Latinos of different origins get along while striving for success, making an impact and sharing the Big Apple

LatinaLista — The evolution of the Latino community in New York City is a vibrant and colorful history that deserves to be known. The only trouble is that the Big Apple’s Hispanic community has a rainbow of sub-communities, each with their own histories and traditions.

Trying to bring these stories together for easy reading is an overwhelming task but thanks to the efforts of Claudio Remeseira those interested in the history of the Latino presence in New York City now have a handy resource in “Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook.”
Described as an anthology of “scholarly, autobiographical, journalistic and literary essays,” readers gain valuable insight into the language, literature, music and art that served, and continue to serve, as a common mode of expression for Latinos.
Essays ranging from “The Evolution of the Latino Community in New York,” and “The Hispanic Impact Upon the United States” to “Spanish in New York” and “New York’s Latin Music Landmarks,” Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook provides an excellent overview of the steady impact Latinos have made in the most influential city in the country,which in many cases has traveled across the rest of the country.
According to the sourcebook, the total NYC population of Hispanic or Latino origin in 2007 stood at 2,259,069. The top three Latino cultures represented are from (1) Puerto Rico, (2) The Dominican Republic and (3) Mexico.
Remeseira points out that while NYC, and the state itself, lags behind such states as California and Texas that have larger Latino populations — mainly Mexican-Americans — the uniqueness of New York City is that because there is such a rich diversity of Latino subcultures it is contributing to the creation of what the future holds for all Latinos.
It is a pan-ethnic identity that serves as a bridge between Latinos of different “Mother Countries” but now of one nation they all call home.