Neighborhood

Hell's Kitchen

Manhattan
In the Census-defined PUMA including Chelsea, Clinton & Midtown Business District, according to recent Census data, (in descending order) French, Mandarin, and Cantonese each have at least 1500 speakers. English, Spanish, and Korean 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:

Breton

Brezhoneg
Immigration 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.

Bulgarian

Български
Like many Eastern European immigrant groups, Bulgarians first settled on Manhattan's Lower East Side (in what is today considered Alphabet City) at the turn of the 20th century, with another influx after the Second World War. New York became home to the first Bulgarian association in the nation, the Bulgarian American Mutual Aid Society, and other cultural institutions such as Saints Kyril & Metodi Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Cathedral (first in Morningside Heights and later Hell's Kitchen) followed. In the mid-20th century, Bulgarian New Yorkers began moving uptown or to the Bronx, Queens, or suburban areas, where most live today. Brooklyn is home to a number of Bulgarian Turks as well, who speak a unique dialect of Turkish developed over 500 years under Ottoman rule.

Croatian

Hrvatski
Croatians were historically concentrated on the far west side of Manhattan in Hell's Kitchen (near the Sts. Cyril & Methodius Croatian Roman Catholic Church) and later in Astoria, where there are numerous clubs, restaurants, and Croatian-language services at the Church of the Most Precious Blood. Many Croatians in the area, especially those who arrived immediately after the Second World War, were Istrians who considered themselves Italian and spoke Croatian as a second or third language. The Cardinal Stepinac Croatian Cultural Club is a gathering place for New Jersey Croatians.

Irish

Gaeilge
One of the first concentrated areas of Irish settlement in Manhattan, where there is evidence that Irish was spoken in the mid-late 19th century, was in and around the Five Points area in what is today Chinatown. Settlement by hometown or county was not unusual, for example with the nearby Fourth Ward known to some as the "Kerry" Ward and the Seventh (today's Lower East Side) known as the "Cork" Ward, reflecting two Irish counties with significant Irish-speaking populations. A later focal point was the West Side, with its active shipping and other industries, including what is now Greenwich Village (with many from County Clare), Chelsea, and Hell's Kitchen — where the Irish Arts Center remains today as an important anchor with its annual Irish Language Day and other programs in and about the language. Many other Manhattan neighborhoods had significant Irish communities through much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with Washington Heights and Inwood among the last where significant Irish-speaking clusters were likely to be found.

Thai

ภาษาไทย
Thai immigration to New York began in the 1960s, after U.S. armed forces arrived in Thailand during the Vietnam War, with many Thai women marrying American soldiers and joining them when they returned home after service. By the 1980s, Thai immigrants were arriving in America at a rate of roughly 6,500 per year, often driven by employment opportunities in major cities like Los Angeles and New York. While the largest Thai communities are concentrated in Woodside, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights in Queens, Thai speakers live throughout the metropolitan area, and there are major temples in Queens, the Bronx, Westchester, and Long Island. Many families own restaurants, with one hub known as Thai Town, along Manhattan's Ninth Avenue, from roughly 45th to 55th Street. Thai New Yorkers from the country's north are most likely to speak Northern Thai, which is related but not mutually intelligible with (Central) Thai, while some northeasterners speak the distinct Isan variety.
Additional languages spoken in this neighborhood:
  • Breton
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Hell's Kitchen

Manhattan

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Language
Endonym
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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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