Russians lead boro in new immigration stats

By Jyoti Thottam

A new city population study shows that immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have gained a firm foothold in Queens, replacing China as the No. 1 source of immigrants to the borough.

More than 40,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union came to the city in 1995 and 1996, and 23 percent of them, or 9,361 newcomers, settled in Queens, according to a study released last week by the Department of City Planning. The figures are most recent ones available from the city