Neighborhood

Upper West Side

Manhattan
In the Census-defined PUMA including the Upper West Side, according to recent Census data, (in descending order) French, Hebrew, and Russian each have at least 2000 speakers. English and Spanish varieties are widely spoken in the area as well.
De-select

Haitian Creole

Kreyol Ayisyen
Haiti experienced despotic rule and economic despair in the latter half of the 20th century, leading tens of thousands of Haitians to move to the United States. New York became home to the densest concentration of Haitians outside Haiti, a heterogenous mix including educated elites, members of the middle class, and poorer communities forced to sail to Florida before heading northbound. Originally on the Upper West Side and in Harlem, the Haitian epicenter of the city can now be found between Flatbush and Canarsie: Haitian grocery stores, restaurants, churches, barber shops, and bars line Nostrand, Flatbush and Church Avenues. Communities have also grown up in a large area of eastern Queens and elsewhere throughout the five boroughs and the surrounding region in places like Spring Valley. In addition to the estimated 106,000 Haitian Creole speakers in New York, 2015-2019 American Community Survey data estimates that 7,401 French speakers were born in Haiti, many of whom may speak Haitian Creole as well or prefer to refer to identify as French speakers.

Hawaiian

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
As many as several thousand Hawaiian kama'aina (locals), including many with Native Hawaiian ancestry, may live scattered in the New York area, but are united by various cultural groups including Halawai or local hula or luau events, as well as Hawaiian language classes, run by teacher Kainoa Embernate at the Endangered Language Alliance and elsewhere for several years. A major annual event has been a Central Park picnic drawing as many as 300 people. Many kama'aina have knowledge of Pidgin, also known as Hawaiian Creole English, while a smaller, but perhaps growing number have knowledge and background in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian), an Austronesian language which is in the process of a remarkable revival, the effects of which are spreading to the Hawaiian diaspora as well.

Hawaiian English

Pidgin
As many as several thousand Hawaiian kama'aina (locals), including many with Native Hawaiian ancestry, may live scattered in the New York area, but are united by various cultural groups including Halawai or local hula or luau events, as well as Hawaiian language classes, run by teacher Kainoa Embernate at the Endangered Language Alliance and elsewhere for several years. A major annual event has been a Central Park picnic drawing as many as 300 people. Many kama'aina have knowledge of Pidgin, also known as Hawaiian Creole English, while a smaller, but perhaps growing number have knowledge and background in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian), an Austronesian language which is in the process of a remarkable revival, the effects of which are spreading to the Hawaiian diaspora as well.

Hebrew

עברית
The 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.

Inuktun

Inuktun
Of the six Inuktun speakers brought back from Greenland to the city by explorer Robert Peary in 1897, the only survivor was 7-year-old Minik. The boy remained in New York for over a decade under the care of the museum's chief curator and superintendent, William Wallace, and protested strongly when he learned that his father's skeleton had been displayed in the Natural History Museum instead of being given a proper burial. Returning to Greenland with no memory of Inuktun, Minik relearned the language and Intuit lifeways, only to journey once again to New York several years later. He died in the influenza epidemic of 1918.

Judeo-Spanish

Ladino
Located since 1897 on the Upper West Side, Shearith Israel, also known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is both the country's oldest synagogue and very likely one of its most linguistically diverse. At least some members are partial heritage speakers of Haketia/Ladino, with roots in Greece or North Africa, and the congregation has incorporated the language into some of its rituals.

Romanian

Română
Waves of Romanian immigrants, primarily Jewish Yiddish-speakers, began arriving in the U.S. in the 1880s, and the distinct Romanian quarter on the Lower East Side was bustling through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Romanian speakers mostly arrived in the second half of the 20th century and settled in Queens (Ridgewood, Sunnyside, Astoria), although some live in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and others attend the St. Dumitru Parish church on West 89th Street, founded in 1939. A significant number of Romanian speakers in Ridgewood are ethnic Romanians from the Banat region (now in Serbia) who fled Communist rule in the former Yugoslavia and who gather in Ridgewood at the Banatul "Folklore and Soccer Club", among other places. Numerous Romanian churches of different denominations dot Ridgewood, including the Orthodox Church at Forest and Putnam.
Additional languages spoken in this neighborhood:
  • Austrian German
  • Tigrinya
SearchExploreDataCensusInfo

Loading...

Data

Search
Local community data
View in map
County
Language
Endonym
World Region
Country
Global Speakers
Language Family
Video
Audio
Location
Size
Status
Filter
Filter
Filter
Filter
Filter
Filter
​
​
No communities found. Try fewer criteria or click the "Clear filters" button to reset the table.

Rows per page:

20 rows

0-0 of 0

0-0 of 0
Press space bar to start a drag. When dragging you can use the arrow keys to move the item around and escape to cancel. Some screen readers may require you to be in focus mode or to use your pass through key

An urban language map

Welcome to Languages of New York City, a free and interactive digital map of the world’s most linguistically diverse metropolitan area.

All data, unless otherwise specified, is from the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), based on information from communities, speakers, and other sources.

The map is a work in progress and a partial snapshot, focused on significant sites for Indigenous, minority, and endangered languages. Larger languages are represented selectively. To protect the privacy of speakers, some locations are slightly altered. Social media users, note that LANGUAGEMAP.NYC works best in a separate browser. We apologize that the map may not be fully accessible to all users, including the visually impaired.

This map was created by the Mapping Linguistic Diversity team, with core support from the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and the Endangered Language Alliance. Please send feedback!

By continuing I acknowledge that I have read and accept the above information.