Neighborhood

Flushing

Queens
In the Census-defined PUMA including Flushing, Murray Hill & Whitestone, according to recent Census data, (in descending order) Mandarin, Cantonese, Greek, Russian, Bengali, Italian, and Croatian each have more than 1000 speakers. English, Korean, and Spanish varieties are widely spoken in the area as well.
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Languages with a significant site in this neighborhood, marked by a point on the map:

Cantonese

廣東話
Alongside the related variety Taishanese, Cantonese was one of the first Chinese languages to be widely spoken in New York City, decades before Mandarin became dominant following large-scale immigration from Taiwan and Chinese provinces beyond the southeast. Through at least the 1980s, the Cantonese varieties of China's Guangdong (Canton) province and Hong Kong remained the most common language in Manhattan's Chinatown, but most Cantonese speakers today live in the new Chinatowns of Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, and beyond in Brooklyn. Cantonese remains a major language throughout the metropolitan area including suburbs, but Mandarin and other varieties have become increasingly important in all the city's Chinatowns, particularly in Queens, reflecting language policies in China itself and a global shift in the composition of the Chinese diaspora.

Changzhounese

常州话
Most Chinese speakers in the city, from the first half of the 19th century until the second half of the 20th, spoke southern Chinese varieties, notably forms of Taishanese and Cantonese, but significant numbers of speakers of northern Chinese varieties including official Mandarin, began arriving especially after the Second World War. Many were from Taiwan and established a community in and around Flushing, where other Chinese immigrants from all over gradually joined them. Today, with the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, the entire metro area is home to an extraordinary variety of Sinitic (Chinese) languages even beyond the most widely spoken (Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, Taishanese, Wenzhounese, Hakka). Some represent distinct but related varieties of these (e.g. Northern Fujianese, Taiwanese, Teochew, and Hainanese are all part of the Min group, with the Fuzhou variety of Fujianese by far the most common in New York) but others are highly distinct. Reports about other smaller Chinese languages communities in the city are scarce, but within the Mandarin subgroup there seem to be substantial numbers of speakers of Northeastern Mandarin and Sichuanese, and within the Wu subgroup substantial numbers of speakers of Shanghainese and Changzhounese. There are an unknown number of speakers of Gan (Jiangxi) and Xiang (Hunan) and probably many other varieties, likely not living as distinct communities, but within a larger Chinese matrix where Mandarin (as in China itself) is increasingly the lingua franca and valorized standard.

Dongxiang

Santa
Within a small community of Hui (Muslim) Chinese, the majority of whom are from China's northwest, there are reportedly at least a handful who speak the Mongolic minority language known as Dongxiang or Santa.

Fujianese

福建话
A large wave of working-class Fujianese speakers, especially from in and around the city of Fuzhou in China's Fujian Province, arrived in New York in the 1980s and 90s, after China loosened its emigration restrictions. At the time, Manhattan's Chinatown was dominated by Cantonese speakers from China's Guangdong Province, so Fujianese people settled in and around East Broadway, where Chinatown slowly expanded. Today, most Fujianese New Yorkers speak Mandarin as well and have spread across the city's Chinese neighborhoods, including Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, and Flushing. The Fujianese spoken in Fuzhou is also called Eastern Min, highlighting its connections to a wider group of related Sinitic languages. Also spoken to a lesser degree in New York are forms of Northern Min, from the northern part of Fujian: one example being several speakers from the area around Jianyang and Wuyishan, where neighboring villages may speak very differently. Forms of Southern Min are also related and to some extent heard in New York's Chinese neighborhoods, including Hainanese, Teochew, and Taiwanese — the latter also called Hokkien and widely spoken in the Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora.

Gan

江西话
Most Chinese speakers in the city, from the first half of the 19th century until the second half of the 20th, spoke southern Chinese varieties, notably forms of Taishanese and Cantonese, but significant numbers of speakers of northern Chinese varieties including official Mandarin, began arriving especially after the Second World War. Many were from Taiwan and established a community in and around Flushing, where other Chinese immigrants from all over gradually joined them. Today, with the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, the entire metro area is home to an extraordinary variety of Sinitic (Chinese) languages even beyond the most widely spoken (Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, Taishanese, Wenzhounese, Hakka). Some represent distinct but related varieties of these (e.g. Northern Fujianese, Taiwanese, Teochew, and Hainanese are all part of the Min group, with the Fuzhou variety of Fujianese by far the most common in New York) but others are highly distinct. Reports about other smaller Chinese languages communities in the city are scarce, but within the Mandarin subgroup there seem to be substantial numbers of speakers of Northeastern Mandarin and Sichuanese, and within the Wu subgroup substantial numbers of speakers of Shanghainese and Changzhounese. There are an unknown number of speakers of Gan (Jiangxi) and Xiang (Hunan) and probably many other varieties, likely not living as distinct communities, but within a larger Chinese matrix where Mandarin (as in China itself) is increasingly the lingua franca and valorized standard.

Hakka

客家话, Hak-kâ-ngî
The Hakka are a subgroup of Han Chinese people from southern China but claiming origins in Northern and Central China, resulting in a language that shares elements of Northern Chinese varieties combined with sustained Cantonese influence. The Hakka presence in New York dates back at least to the late 19th century, but a much larger wave came after immigration reform in the 1960s. While the number of Hakka people worldwide is around 80 million, fewer actually speak the Hakka language today, with many having switched to Cantonese or local languages through assimilation both in China and in diaspora. Hakka organizations like Flushing's Hakka Alliance are attempting to reorient the community to Hakka culture and language.

Hamgyŏng Korean (Joseonjok)

함경 방언 (조선족)
Queens represents the major Korean hub in the eastern United States and an important area for the global Korean diaspora, with roughly 65% of NYC Korean community living from Jackson Heights to Flushing, Murray Hill, Auburndale, Bayside, and Douglaston-Little Neck, with Northern Boulevard a vital corridor. Many varieties of Korean are spoken here, and in the area there is also a distinct and substantial Korean-Chinese community (Joseonjok), whose variety of Korean is related to the Hamgyŏng dialect of the northeast. A smaller Korean community in the Bronx, mostly elderly, gathers at the Bronx Korean American Senior Citizens Association, while younger Korean families in Brooklyn send their children to the Brooklyn Korean School.

Hunanese

湘话
Most Chinese speakers in the city, from the first half of the 19th century until the second half of the 20th, spoke southern Chinese varieties, notably forms of Taishanese and Cantonese, but significant numbers of speakers of northern Chinese varieties including official Mandarin, began arriving especially after the Second World War. Many were from Taiwan and established a community in and around Flushing, where other Chinese immigrants from all over gradually joined them. Today, with the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, the entire metro area is home to an extraordinary variety of Sinitic (Chinese) languages even beyond the most widely spoken (Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, Taishanese, Wenzhounese, Hakka). Some represent distinct but related varieties of these (e.g. Northern Fujianese, Taiwanese, Teochew, and Hainanese are all part of the Min group, with the Fuzhou variety of Fujianese by far the most common in New York) but others are highly distinct. Reports about other smaller Chinese languages communities in the city are scarce, but within the Mandarin subgroup there seem to be substantial numbers of speakers of Northeastern Mandarin and Sichuanese, and within the Wu subgroup substantial numbers of speakers of Shanghainese and Changzhounese. There are an unknown number of speakers of Gan (Jiangxi) and Xiang (Hunan) and probably many other varieties, likely not living as distinct communities, but within a larger Chinese matrix where Mandarin (as in China itself) is increasingly the lingua franca and valorized standard.

Kazakh

Қазақша
Far smaller than the Uzbek and Bukharian Jewish communities which number in the tens of thousands, the Kazakh community in New York has nonetheless grown substantially in recent years, and there are many Kazakhs now living among Russians and other Central Asians in Brooklyn and Queens or in Manhattan. There may also be a small number of ethnic Kazakhs from China living in Flushing.

Korean

한국어
Queens represents the major Korean hub in the eastern United States and an important area for the global Korean diaspora, with roughly 65% of NYC Korean community living from Jackson Heights to Flushing, Murray Hill, Auburndale, Bayside, and Douglaston-Little Neck, with Northern Boulevard a vital corridor. Many varieties of Korean are spoken here, and in the area there is also a distinct and substantial Korean-Chinese community (Joseonjok), whose variety of Korean is related to the Hamgyŏng dialect of the northeast. A smaller Korean community in the Bronx, mostly elderly, gathers at the Bronx Korean American Senior Citizens Association, while younger Korean families in Brooklyn send their children to the Brooklyn Korean School.

Mandarin

普通话, 國語
Although it was not widely spoken in New York until recent decades, Mandarin today is probably today the city's third most widely spoken language and a lingua franca connecting Chinese New Yorkers from a variety of linguistic backgrounds—though not all speak it and in certain neighborhoods Cantonese or Fujianese, for example, remain important. Numerous, largely mutually intelligible Mandarin varieties are spoken in the city, from the originally Beijing-based standard "Putonghua" promoted by the mainland government to the Taiwanese Mandarin most widely used there. Particularly in Flushing there are also many speakers of Northeast Mandarin (from the provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang) as well as of Southwest Mandarin (particularly those from Sichuan), as well as a growing community of Hui (Muslim) Chinese who speak forms of Northwestern Mandarin related historically to Dungan.

Meitei

ꯃꯤꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ
The North American Manipur Association (NAMA) was founded in Brooklyn in 1992, but is centered today in Queens, representing people across the city and the continent who speak Meitei and are originally from Bangladesh, especially Sylhet, and India, especially Manipur in northeast India. (For those from Bangladesh, the North American Bangladesh Manipuri Society was created to play a similar role.) Among NAMA's founders was Jupiter Yambem, who was born in Manipur but came to the United States at the age of 21 and was working at Windows on the World on September 11, 2001. Yambem died in the World Trade Center attack. Master Manipuri dancer and Meitei speaker Jagannath Lairenjam, who lives in Floral Park, estimates at least some 10-15 Meitei-speaking families living across eastern Queens.

Northeastern Mandarin Chinese

东北话
Most Chinese speakers in the city, from the first half of the 19th century until the second half of the 20th, spoke southern Chinese varieties, notably forms of Taishanese and Cantonese, but significant numbers of speakers of northern Chinese varieties including official Mandarin, began arriving especially after the Second World War. Many were from Taiwan and established a community in and around Flushing, where other Chinese immigrants from all over gradually joined them. Today, with the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, the entire metro area is home to an extraordinary variety of Sinitic (Chinese) languages even beyond the most widely spoken (Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, Taishanese, Wenzhounese, Hakka). Some represent distinct but related varieties of these (e.g. Northern Fujianese, Taiwanese, Teochew, and Hainanese are all part of the Min group, with the Fuzhou variety of Fujianese by far the most common in New York) but others are highly distinct. Reports about other smaller Chinese languages communities in the city are scarce, but within the Mandarin subgroup there seem to be substantial numbers of speakers of Northeastern Mandarin and Sichuanese, and within the Wu subgroup substantial numbers of speakers of Shanghainese and Changzhounese. There are an unknown number of speakers of Gan (Jiangxi) and Xiang (Hunan) and probably many other varieties, likely not living as distinct communities, but within a larger Chinese matrix where Mandarin (as in China itself) is increasingly the lingua franca and valorized standard.

Shanghainese

上海话
Most Chinese speakers in the city, from the first half of the 19th century until the second half of the 20th, spoke southern Chinese varieties, notably forms of Taishanese and Cantonese, but significant numbers of speakers of northern Chinese varieties including official Mandarin, began arriving especially after the Second World War. Many were from Taiwan and established a community in and around Flushing, where other Chinese immigrants from all over gradually joined them. Today, with the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, the entire metro area is home to an extraordinary variety of Sinitic (Chinese) languages even beyond the most widely spoken (Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, Taishanese, Wenzhounese, Hakka). Some represent distinct but related varieties of these (e.g. Northern Fujianese, Taiwanese, Teochew, and Hainanese are all part of the Min group, with the Fuzhou variety of Fujianese by far the most common in New York) but others are highly distinct. Reports about other smaller Chinese languages communities in the city are scarce, but within the Mandarin subgroup there seem to be substantial numbers of speakers of Northeastern Mandarin and Sichuanese, and within the Wu subgroup substantial numbers of speakers of Shanghainese and Changzhounese. There are an unknown number of speakers of Gan (Jiangxi) and Xiang (Hunan) and probably many other varieties, likely not living as distinct communities, but within a larger Chinese matrix where Mandarin (as in China itself) is increasingly the lingua franca and valorized standard.

Sichuanese

四川话
Most Chinese speakers in the city, from the first half of the 19th century until the second half of the 20th, spoke southern Chinese varieties, notably forms of Taishanese and Cantonese, but significant numbers of speakers of northern Chinese varieties including official Mandarin, began arriving especially after the Second World War. Many were from Taiwan and established a community in and around Flushing, where other Chinese immigrants from all over gradually joined them. Today, with the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, the entire metro area is home to an extraordinary variety of Sinitic (Chinese) languages even beyond the most widely spoken (Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, Taishanese, Wenzhounese, Hakka). Some represent distinct but related varieties of these (e.g. Northern Fujianese, Taiwanese, Teochew, and Hainanese are all part of the Min group, with the Fuzhou variety of Fujianese by far the most common in New York) but others are highly distinct. Reports about other smaller Chinese languages communities in the city are scarce, but within the Mandarin subgroup there seem to be substantial numbers of speakers of Northeastern Mandarin and Sichuanese, and within the Wu subgroup substantial numbers of speakers of Shanghainese and Changzhounese. There are an unknown number of speakers of Gan (Jiangxi) and Xiang (Hunan) and probably many other varieties, likely not living as distinct communities, but within a larger Chinese matrix where Mandarin (as in China itself) is increasingly the lingua franca and valorized standard.

Taishanese

台山话
Fleeing the turmoil of civil war and enticed by the California gold rush, Taishanese immigrants from Guangdong Province in southeast China began arriving in America in 1849. Beginning in the subsequent decades, as Chinese Californians moved to New York, the Taishanese community became a major force in New York's Chinatown, remaining distinct from other Cantonese speakers such as those who later arrived in Hong Kong. Taishanese identity remains strong among old families in Chinatown, but there are also newer arrivals in hubs like Flushing.

Taiwanese

臺語, Tâi-gú
Flushing emerged as a distinctively middle-class, Taiwanese alternative to Cantonese-dominated Chinatown in the 1980s, but many Taiwanese have since moved elsewhere in Queens or the metropolitan area, as the neighborhood became home to a wide variety of immigrants from mainland China. A significant number of Taiwanese New Yorkers speak Mandarin Chinese, being 外省人 or "outsiders to the province" (with parents or grandparents who came from the mainland before 1949). Others (being 本省人 or "insiders to the province") speak Taiwanese, a form of Southern Min (related to Fujianese and other forms of Min Chinese in the city) variously known as 臺語, 台語, Tâi-gú, and Tâi-gí. With roots on the island going back at least to the 17th century, Taiwanese has been reviving in recent years along with the concept of a distinctive Taiwanese identity. A small number of other Taiwanese New Yorkers may have some knowledge of or connection to other languages of Taiwan, including the numerous, now endangered Austronesian languages which are indigenous to the island.

Uyghur

ئۇيغۇر
Facing repression in China, a growing New York Uyghur diaspora, though smaller than the community in northern Virginia, is living in areas of Brooklyn and Queens. Many apparently came via Uzbekistan, which has a substantial Uyghur diaspora community. Brooklyn's Cafe Kashkar is the longest-running Uyghur restaurant in the city, catering largely to a Central Asian and Russian-speaking clientele while Flushing's Nurlan was started by a Uyghur immigrant who came after many years in Germany, caters largely to the local Chinese community.

Wenzhounese

温州话
The area in and around Wenzhou, in China's Zhejiang Province, is home to a highly distinctive Wu language (a branch of Chinese) that today is spoken all over the world, with large concentrations in France, Italy, and the U.S., especially New York City, where there are at least tens of thousands originally from the city of Wenzhou and neighboring Qingtian county. The Wenzhounese community is known for entrepreneurship, and there are a large number of Wenzhounese-owned businesses (restaurants, groceries, clothing factories etc.) across New York's many Chinese-speaking neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. The densest concentration of Wenzhounese speakers is thought to be in Queens neighborhoods like Flushing and Whitestone, where there are gatherings of the Chinese Wen Chow Association (温州同乡会) and Wenzhounese-language church services, although a strong shift to Mandarin among the younger generation is underway both in Wenzhou and in diaspora centers like New York.

Yunnanese

云南话
As more people have arrived in New York from China's highly diverse Yunnan Province, including at least some Muslim Hui, Bai, and Dai people, they have formed a Yunnan Tongxianghui（云南同乡会）and even a few Yunnan restaurants have opened, such as the short-lived Coco's Kitchen on the Little Neck/Great Neck border.
Additional languages spoken in this neighborhood:
  • Dari
  • Falam Chin
  • Hakha Chin
  • Hazara
  • Kannada
  • Marathi
  • Pashto
  • Tamil
  • Tedim Chin
  • Telugu
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Flushing

Queens

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AbakuáAbakuá

Caribbean

  • Cuba flag
    Cuba
Lower East Side

Smallest

Liturgical
AbazaАбаза

Western Asia

  • Turkey flag
    Turkey
  • Russia flag
    Russia
49,800
Abkhaz-Adyge
Wayne (NJ)

Smallest

Residential
AbruzzeseAbbruzzésə

Southern Europe

  • Italy flag
    Italy
Indo-European
Astoria

Small

Residential
AbruzzeseAbbruzzésə

Southern Europe

  • Italy flag
    Italy
Indo-European
Little Italy

Small

Historical
AcehneseBahsa Acèh

Southeastern Asia

  • Indonesia flag
    Indonesia
3,500,000
Austronesian
Astoria

Smallest

Community
AcehneseBahsa Acèh

Southeastern Asia

  • Indonesia flag
    Indonesia
3,500,000
Austronesian
Elmhurst

Smallest

Residential
AdjoukrouMɔjukru

Western Africa

  • Ivory Coast flag
    Ivory Coast
140,000
Atlantic-Congo
Concourse

Smallest

Residential
AdygheК|ахыбзэ

Western Asia

  • Turkey flag
    Turkey
  • Russia flag
    Russia
117,500
Abkhaz-Adyge
Wayne (NJ)

Small

Residential
AfenmaiAfenmai

Western Africa

  • Nigeria flag
    Nigeria
270,000
Atlantic-Congo
Castle Hill

Smallest

Residential
African-American EnglishBlack English

Northern America

  • United States flag
    United States
45,109,521
Indo-European
Bedford-Stuyvesant

Largest

Residential
African-American EnglishBlack English

Northern America

  • United States flag
    United States
45,109,521
Indo-European
Newark (NJ)

Largest

Residential
African-American EnglishBlack English

Northern America

  • United States flag
    United States
45,109,521
Indo-European
Clifton

Largest

Residential
African-American EnglishBlack English

Northern America

  • United States flag
    United States
45,109,521
Indo-European
Hollis

Largest

Residential
African-American EnglishBlack English

Northern America

  • United States flag
    United States
45,109,521
Indo-European
Edenwald

Largest

Residential
African-American EnglishBlack English

Northern America

  • United States flag
    United States
45,109,521
Indo-European
Central Harlem

Largest

Residential
African-American EnglishBlack English

Northern America

  • United States flag
    United States
45,109,521
Indo-European
Hempstead (NY)

Large

Residential
AfrikaansAfrikaans

Southern Africa

  • South Africa flag
    South Africa
  • Zimbabwe flag
    Zimbabwe
17,543,580
Indo-European
Murray Hill

Small

Community
AkanAkan

Western Africa

  • Ghana flag
    Ghana
9,231,300
Atlantic-Congo
Flatbush

Small

Residential
AkanAkan

Western Africa

  • Ghana flag
    Ghana
9,231,300
Atlantic-Congo
Shore Acres

Small

Residential
AkanAkan

Western Africa

  • Ghana flag
    Ghana
9,231,300
Atlantic-Congo
University Heights

Large

Residential

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