New York has a long history of connection with Puerto Rico, and was until recently the state with the largest Puerto Rican population. Roughly 5% of New York’s total population is of Puerto Rican heritage — over one million people.
A long history
Even before Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States following the Spanish American War, Puerto Ricans who supported Puerto Rico’s independence from Spain were organizing with Cuban independence activists in New York City. The Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee was headquartered there. As Jorell Meléndez-Badillo put it in Puerto Rico: A National History, “New York City became a node within the broader networks of the revolutionary Caribbean.”
At least two of the Insular Cases began in New York, and the Puerto Rican flag — based on the Cuban flag — was created in New York City.
Once the people of Puerto Rico attained U.S. citizenship, the Puerto Rican community in New York began to grow. In the 1930s, following the devastation of Hurricane San Felipe, many men came from Puerto Rico to the states in the summer to work in agriculture. Often, they returned to the Island for the winter.
In 1951, the first nonstop flight between Puerto Rico and New York City made travel to New York easier. The Great Migration of people from Puerto Rico to the states began, and 85% of the Puerto Ricans moving to the states at that time settled permanently in New York. Both the federal and the territorial governments encouraged migration during the ’50s and ’60s, with the result that 900,000 Puerto Ricans lived in New York at the end of that decade.
By 1970, 70% of Hispanic people in New York were Puerto Rican. This proportion has fallen as more varied groups of Latinx people have made New York their home, and second generation Puerto Ricans moved to communities in New Jersey and Connecticut. 32% of the Hispanic citizens of New York now are Puerto Rican. Florida is now the state with the largest Puerto Rican population.
Puerto Rican life and culture in New York
Puerto Rican culture has been extremely important to the development of New York City, influencing the art and music scenes significantly. From establishing neighborhoods like East Harlem (often called Spanish Harlem) to the massive Puerto Rican Day Parade, Puerto Ricans have enriched the city’s cultural landscape with music, dance, food, and traditions.
More than 20% of Puerto Rican women in New York hold college degrees, and 16% of Puerto Rican men do, as well. 11% of Puerto Ricans across the state hold managerial and professional positions, with higher proportions in Nassau than in New York City. The median household income in New York State for Puerto Ricans is $31,800, while in Nassau it is $68,300. Clearly, geography affects economic status, but Puerto Ricans in New York generally earn appreciably more than people living in Puerto Rico, where the average household income is $24,002.
Puerto Ricans contribute significantly to the city’s workforce in various sectors and hold important positions in government. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) was the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress. More recently, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) became a cosponsor of the Puerto Rico Status Act, a bill that sets parameters for a new Puerto Rico status referendum and commits Congress to take action on the results.
