to the other boy, "you're brown." He agreed, and they ran out to play together. I can't think of a better example of understanding and accepting the diversity among us!
I'd like to add an anecdote to what "World Traveller" posted.
A friend of my brother is of Korean-Puerto Rican descent. When she traveled outside of NYC people would stare, trying to guess her race. In NYC, she said people would look and shrug. She imagined that, unable to place her immediately, they'd think, "Oh something", and go about their business.
She loved New York.
MY LIFE = BEST EVIDENCE THAT NYC IS MOST MULTICULTURAL CITY IN THE WORLD.
I have spent half of my 57 years in 12 countries of the world -- and have lived in London and Tokyo for many years. And have visited Sydney and Toronto. The latter 2 are diverse -- but with a less-established diversity (same applies to London). I am half Jewish-Arab and Polish-American.
15 ethnicities on my block (white, black, Hispanic, Asian - East and South). Neighborhood has become "gentrified" but remains diverse. 20 different cuisines within 5 block radius.
In NYC, my partner is native Japanese. My ex-partner is native Chinese. My doctor is Filipino. My dentist is Indian. My periodondist is Chinese. My super is Mexican. The handymen are Albanian. The plumber is Bosnian. My best friends are Chinese-Americans from Brooklyn who are married to/partnered with Italians and Swedes, a native Thai from Texas, and native French, Korean, Surinamese, Jamaican, Korean-Jewish from Israel, a Japanese American-NYC Jewish couple, a Hawaiian-WASP couple, et al. We eat food and enjoy culture from all of these countries.
Sorry, but this is just silly. Isn't there something more important and interesting to talk about than this piece of idiocy? What does it matter what some public survey decides? How many people voting have lived in all the listed cities in order to be able to have an informed opinion? Why are all the listed cities English-speaking? What is the result of this supposed to show? Nonsense.
1. Italian, German, Greek, Latino, and Americans black and white are the predominant ethnicities. However, there are also a couple of Scots, a Polish family, some Africans, a Bosnian Muslim, and a Chinese couple. I walk my dog at least twice and day, so I have lots of opportunities to strike up conversations with people.
2. Have lived here only a year, so I haven't really noticed change. People have told me that the area used to be "more Italian" and indeed there are two Italian men's social clubs two blocks from my house.
3. In a ten block radius, there are several Italian restaurants in the $80-90 for two with wine price range, Chinese take-aways, pizza, of course, Mexican, Japanese, Indian, and two Irish pubs featuring American nosh like burgers, wraps, soups, etc. There are several delis...Greek and Italian..and one featuring Bulgarian cheeses. Two real bakeries...one Italian, the other owned by Hungarians.
4. Haven't been to Toronto or Sydney, but have visited London several times. I'd have to say it seems pretty much on a par with NYC.
WHO CARES...........
You ought to begin this debate by looking at the immigrant experience in the US versus that of other countries. Eventually, in the rush to "make it", and usually in a matter of one generation, US immigrants become assimilated, uni-lingual and ignorant of the their native land. The poor quality of education and one-dimensionality of the American media expedites the process of joining the great cultural melting pot.
Canada, which has several cities that are as multi-cultural as New York (immigrants to Montreal learn two official languages), is an open-minded nation with a generous "safety-net" of government social services, education and healthcare. Immigrants more quickly become part of the massive economic middle-class, which is not the same as fitting into a cultural middle-class.
enough already with all the cheerleading for a city nowhere near #1! New York has lost its soul completely by becoming both the playground of yuppies and lawyers who are passing through on their way to Connecticut, and the wasteland for the vulgar herds who are loud, obnoxious, and consume junk. No bookstores, no cafes, no public space, no culture...just surveiellance, CVS, and constant traffic!
New York City wins hands down, at least over London in my experiences. I am a current graduate student living in London but am a native New Yorker (although I was born in Hong Kong). In terms of diversity, I think NYC and London are quite similar in the percentages of nationalities and the level of immigrants residing in the cities. But in respect to tolerance and acceptance of diversity and multiculturalism, London fails miserably. In my 18 years in New York, I have never experienced any types of discrimination or racial slurs. But in my past year in London I have encountered not only comments but also witnessed a high level of discrimination against others as well. I think London focuses its multicultural efforts in protecting minority groups and helping them retain their distinctive identities, but in doing so it harbors animosity between groups and stymies acceptance. On the other hand, in New York individuals retain their cultural or racial identities but also share in the eclectic fusion of the city and pride themselves in being New Yorkers.
As a world traveler, New York City is the only place in the world where people don't automatically ask me "Where are you from?" due to my tan skin.
Is that really Ginger Baker?
You guys should get out more often. There's this city on the West Coast that has a bit of diversity too.
Slam dunk-
Look at the parades thought the city almost every weekend of the summer and though out the rest of the year. Almost every culture and it seems most nations are represented.
New York has to be the most multicultural city in the world. Look at my neighborhood, we have all kinds of spanish speaking people, restaurants, and also, the Little India section, 74th street. There are all kinds of people in Northwestern Queens, and I read there are 100 languages represented here. New York has so many people from all over, it just has to be the most multicultural city anywhere. It is amazing that there aren't as many ethnic tensions here as I have seen in other sections. The symbol for Queens is the Unisphere, and it is very apt.
As a born and raised New Yorker, and still living in New York City, I can safely say New York is not a multicultural city. It never was and never will be. It is the most ethnically diverse city in the world but that does not make it multicultural. If you subtract the languages, ethnic foods, religions, and family values, then what positive everyday lifestyles and mannerisms did New Yorkers get from all these ethnic people? Not much. The reality is real New Yorkers from all different ethnic backgrounds live more or less the same lifestyle. Real New Yorkers are people who are educated, have decent jobs (middle-income), speak English at home and at work as the common language, dress more or less the same way, and don’t engage in criminal acts. Any positive cultural traits from any country will eventually be absorbed into their common lifestyles. Yes there are differences but they are minor compared to what New Yorkers practice everyday. I just could not find any positive lifestyle borrowed from any “outside” culture. I did find racism, bigotry (against gender, income class, intellectual class, ethic background, and religion), nationalism of ethic backgrounds, going against integration from most ethic and religious groups, and promotion of hatred towards decent mainstream lifestyles. I would not call that positive attributes of multiculturalism.
As a tour guide in NYC, my workplace is the five boroughs, and I can tell you that just about every nationality is represented somewhere within a subway ride or easy bus connection. I've been following the BBC story about the Ridley Road market in London and what inspired me to respond to Leonard's chalolenge is that the BBC report focused on just that neighborhood and just that market.
With relatively cheap public transport we can get just about anywhere in NYC and experience the various nationalities that call NYC home.
What worries me, however, is the overdevelopment in many neighborhoods, especially Harlem and the Lower East Side, where the traditions and scale are being ruined by glass covered high rises and commercial rents that are forcing out small businesses and bringing in banks and drug stores. We're losing the intimacy, history, traditions and character that made those neighborhoods unique and accessible. I just hope this type of develoopment doesn't overwhelm so many of the other great neighborhoods of the city.
Fortunately, in Washington Heights, where I moved two years ago from the Upper West Side, family-owned businesses seem to thrive, and I can get excellent Dominican, Russian, Salvadoran, Greek, Italian, Ecuadorean, Peruvian, and Mexican dishes or ingredients very close to home. And I don't have to go far to buy other ingredients from around the world...
So far not many posts have delved into which city has the most vibrant musical and cultural life. Ofcourse, NYC used to be greatest, but in recent years, with all the gentrification and homegenization of musical and artistic tastes, all the creative music venues that were vital in nousrishing the artistic soul of the city are dying off.
200+ nationalities may be living side by side, yet all going home to watch "American Idol" doesn't necessarily make for a grea integrated community or sustain a thriving night life where people actually go out to see new music, dance, theater and art.
I'm a musician, and I know first-hand, seeing dwindling audiences at concerts, that the new New Yorkers aren't interested in checking out
those new artistic creations, but prefer to stick with the tried/true, and what the mass media feeds them, just like in any other
city. So what makes NYC so great anymore?!
Until the true artistic life of the city is revitalized, all this talk of umtpeen restuarants, languages and nationalities per block doens't ad up to a whole lot more than what those other cities have to offer.
Ditmas Park or "Victorian Flatbush" between Flatbush and Coney Island Ave. below (South of) Prospect Park is by the US Census the most diverse neighborhood in America. Not just NYC but all of America.
Where else can you find secular Jews, Orthodox and Hasidic Jews, Caribbean Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics and White families and guys like me let alone the straight and gay people of all colors who live here in such equal proportions? We define “diverse”.
I lived on Cornelia St., one tiny block in the West Village, for 25 years an old Italian immigrant area and the home to a vibrant gay and lesbian community but that is now totally yuppified.
This neighborhood is incredible in its richness.
Let any other city in the world show us a neighborhood like this one.
Please see Comment#92
Please accept my apologies.
I left out the vibrant Muslim people who live here in Ditmas Park where you see men in white robes and women in hejab and some who wear all black robes and veils.
Again what makes Ditmas Park the most diverse neighborhood in America is that there are so many people of different ethnic backgrounds.
I’m sure I left others out of this list and I hope I haven’t used inappropriate descriptions but that shows how diverse this neighborhood is.
We are not separate groups but people who live, work, shop and whose children play together.
I've been to London, Toronto, Sydney and lived in more....but New York is truly the only city where one cannot walk further than a block before hearing more than 3 languages on any given day, and at least 4-5 different ethic eateries & shops within a block or so. I'm from Hawaii, the melting pot, and live part time in Montreal but NYC is truly the most multi-ethinic place in the world that does not impose any culture or language on anyone.
Yeah for our wonderful city!
i'd like to second brian hagan's sentiment (comment number 5)!
hmmm. please. London has a thousand years of history behind it, with a dizzying array of cultures and languages that have made the city what it is today: the global capital in terms of culture commerce and music. nevertheless, after spending ten years there, and now in NYC, there is a sense of wonderment you get in a 'new-ish' city like NY you don't find in the grand old towns of europe.
To graphically demonstrate the extent to which New York has changed, my previous comment of "Where else can you find such a hodge podge of skewered meats that taste like bus fumes, or book stores and coffee houses teeming with "Islamic Extremists" whom we can never catch even though there's cameras everywhere" - was edited out. Guess someone mistook sarcasm for racism.
On a business trip to Singapore in 1997, I was struck by the panoply of Asians and started thinking about which city is the most multi-cultural. My final conclusion was NYC because EVERY part of the world lives here. The distinction is that London, Toronto, and Sydney, do not have Central and South Americans the way we do in addition to every other continent.
When I lived in Pelham Parkway, The Bronx, it was the ONLY NYC neighborhood that had every continent represented since it is so rare to find East Asians living with Africans and Afro-Caribbeans. In my apt bldg, we had Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Vietnamese, Dominicans, Albanians, Jamaicans, Palestinians, and the whole range of children of Americans.
Now I live in Norwood, and notice the Bangladeshis, West Africans, and various Eastern Europeans displacing the Hispanics.
Hopefully, the food will catch up soon. These family neighborhoods have great food shopping, but not restaurants.
I'm a Brazilian citizen, who lived in London for 6 years, and in NY for 2 now. Obviously both places are incredibly diverse:
Difference 1:
Most of the immigrants in London are from ex-colonies. In New York they are from everywhere. Just go down the 7 train in Queens, you'll pass by microcosms of koreans, chinese, greek, brazilian, peruvian, argentinean, thai, indian, caribbean, mexican, the list goes on,
Difference 2: The native food cooked by immigrants in New York is better than in London!
Just look at the seal of the City of New York.
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