“Our Very Own Island in the City”

Flatbush, Brooklyn - Where most Caribbean people were found.

People from all over the world migrated to New York in an effort to have a better life. They predicted opportunities within the city and jumped in to join those seeking those opportunities. We are told of the numerous ethnicities that make up the New York we have today and how each contributes, by some means, to make New York a phenomenal phenomenon.

According to the Binder and Reimers reading, significant immigration took place within the 1900s. There were people from Europe, Asia, The Caribbean and other areas of the world. People from the Caribbean were known to have taken up residency within Brooklyn, forming restaurants and island resources. Jamaicans were renowned for the advertisements on their native cuisine, including rice, peas, pastries and the best for last, the Spicy Jerk Chicken :). Jamaica was where my family grew up before my mother migrated to Brooklyn, similar to most Caribbean people.

The population of Caribbean people expanded over the years, and are now residing in other areas of the New York including The Bronx and Queens. They have taken their cultures and shared it through their meals and styles, thus adding to the opportunities, diversity and the beauty of the city.