New York City has many famous and affluent neighborhoods, The Upper East Side in New York City is a fancy and rich neighborhood between Central Park and the East River. It’s a great place for families to live away from the busy city. At first look, the Upper East Side seems like a fancy part of Manhattan, with many famous restaurants and nice apartments. It feels rich and family-friendly. But if you pay attention to the signs and buildings, you’ll notice a shared culture among many people here. The culture on the Upper East is very diverse, if you walk down Lexington Avenue, you will notice many Hispanic restaurants, these restaurants offer a taste of Latin culture and their cuisine.
Hispanic Immigration to New York City, especially to neighborhoods like East Harlem and the Upper East Side has enabled people to enjoy Hispanic culture and food, and the influence of Hispanic people on the Upper East Side of Manhattan has been significant.
The picture above shows two Hispanic restaurants, the picture on the right is a restaurant called “El Paso” On the sign we can read some Spanish drinks, which are written in Spanish. We can also see the flyer in Spanish next to the sign, in the bottom right corner, the restaurant on the left picture is called “El Tepeyac” Two similar things that these two restaurants have is that they share the same type of sign. The part of the menu is written on it, both being in Spanish. The name of the restaurant is also in Spanish, which reflects Hispanic influence on Lexington Avenue. But Hispanic culture is not the only one that has influenced the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Asian culture also has a significant influence on the Upper East Side, there are many Asian-owned businesses including restaurants, grocery stores, and shops. They offer different Asian cuisines, products, and services which adds to the cultural diversity on the Upper East Side, Asian cultural events and celebrations can also be seen on Lexington Avenue, these events can be an opportunity for people who live in the area to experience Asian traditions and dive deep in Asian culture, in 2023 lots of Asian started moving on Upper East side due to affordable housing.
This had an effect on cultural diversity on Upper East and on Lexington Avenue, since they even hosted Lunar New Year parties in the traditionally Puerto Rican neighborhood, and there was an increase in the population of Asian people on upper east you will also notice some newspaper boxes on street which have Chinese letters, and we can see restaurant open which are Chinese restaurant and offer asian cuisine, in the picture on the left the restaurant name “Yummy City” is a Chinese restaurant even though the name and everything is in English if you step inside and look a the menu you soon will realize that its a Chinese restaurant, its in enlgish because people that live in this area are mostly english speaking and to make an appeal on people they wrote their name in English, in the Chinese restaurants we can also see the mix of languages such as Mandarin and Cantonese which are common dialects of the Chinese, which again reflect of the language mix and cultural diversity on the Lexington avenue.
Chinese Newspaper boxes on the Upper East show the demographic diversity of the neighborhood in this case Lexington Avenue, they also offer a news for people who are not able to speak or read English, and they offer magazines in Chinese, generally targeting the audience for those magazines are older Asian people and to keep them updated on the news they offer newspaper in Chinese.
The Upper East Side is known for its residential areas, prestigious museums, and designer shops, however like many urban areas it still has its own linguistic graffiti landscape, in the picture above we can see graffiti on the city property, you see a lot of graffiti in New York City, everywhere you go you will find graffiti, some people have a different opinion about graffiti, some think it as vandalism and some think its art, Many have even gone step ahead to start the move to protect the street art. Throughout New York you will see lots of colorful graffiti, Every language component in graffiti conveys a different narrative about cultural variety and urban expression, from striking English graffiti tagging to elaborate murals with characters from Mandarin and Spanish. Arabic letters alongside Japanese calligraphy and French café menus blend in with Italian deli signs, forming a diverse linguistic identity that reflects the area’s uniqueness. In the diverse population of New York City, including the Upper East Side, graffiti can be affected by the people that live in that neighborhood, for example, English, Spanish, Chinese, and other languages will appear on graffiti if the demographic fits the neighborhood. In the picture we can see graffiti on the window this would be considered vandalism by many people since there isn’t much color correlation and it has inappropriate words written on it, we can also see some stickers and this window seems to be a part of the flower shop.
Going back, the impact of graffiti on the Upper East Side can vary, some graffiti can be seen as a form of vandalism that destroys a neighborhood’s aesthetic and property values, and sometimes it can seen as a form of art that adds character to the area, some graffiti’s might also attract tourist or art enthusiasts, but in general graffiti’s are illegal if they are done without permission by the building owner or local authorities.
In the picture above we can see graffiti on the gate which was most likely done illegally since the context of graffiti has nothing to do with professional tailoring and lots of old buildings have graffiti that are done illegally. but overall the impact of graffiti on Lexington Ave depends on individual perspectives, it can be seen as an art that enriches the neighborhoods and adds vibrancy or can be seen as something that destroys property values or as vandalism and many see it as a serious crime, as we have another example in the picture below where the graffiti is on the mailbox which is city property and graffiti wasn’t permitted to be drawn there which shows the vandalism.
The linguistic landscape of traffic and local signs on Upper East Side Lexington Avenue shows the essential information and cultural diversity, on the Upper East Side the signs that you will see are in English since there are English-speaking people.
the linguistic landscape of traffic and local signs on Upper East Side Lexington Avenue has many purposes that benefit people such as navigational assistance, safety, and cultural representation. The picture above shows the time of parking that is permitted in this area and which days are except, these signs are in English because the area is mostly full of English-speaking people and generally government signs are always in English.
the linguistic landscape of traffic and local signs helps people understand what are the rules and helps them navigate through the city, which is shown in the pictures above and below, one picture shows no parking due to a film shoot, and another is telling people to clean up after their dog, both of these things are really important in New York, it really reflects what New Yorkers have to deal with every day, when it comes to parking people always have problem finding the parking spot, and when it comes to cleanliness NYC isn’t really known for being cleanest city.
In conclusion, the linguistic landscape of Upper East Side Lexington Avenue shows the cultural diversity, urban expression, and community that lives in these neighborhoods, These linguistic components, despite the variations in languages and scripts, have one goal in common: they improve safety, help with communication. By closely looking at its linguistic environment, we are able to learn more about the neighborhood’s residents and their common experiences and understand the linguistic landscape of Lexington Avenue.
References
“In Spanish Harlem | Puerto Rican/Cuban | Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress.” Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/puerto-rican-cuban/in-spanish-harlem/. Accessed 21 May 2024.
“Why Asian Americans Are Moving to NYC’s East Harlem.” Bloomberg.com, 3 Feb. 2023, www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-02-03/why-asian-americans-are-moving-to-nyc-s-east-harlem. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Ocampo, Josh. “What’s Driving New York’s Parking Problem? A Reporter Explains.” The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/insider/new-york-city-parking.html. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Katinas, Paula. “Graffiti Sparks Concern over Crime on City Streets.” The Tablet, 3 May 2023, thetablet.org/graffiti-sparks-concern-over-crime-on-city-streets/. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Jernudd, Sigrid. “American Graffiti: Artist Moves to Protect Street Art across New York City.” HHR Art Law, 11 June 2021, www.hhrartlaw.com/2021/06/american-graffiti-artist-moves-to-protect-street-art-across-new-york-city/. Accessed 21 May 2024.