mmigration from Brittany, the region of northwest France where this Celtic language is spoken, grew substantially in the early 20th century and reached its peak between the two world wars. During this time the majority of French immigrants in New York City may have been Breton, with several thousand having come to work at Michelin Tire Corporation's factory in Milltown, New Jersey, or otherwise after the Second World War as waiters, dishwashers, busboys etc. at restaurants which often had Breton owners. By 1967, there were 12,000 Bretons in the city, representing over a third of the city's total French population, according to the newspaper France-Amerique. The linguist Kenneth Nilsen found that a number of restaurants were mainly Breton-speaking, with many originally from the Gourin-Roudaouallec-Langonned region and some claiming to have learned French only in NYC's French restaurants. Today, the Breton Association of New York (BZH-NY) still has a large membership and continues to hold cultural events on a regular basis. A newer organization, Breizh Amerika, builds transnational ties between Bretons in Brittany and those in the city, who now number 2-3,000 at most according to the organization's founder Charles Kergaravat. Major areas of settlement have been Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan and later Astoria and Woodside in Queens.