বাংলা
Bengali
Parkchester +1Today, there are more speakers of Bengali in NYC than there are of any other South Asian language. Beginning in the 1980s, Bangladeshis won slots in the visa lottery and started bringing their families and establishing growing communities throughout the five boroughs, while working largely in construction, in food service, and as cab drivers. While some Bengali-speaking New Yorkers are from the Indian state of West Bengal, the majority are Bangladeshi and may speak the distinctive Sylheti, Chittagonian, Noakhilla, Rangpuri, or Sandwippa varieties—and in a small number of cases, minority languages of Bangladesh from the north (e.g. Garo) or the Chittagong Hill Tracts (e.g. Chakma), or closer to the Indian border (e.g. Santali).
M
oving beyond Manhattan and Queens, Bengali-speaking neighborhoods have developed across the metropolitan area. Church Avenue in Brooklyn's Kensington is a major hub where Bangladeshis from a variety of backgrounds come together, not far from the major Pakistani hub on Coney Island Avenue. The Bengali-speaking community in and around Parkchester in the Bronx has also grown and expanded in recent years. In Paterson, New Jersey, a stretch of Union Avenue between Sheridan and Wayne was recently officially named "Bangladesh Boulevard".
Note that the language above may be used throughout the New York area — this is just one significant site.