Immigrants Keep New York City Alive

While other cities have struggled with loss of population and cultural attractions, the steady influx of immigrants to the Big Apple keeps the city prospering, according to this editorial.

1 minute read

April 5, 2006, 11:00 AM PDT

By David Gest


"New York City as we know it today would not exist without immigrants, and not just the immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries who brought us St. Patrick's Day, kosher delis, Little Italy, and kielbasa. According to a study prepared by New York's Department of City Planning, about 36% of the city's population today was born overseas; without immigrants, New York would be home to 2.9 million fewer people. Brooklyn alone would be nearly 1 million inhabitants short."

"Immigrants and their American born children comprise about 55% of the city's population. The combination of high immigration rates and high immigrant fecundity mean that immigration has spared New York from the scourge of many other large American cities -- population decline."

Monday, April 3, 2006 in The New York Sun

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