By Philip Newman
The arrival of thousands of immigrants from all over the globe in the 1990s brought a dip in median household income in New York City, according to just-released figures from the 2000 Census.
The federal enumeration also emphasized once again a characteristic for which Queens has become renowned: the borough’s multiethnicity. In fact, the census indicated that a section of Flushing was one of the two sites that were home to the most immigrants in New York City.
Published reports on the census, from which new figures and statistics are still being released, said median household income in the city declined 1.1 percent from 1990. Economists said much of the lower income could be explained by the low-paying service jobs taken by immigrants.
The census indicated that while the city’s blacks did not fare overall as well as most other ethnic groups, some of the highest black household income in the city was in the Queens neighborhoods of Laurelton (median income of $62,801), Rosedale ($64,391) and Cambria Heights ($59,144), The New York Times reported.
Median household income in New York City reached $38,293 in 2000, down 1.1 from 1990. For whites, it was $46,534, up 3.4 percent; blacks, $31,058, down 0.2 percent; Hispanics $27,757, up 4.4 percent; and Asians $41,044, down 2 percent.
Queens has become famous as home to people of many nations and the 2000 Census revealed that parts of Flushing contain New York City’s second most dense immigrant population, Newsday reported.
Census reports showed that an area from downtown Flushing to the Queens Botanical Garden contains 8,639 Korean and Chinese-born residents and a stretch to the east of Elmhurst Hospital has 8,195 residents from many countries.
The census found that an area of Upper Manhattan had the greatest foreign born population, with nearly 9,000 people, mostly from Latin America.
As for disparity in income, the report said Manhattan from Lexington Avenue to Fifth Avenue and from 54th Street to 61st street was the richest with a median household income of $188,697. The poorest was in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx with $2,499.
