Asian immigrants seek a place in America: Streets in Queens, NYC reflecting their Asian neighborhoods

South Asians celebrated the renaming of streets in Little Punjab. in Queens, NYC.

As Japantowns and Chinatowns struggle to maintain their existence because of gentrification, rising rates and the coronavirus, new immigrants seek a place to call their own; as if to proclaim their existence in America.

Honoring the contributions of the South Asian American community, the borough of Queens, New York has named two streets Punjab Avenue and Gurdwara Street.

The area has carried the nickname "Little Punjab" for years because of the number of businesses run by Punjabis and the home of two active gurudwaras, Sikh houses of worship. About 150,000 Indian Americans live in Queens, one of the most diverse boroughs in one of the most diverse cities in the U.S.

Punjab is a region split into a province of eastern Pakistan and the northwestern state of Punjab in India.

Punjab Ave. and Gurdwara Street are segments of 101st Ave. and 97th Ave. respectively. The street sign desgnating Punjab Ave. were installed in October and the following month, Gurdwara Street was made official.

According to a CBS New York report, the initiative was a joint effort by several South Asian groups and City Councilmember Adrienne Adams.

“This community has been underserved, not really recognized,” Adams told the news website.

“Invisible, which is a travesty, knowing everything that all of our community brings to this wonderful district.”

The success of the South Asian community in identifying their neighborhoods with streets has given new hope for efforts to rename a portion of 97th Avenue "Little Manila," an effort launched last summer.

A petition asking for the street name change to Little Manila was established here.

This is what the Little Manila street name would look in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens.

The Little Manila neighborhood has been growing since the 1965 Immigration Reform Act and the need for nurses to staff New York Hospitals.

In the 1970s, New York hospitals faced nursing shortages and recruited from the Philippines, bringing many Filipino nurses and their families to Queens. Those who worked at Elmhurst Hospital settled in the surrounding neighborhoods, including Woodside, where the Filipino community has since thrived. By the 1990s, 72% of Philippine immigrants in New York were registered nurses.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Filipino community was severely impacted—not only were many working in the health care system, but Little Manila was physically situated on the front line of the city’s epicenter.

Presently, 54% of New York Filipinos live in Queens. In 2009, 13,000 of the 85,000 residents of Woodside are of Filipino descent, thus making up 15% of the neighborhood’s population. An estimated 86,000 Filipinos and Filipino Americans reside in NYC, making them the third-largest Asian group in New York today.

Unlike the racist zoning and redlining that helped form America's J-towns and Chinatowns, today's desire for street renamings is a physical symbol asserting the  presence of South Asians and Filipino Americans and their contributions to the United States.