Gotham tackles some very prickly issues, such as
our poverty, discrimination and unfair media
coverage. It starts at the beginning, with our
massive migrations to a new land, where our hopes
for better lives were challenged by hateful forces
and a profit-driven society.
The collapse of the island economy and a post-war
boom in industrialized New York City spiked
massive migrations starting in the 1940s, and as
commonwealth citizens, our forefathers were
granted easy entry. But our ancestors instantly
encountered a new language, dangerous racism
and xenophobia and bitter winters nonexistent on
the island. And as we arrived and settled in the
great metropolis of Gotham, it began to de-industrialize, leaving many
unemployed and marooned. This set a pattern for economic disadvantage, for a
people whose only employment options were low-paying blue-collar jobs, as the
New York economy began to shift from manufacturing to finance and
specialized services.
Boricuas in Gotham also uncovers many of the dark forces that menaced early
New York Puerto Ricans—such as the “deficit” reporting of the mainstream press,
which championed the “failures” of our community in lieu of our achievements.
Clara E. Rodríguez’s contribution, Forging a New, New York: The Puerto Rican
Community, Post-1945, details how the mainstream press—and especially The
our poverty, discrimination and unfair media
coverage. It starts at the beginning, with our
massive migrations to a new land, where our hopes
for better lives were challenged by hateful forces
and a profit-driven society.
The collapse of the island economy and a post-war
boom in industrialized New York City spiked
massive migrations starting in the 1940s, and as
commonwealth citizens, our forefathers were
granted easy entry. But our ancestors instantly
encountered a new language, dangerous racism
and xenophobia and bitter winters nonexistent on
the island. And as we arrived and settled in the
great metropolis of Gotham, it began to de-industrialize, leaving many
unemployed and marooned. This set a pattern for economic disadvantage, for a
people whose only employment options were low-paying blue-collar jobs, as the
New York economy began to shift from manufacturing to finance and
specialized services.
Boricuas in Gotham also uncovers many of the dark forces that menaced early
New York Puerto Ricans—such as the “deficit” reporting of the mainstream press,
which championed the “failures” of our community in lieu of our achievements.
Clara E. Rodríguez’s contribution, Forging a New, New York: The Puerto Rican
Community, Post-1945, details how the mainstream press—and especially The
www.ambiente.us APRIL | ABRIL 2009
Book Review | Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans and the
Making of Modern New York City
(Markus Wiener 2004) Edited by Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Angelo Falcón,
and Félix Matos Rodríquez
By Charlie Vázquez
Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City
(Markus Wiener 2004) is a compelling collection of four essays and critical
commentary on them, composed by leading Puerto Rican professors and
directors of sociology, Spanish language and Caribbean cultural studies. It puts
the politics, poverty and cultural achievements of New York Puerto Ricans
(Nuyoricans) under a powerful microscope and zooms in on the last fifty years of
the 1900s, mapping a broad, panoramic sweep of our cultural vulnerabilities
and triumphs. As a Bronx-born Nuyorican and writer, I was riveted as soon as I
purchased it and will continue to refer to it, and its revealing statistics, in the
future.
The late Dr. Antonia Pantoja’s opening statement on how the bulk of the Puerto
Rican experience in America is only as old as about 1945 reminded me of how
new our people are to this country—and how I still feel it every day. Boricuas in
Book Review | Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans and the
Making of Modern New York City
(Markus Wiener 2004) Edited by Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Angelo Falcón,
and Félix Matos Rodríquez
By Charlie Vázquez
Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City
(Markus Wiener 2004) is a compelling collection of four essays and critical
commentary on them, composed by leading Puerto Rican professors and
directors of sociology, Spanish language and Caribbean cultural studies. It puts
the politics, poverty and cultural achievements of New York Puerto Ricans
(Nuyoricans) under a powerful microscope and zooms in on the last fifty years of
the 1900s, mapping a broad, panoramic sweep of our cultural vulnerabilities
and triumphs. As a Bronx-born Nuyorican and writer, I was riveted as soon as I
purchased it and will continue to refer to it, and its revealing statistics, in the
future.
The late Dr. Antonia Pantoja’s opening statement on how the bulk of the Puerto
Rican experience in America is only as old as about 1945 reminded me of how
new our people are to this country—and how I still feel it every day. Boricuas in
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New York Times—has enjoyed a long tradition of depicting New York Puerto
Ricans as savage, anti-assimilationist “welfare-freeloaders” living in Third World
conditions in the South Bronx. And although there is some truth to this image,
what is often ignored by the media is that Puerto Rican households were more
commonly governed by women, whose employment options were demanding
and low-paying. If you weren’t an eroticized celebrity like J-Lo or Mark Anthony,
or a politician like Fernando Ferrer or Herman Badillo, your success story just didn't
exist.
Another fascinating aspect of the book is how it charts Puerto Rico-to-mainland
USA migration trends, return migrations to the island, and the dispersal of Puerto
Ricans away from New York and to other cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago,
Miami and Philadelphia. In 1940, nearly 88% of all stateside Puerto Ricans lived in
New York City, as opposed to just over 23% in 2000. Angelo Falcón’s essay, De’
tras Pa’lante: Explorations on the Future History of Puerto Ricans, takes a careful
look at this population decline of Puerto Ricans in New York and our growth and
decline in the New York suburbs, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas
and Connecticut. An increase in Dominican and Mexican immigration changed
the landscape of Latino New York, where the trailblazing achievements
spearheaded by Puerto Ricans, forged despite our opposition, made the
transition to New York easier for these newer groups.
Boricuas in Gotham also examines how the New York Puerto Rican community
was attacked by conservative politicians in the 1990s, a mauling spearheaded
by no other than the Giuliani administration, which cut the city’s contribution to
City University of New York by 17% and supported tuition increases at the same
time, disrupting the ambitions of many New York Puerto Rican (and other
minority) students, who were studying to improve their lives. This brand of malice
echoed the manner in which we were treated when we first arrived. As this
brutally honest volume points out, the considerable Puerto Rican absence at
voting polls in the 1900s hurt us tremendously—we must mobilize our families to
vote in every election, as our numbers can tip the scale in our favor. Boricuas in
Ricans as savage, anti-assimilationist “welfare-freeloaders” living in Third World
conditions in the South Bronx. And although there is some truth to this image,
what is often ignored by the media is that Puerto Rican households were more
commonly governed by women, whose employment options were demanding
and low-paying. If you weren’t an eroticized celebrity like J-Lo or Mark Anthony,
or a politician like Fernando Ferrer or Herman Badillo, your success story just didn't
exist.
Another fascinating aspect of the book is how it charts Puerto Rico-to-mainland
USA migration trends, return migrations to the island, and the dispersal of Puerto
Ricans away from New York and to other cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago,
Miami and Philadelphia. In 1940, nearly 88% of all stateside Puerto Ricans lived in
New York City, as opposed to just over 23% in 2000. Angelo Falcón’s essay, De’
tras Pa’lante: Explorations on the Future History of Puerto Ricans, takes a careful
look at this population decline of Puerto Ricans in New York and our growth and
decline in the New York suburbs, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas
and Connecticut. An increase in Dominican and Mexican immigration changed
the landscape of Latino New York, where the trailblazing achievements
spearheaded by Puerto Ricans, forged despite our opposition, made the
transition to New York easier for these newer groups.
Boricuas in Gotham also examines how the New York Puerto Rican community
was attacked by conservative politicians in the 1990s, a mauling spearheaded
by no other than the Giuliani administration, which cut the city’s contribution to
City University of New York by 17% and supported tuition increases at the same
time, disrupting the ambitions of many New York Puerto Rican (and other
minority) students, who were studying to improve their lives. This brand of malice
echoed the manner in which we were treated when we first arrived. As this
brutally honest volume points out, the considerable Puerto Rican absence at
voting polls in the 1900s hurt us tremendously—we must mobilize our families to
vote in every election, as our numbers can tip the scale in our favor. Boricuas in
| . |
Gotham is a realistic slideshow of our colorful history, which when
memorialized, can make the future ours.
Our cultural achievements are hardly few: Jennifer López, Mark Anthony, Rosie
Pérez, Luís Gúzman, Benicio del Toro and Big Pun are all testaments to the
Puerto Rican presence in 1990s (and contemporary) popular culture, and the
Museo del Barrio, The Nuyorican Poets Café and Taller Boricua are all cultural
landmarks bearing our wounds and rewards. Our influence on early hip-hop
goes underreported, as does the formidable network of theaters,
performance spaces and community organizations we created through hard
work and vision. The New York Puerto Rican cultural movement was the
“spark” that thrust New York City into the Latin American sphere of influence,
as Cubans did with Miami. And as the late Dr. Antonia Pantoja pleads in the
closing statements of the book, “We must also develop effective means of
communicating our history, which I insist is a powerful weapon in our struggles
to secure change and social justice.” And this is what Boricuas in Gotham
brilliantly accomplishes. Bravo.
Charlie Vázquez can be found at: www.firekingpress.com
firekingpress@yahoo.com www.firekingpress.com
CLICK HERE for more Charlie Vázquez
Copyright 2009|Ambiente. Do not reproduce without prior authorization.
memorialized, can make the future ours.
Our cultural achievements are hardly few: Jennifer López, Mark Anthony, Rosie
Pérez, Luís Gúzman, Benicio del Toro and Big Pun are all testaments to the
Puerto Rican presence in 1990s (and contemporary) popular culture, and the
Museo del Barrio, The Nuyorican Poets Café and Taller Boricua are all cultural
landmarks bearing our wounds and rewards. Our influence on early hip-hop
goes underreported, as does the formidable network of theaters,
performance spaces and community organizations we created through hard
work and vision. The New York Puerto Rican cultural movement was the
“spark” that thrust New York City into the Latin American sphere of influence,
as Cubans did with Miami. And as the late Dr. Antonia Pantoja pleads in the
closing statements of the book, “We must also develop effective means of
communicating our history, which I insist is a powerful weapon in our struggles
to secure change and social justice.” And this is what Boricuas in Gotham
brilliantly accomplishes. Bravo.
Charlie Vázquez can be found at: www.firekingpress.com
firekingpress@yahoo.com www.firekingpress.com
CLICK HERE for more Charlie Vázquez
Copyright 2009|Ambiente. Do not reproduce without prior authorization.
| . |