he movement to revitalize Hebrew as a spoken language in Europe and Palestine had many adherents in the New York Jewish community, beginning on the Lower East Side, where (as elsewhere in the Jewish diaspora) there was a long tradition of reading and writing, though usually not speaking, Hebrew. The growth of an Israeli community in New York following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 — including many who had only lived in Israel for a few years before moving to America — solidified the presence of Hebrew in New York as an everyday spoken language. Israeli New Yorkers are scattered throughout the city, but are generally more numerous in traditionally Jewish neighborhoods like the Upper West Side and Forest Hills, though there are also distinctly Israeli concentrations in a few city neighborhoods and in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Many Orthodox and Hasidic New Yorkers, particularly in Brooklyn, have knowledge of Hebrew due both to traditional learning and transnational ties.