Indians in the New York City metropolitan area constitute one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnicities in theNew York City metropolitan area of the United States. The New York City region is home to the largest and most prominentIndian American population among metropolitan areas by a significant margin, enumerating 711,174 uniracial individuals based on the 2013–2017U.S. CensusAmerican Community Survey estimates.[6] The Asian Indian population also represents the second-largest metropolitan Asian national diaspora both outside of Asia and within the New York City metropolitan area, following the also rapidly growing and hemisphere-leading population of the estimated 893,697 uniracialChinese in the New York City metropolitan area in 2017.[7]
The U.S. state ofNew Jersey, where most of the population is situated within the New York City metropolitan region, has by a significant margin the highest proportional Indian population concentration of any U.S. state. According to Census estimates in 2023, 4.6% of New Jersey's population consists ofindividuals of Indian origin. New Jersey is the state with the highest percentage of individuals with Indian ancestry in the United States.
An Asian Indian presence in the New York area dates back to the 19th century, withSwami Vivekananda establishing the first Hindu institution in New York City in 1894 after the 1893Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago[8][9][10][11] and Bengali Muslim peddlers passing through immigration facilities in New York to head to Jersey Shore beach towns such as Asbury Park, Atlantic Park and Long Beach. These peddlers sold "Oriental" items like silks, small trinkets and other curios to tourists. Though most of these peddlers were transient seasonal workers at resorts, a small number of men stayed in New Jersey year-round to renew stocks of goods and shepherd younger traders from India to the US.[12] Bengali and other South Asian Muslims would also settle in New York City and marry into African American and Puerto Rican communities that they lived close to,[13] initially living in theLower East Side but moving uptown intoHarlem, opening some of the first Indian restaurants in New York.[14] After India become independent and partitioned, many of these men formed the Pakistan League of America in 1947.
The first Indian to become anaturalizedU.S. citizen wasBhicaji Balsara, a resident of New York.[15] However, this was after theLuce–Celler Act of 1946 that restorednaturalization rights to Indian Americans in the United States.[16] A number of Indian Americans came to the U.S. viaIndian communities from other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa,Mauritius,Malaysia, Singapore,Suriname,Guyana,[17]Trinidad and Tobago,Fiji,Kenya,Tanzania,Uganda, andJamaica. The quota on Indian immigration was removed in the 1960s, leading to exponential growth in the number of Indian immigrants to the United States.[18] While Indians prior to this time were primarily involved in agricultural endeavors or constructing railroads in the western United States,[18] by the 1960s, there was a small Manhattan-based Indian community consisting of graduate students inColumbia University andNew York University, diplomatic attachés at the United Nations and Indian corporate workers.[19] However, the largest number hereafter came to New York City and itsaffluentsuburban environs, consisting largely of professionals, including physicians, engineers, financiers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and lawyers, as well as businesspeople,[18] though there was also small population concentrated along 116th Street and Broadway in Manhattan that was poorer. By 1974, there was a notable Indian population in the greater New York area, with particular concentrations inHoboken, New Jersey andFlushing, Queens, though neither was strongly identified as a Little India at this point and there was already a push to move out to the suburbs, especially toNassau County onLong Island.[20] with houses of worship for Indian religions starting to be built around the larger Indian suburban communities throughout the 1980s and 1990s.[21]
During 1960s and 1970s, Indians also set up several cultural and religious institutions based in New York City, though they drew people from the entire metropolitan area. The 1970s would also see the construction of the first houses of worship for Indian religions in New York City, such as theHindu Temple Society of North America in Flushing and the Sikh Cultural Society building a gurdwara at a former Baptist church inRichmond Hill. Other religious groups reappropriated other spaces in the city, such as Keralite Christians hosting Malayalam services in a Bronx church and Jains renting Manhattan office space. Indian would also form several associations based around linguistics groups. Indians in the New York-New Jersey area also started to createmass media organizations in the 1970s, including newspapers such asIndia Abroad, the first television show targeted towards Indian Americans, and by 1975, 13 half-hour radio shows for New York Indians.[22] Movie theaters in Manhattan and Queens showing Indian movies also started to open.
A small Little India did already exist in Manhattan onLexington Avenue,between 27th and 30th streets around the former Little Armenia spice shop of Kalustyan's, which had become popular among Indian and other South Asian immigrants in the 1960s[23] and had become notable enough to be featured in theNew York Daily News as a prime spot for Indian food and groceries by 1976.[24] However, by the 1980s, the Lexington Avenue Little India was eroding due to increased competition from other Indian districts in Queens which were closer to where the Indian population lived.
The most famous enclave in the New York City area –Jackson Heights – emerged during the 1970s, with electronics store Sam and Raj, being opened by merchants Subhash Kapadia and Nitin Vora in 1976 and then being quickly followed by a number of Indian stores opening on 74th Street. Though many Indians actually lived in the adjacent, cheaper neighborhood ofElmhurst,[25] Jackson Heights quickly became popular among the regional Indian and South Asian community due to its location near a major subway transfer station and the overall large Indian population in Queens. By 1990, there were already 74 Indian businesses in Jackson Heights and businessowners had formed the Jackson Heights Merchants Association in response to conflict between Indian immigrants and white residents over perceived quality-of-life issues.[26]
Other neighborhoods in Queens also became notable South Asian enclaves during the 1980s and 1990s.Flushing, one of the first destinations for immigrants and home to the borough's first Hindu temple, would have its first Indian grocery store in 1970 and be followed by a small strip of Indian stores. Though now mainly known as one of New York's largestChinatowns andKoreatowns, Flushing had a similar population of Indians compared to Koreans and Chinese in 1980. Richmond Hill in southeastern Queens would become a major hub forIndo-Caribbean immigrants fromGuyana andTrinidad and Tobago and Sikhs fromPunjab, with the Sikh Cultural Society becoming a major gathering point for the latter group. A large concentration ofMalayalees would also pop up in eastern Queens neighborhoods near theNassau County border.[26]
Starting in the 1990s, following the path of past generations of New Yorkers, many Indian immigrants starting moving eastward from Queens to more suburban areas of Long Island in the 1990s, including Nassau County towns such asHicksville,Elmont,East Meadow, andNorth New Hyde Park seeking bigger homes, better schools, and more space. During the 1990s, Indians were the fastest growing ethnic group on Long Island.[27] This coincided with a change in the businesses and clientele in the older enclaves like Jackson Heights, with establishments being targeted more towards working-class immigrants than the English-speaking professionals who were the main shoppers in Queens, as seen by more signage in Jackson Heights being in vernacular languages.[26]Hicksville would become the center of the Indian community on Long Island, with Indian stores concentrating on South Broadway around Route 103 by the 2000s.[28]
Indians also sprawled further into New Jersey, with growing concentrations of Indians in areas such asMiddlesex County, New Jersey, where 55,000 Indians lived by 2000 and inJersey City.[29] During the 1990s, these two areas would see their main centers of Indian commerce –Oak Tree Road in Edison, New Jersey, andNewark Avenue in theJournal Square neighborhood in Jersey City become primarily Indian, compared to the 1970s and 1980s, where there was a more of a mixture of businesses.[29] By 1994, there were already over 100 Indian businesses on Oak Tree Road.[30]
As more Indians started to move into the New Jersey enclaves and they grew increasingly more affluent, tensions started to increase between them and prior residents. In the late 1980s, a hate group called theDotbusters – named after the bindi that many Hindu women wear – beat up several Indians in Jersey City, including killing a Parsi man, Narvoze Mody.[31] That same month, a letter threatening to attack Indians in the city was also published in its main newspaper,The Jersey Journal, and there were several racist messages written on the stores and homes of Indian immigrants. Community leaders accused Jersey City’s government of responding slowly to the attacks and at one point invited theGuardian Angels to patrol the city’s streets. Following a series of protests and increased attention from the city government, racist attacks started to decrease by the end of the decade.[32]
However, the increased racism was a reason for some Indians to move southwards to Edison and Middlesex County,[33] though they also faced some resistance there as they started to set up businesses in Edison, with stores on Oak Tree Road being vandalized and proprietors saying that city government did not take them seriously.[29] Indians in Edison and Iselin would also get into other conflicts with the city governments, with the Indian Business Association of the area protesting high amounts of traffic tickets and curfews on its Navratri celebration.[34]
The Indian American population would also surge in the further reaches of Central New Jersey in the 2000s in towns such asWest Windsor,Plainsboro, andMontgomery. The Indian influence in this area manifested itself with the creation of an annual Indian-American fair inMercer County Park and the creation of cricket fields and leagues in the area.[35] By the 2010s, there were pushes to teachHindi[36] and haveDiwali off at school districts in Central New Jersey.[37] Around this time, there were also a series of home invasions apparently targeting Indians and South Asians in New Jersey,[38] which started to prompt questions about a lack of Indian and more broadly Asian representation in New Jersey's local police forces.[39] Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who had already been to New York on multiple visits, was welcomed on June 20, 2023 by the Indian diaspora atJFK International Airport on his firstState visit to the U.S., which also entailed a trip to Washington, D.C.
TheNew York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area, consisting of New York City,Long Island, and adjacent areas withinNew York State, as well as nearby areas within the states ofNew Jersey (extending toTrenton),Connecticut (extending toBridgeport), and includingPike County, Pennsylvania, was home to an estimated 711,174 Indian Americans as of the 2013–2017American Community Survey by theU.S. Census Bureau,[6] comprising by far thelargest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the United States;[40] New York City itself also contains by far the highest Indian American population of any individual city in North America, estimated at 246,454 as of 2017.[41] At least twenty four Indian American enclaves characterized as aLittle India have emerged in the New York City metropolitan area. As of December 2019, Indian airline carrierAir India as well as United States airline carrierUnited Airlines were offering direct flights from the New York City Metropolitan Area to and from Delhi andMumbai.Delta Air Lines inaugurated non-stop flight service fromJFK International Airport to Mumbai in December 2019.
The Indian American population in the New York City metropolitan region was second in its population as anAsian ethnicity only to the approximately 893,697 uniracialChinese New Yorkers as of 2017.[6][7] However, while the presence and growth of the Chinese population is focused on New York City andLong Island in New York State, the gravitas of the Indian population is roughly evenly split between New Jersey and New York State.[42][43]
Central New Jersey, at the geographic heart of theNortheast Megalopolis, has emerged as the largest hub for Indian immigrants to the U.S., followed closely byQueens andNassau County on Long Island.Oak Tree Road inEdison andIselin is known as an Indian dining and shopping destination.
Jersey City in New Jersey has the highest proportion of Asian Indians of any major U.S. city, comprising 10.9% of the overall population of Jersey City in 2010,[44] increasing to 11.4% by 2013.[45]Bergen County, New Jersey andRockland County, New York are home to the highest concentrations ofMalayalis outside of India.[46]Carteret, Middlesex County'sPunjabiSikh community, variously estimated at upwards of 3,000, is the largest concentration of Sikhs in New Jersey.[47] Smaller populations of Asian Indians reside in the Connecticut and Pennsylvania portions of the New York City metropolitan region.Monroe Township,Middlesex County, incentral New Jersey, the geographic heart of theNortheast megalopolis and ranked the safest small city in the United States,[48][49] has displayed one of the fastest growth rates of its Indian population in theWestern Hemisphere, increasing from 256 (0.9%) as of the 2000 Census[50] to an estimated 5,943 (13.6%) as of 2017,[51] representing a 2,221.5% (a multiple of 23) numerical increase over that period, including manyaffluent professionals andsenior citizens as well ascharitable benefactors to theCovid-19 relief efforts in India in official coordination with Monroe Township, in addition toBollywood actors with second homes. By 2022, the Indian population was approaching one-third of Monroe Township's population, and the nicknameEdison-South had developed, in reference to theLittle India stature of bothtownships.[52] A community namedRaajipo (meaninghappiness) has emerged within nearbyRobbinsville, inMercer County, New Jersey, home ofSwaminarayan Akshardham (Devnagari: स्वामिनारायण अक्षरधाम), inaugurated in 2014 as the world's largestHindu temple.[53]Sikhs have established significant concentrations in Queens and Nassau County in New York and in Middlesex, Bergen, and Hudson counties in New Jersey.
In 2014, 12,350 Indians legally immigrated to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA core based statistical area;[54] in 2013, this number was 10,818;[55] in 2012, 10,550;[56] 11,256 in 2011;[57] and 11,388 in 2010.[58] These numbers do not include the remainder of the New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. New Jersey is the only U.S. state in which immigrants born in India comprised the largestforeign-born nationality, representing approximately 10% of all foreign-born residents in the state.[59]
As thecity proper with the largest Asian Indian population in the United States by a wide margin, with an estimated 227,994 individuals as of the 2014American Community Survey,[60] and as the primary destination fornew Indian immigrants,[61] New York City is subdivided into official municipalboroughs, which themselves are home to significant Asian Indian and otherSouth Asian populations. Note that this list includes neither the largeDesi populations ofPakistani Americans,Bangladeshi Americans, andSri Lankan Americans, norIndo-Caribbean Americans,Afghan Americans, and others of South Asian origin who make their home in New York City. Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ), or Little Punjab, has emerged inRichmond Hill, Queens.
| Borough | Indian Americans | Indian Americans per square mile | Percentage of Indian Americans in Borough's Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queens (2014)[62] | 144,896 | 1,326.5 | 6.2 |
| Brooklyn (2012) | 25,270 | 357.9 | 1.0 |
| Manhattan (2012) | 24,359 | 1,060.9 | 1.5 |
| The Bronx (2012) | 16,748 | 398.6 | 1.2 |
| Staten Island (2012) | 6,646 | 113.6 | 1.4 |
| Total (2014)[60] | 227,994 | 753.4 | 2.7 |
New Jersey, andMiddlesex County inCentral New Jersey), are home to by far the highest per capita Indian American populations of any U.S. state andU.S. county, respectively, at 3.9%[42] and 14.1%,[63] by 2013 U.S. Census estimates.[64]
| Community | County | Asian Indian % |
|---|---|---|
| Carteret | Middlesex | 20.1% |
| East Windsor | Mercer | 16.6% |
| Edison | Middlesex | 36.2% |
| Franklin | Somerset | 14.6% |
| Iselin CDP | Middlesex | 45.1% |
| Monroe Township | Middlesex | 17.7% |
| North Brunswick | Middlesex | 16.5% |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills | Morris | 25.7% |
| Piscataway | Middlesex | 20.2% |
| Plainsboro Township | Middlesex | 44.7% |
| Robbinsville CDP | Mercer | 29.2% |
| Secaucus | Hudson | 22.9% |
| South Brunswick | Middlesex | 37.2% |
| West Windsor | Mercer | 36.4% |
| Woodbridge | Middlesex | 16.7% |
| Community | Asian Indian % |
|---|---|
| Bellerose Terrace | 11.8% |
| Garden City Park | 18.4% |
| Herricks | 23.5% |
| Hicksville | 18.7% |
| Manhasset Hills | 28.4% |
| Searingtown | 18.1% |
Bombay,[70] in Jersey City, New Jersey, is home to the highest concentration of Asian Indians in the Western Hemisphere,[1] containing the rapidly growing Indianethnic enclave ofIndia Square. The neighborhood is centered onNewark Avenue, between Tonnele Avenue andJFK Boulevard, and is considered to be part of the largerJournal Square District. It has had a large concentration of Indian businesses since the 1970s, with about 15,000 Indians living in Jersey City by 1986.[71] This area has been home to the largest outdoorNavratri festivities in New Jersey as well as severalHindutemples.[72] This portion of Newark Avenue is lined with grocery stores,[73]electronics vendors,video stores,import/export businesses, clothing stores, and restaurants, and is one of the busier pedestrian areas of this part of the city, often stopping traffic for hours. According to the2000 census, there were nearly 13,000 Indians living in this two-block stretch of Jersey City, up from 3,000 in 1980, increasing commensurately between 2000 and 2010.[74] An annual, color-filled springHoli festival has taken place in Jersey City since 1992, centered upon India Square and attracting significant participation and international media attention.[75][76] Although India Square continues to represent the heart of Little India in Jersey City, situated between Tonnele Avenue and John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Little India itself has been expanding further eastward along Newark Avenue, through Jersey City'sLittle Manila, to Summit Avenue and theFive Corners neighborhood. After dark, the businesses light flashing signs, and the street crowds continue.
Oak Tree Road is a rapidly growing South Asian-focused commercial strip inMiddlesex County, New Jersey, theU.S. county with highest concentration of Asian Indians (nearly 20% in 2020) and the geographic heart of theNortheast megalopolis.[77][78] The Oak Tree Road strip runs for about one-and-a-half miles throughEdison and neighboringIselin, New Jersey, near the area's sprawlingChinatown andKoreatown.[79] Little India in Edison and Iselin is the largest and most diverseSouth Asian cultural hub in the United States.[80][81] The zone is home to over 400 South Asian establishments and businesses, including dining,apparel andelectronics retailing, and entertainment.[82][83][84][85] Over 60Indian andPakistani restaurants alone are found in the area.[86][87] In Middlesex County, electionballots are printed inGujarati,Hindi, andPunjabi as well.[88] Edison was, per 2010American Community Survey census data, 28.3% ethnic Asian Indian population, the highest percentage for any municipality in the United States.[89] According to the 2017 American Community Survey, 42.6% of Iselin residents identified themselves as being Indian American, the highest percentage for anycensus-designated place in the United States.[90]
| Language | 2023 | 2016 | Change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | ± | ±% | |
| Gujarati | 94,864 | 0.51% | 89,659 | 0.47% | 5,205 | 5.81% |
| Hindi | 129,002 | 0.7% | 119,466 | 0.63% | 9,536 | 7.98% |
| Urdu | 102,455 | 0.56% | 88,880 | 0.47% | 13,575 | 15.27% |
| Punjabi | 35,570 | 0.19% | 48,772 | 0.26% | -13,202 | -27.07% |
| Bengali | 165,106 | 0.9% | 133,242 | 0.7% | 31,864 | 23.91% |
| Nepali,Marathi, or otherIndic languages | 46,727 | 0.25% | 46,010 | 0.24% | 717 | 1.56% |
| Telugu | 38,135 | 0.21% | 33,084 | 0.17% | 5,051 | 15.27% |
| Tamil | 33,422 | 0.18% | 30,149 | 0.16% | 3,273 | 10.86% |
| Malayalam,Kannada, or otherDravidian languages | 40,937 | 0.22% | 42,195 | 0.22% | -1,258 | -2.98% |
| TotalSouth Asian languages | 686,218 | 3.72% | 631,457 | 3.34% | 54,761 | 8.67% |
| Total responses | 18,423,457 | 100% | 18,933,254 | 100% | -509,797 | -2.69% |
Indians have had a long history of commerce in the United States. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Indians in the United States began to focus on tourism as a source of income. Many opened businesses, such as hotels and Indian grocery stores.[98] Today, Indian-owned businesses in the United States include various enterprises, ranging fromsmall retailers and service providers tolarge corporations. Indian Americans have increasingly taken onCEO positions of companies in the greaterNew York metropolitan area.
Patel Brothers is the world's large supermarket chain serving theIndian diaspora, with 57 locations in 19 U.S. states—primarily located in the New Jersey/New York Metropolitan Area, due to its large Indian population, and with theEast Windsor/Monroe Township,New Jersey location representing the world's largest and busiest Indian grocery store outside India. HOS Global Foods, one of the largest purveyors of Indian and otherSouth Asian foods outside of Asia, is globallyheadquartered inLake Success, New York, inNassau County, on Long Island. Indianfood trucks have set up shop in Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island, and in Jersey City, Edison and Monroe Township, New Jersey.
In January 2025,HackensackMeridian Health, New Jersey's largesthealth care system, signed a partnership agreement withApollo Hospitals, India's largest private hospital network, to collaborate and innovate new health care solutions that could be implemented in both countries. The goal is to leverage both systems' combined resources to improve patient outcomes.[99]
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Indians have been attaining school board membership positions on variousboards of education in New Jersey and on Long Island. Indian parents are attracted to settling in cities and towns in the New York metropolitan area that have highly performing school districts; there is especially an allure for Indian parents to settle in the proximity of top-rankedPrinceton University, in thecentral New Jersey communities nearPrinceton, including most ofMercer,Middlesex, andSomerset counties.
Momentum has been growing to recognize theHindu holy day Deepavali (Diwali) as a holiday onschool district calendars in the New York City metropolitan region.[102][103] New York City announced in October 2022 that Diwali would be an official school holiday commencing in 2023,[104] and this was codified into New York State law in 2023.[105]
Passaic, New Jersey established Diwali as a school holiday in 2005.[102][103]South Brunswick, New Jersey in 2010 became the first of the many school districts with large Indian student populations inMiddlesex County in New Jersey to add Diwali to the school calendar.[103]Glen Rock, New Jersey in February 2015 became the first municipality inBergen County, with its own burgeoning Indian population post-2010,[66][106] to recognize Diwali as an annual school holiday.[107][108]
Efforts have been undertaken inMillburn,[102] Monroe Township,West Windsor-Plainsboro,Bernards Township, andNorth Brunswick, New Jersey,[103] Long Island, as well as in New York City,[109][110] among other school districts in the metropolitan region, to make Diwali a holiday on the school calendar. According to theStar-Ledger,Edison, New Jersey councilman Sudhanshu Prasad has noted parents' engagement in making Deepavali a holiday there; while in Jersey City, the four schools with major Asian Indian populations mark the holiday by inviting parents to the school buildings for festivities.[103]Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School is located inPassaic, New Jersey.[111] Efforts are also progressing toward making Diwali and Eid official holidays at all 24 school districts in Middlesex County.[112] At least 12 school districts on Long Island closed for Diwali in 2022,[113] and over 20 in New Jersey.[114]
In March 2015, New York CityMayor Bill de Blasio officially declared theMuslim holy daysEid al-Fitr andEid al-Adha holidays on the school calendar.[109] School districts inPaterson and South Brunswick, New Jersey observeRamadan.[103]
The beaches of theJersey Shore andLong Island have become popular recreational destinations for Indians in the New York City metropolitan region.
The annual New York City India Day Parade, held on or approximately every August 15 since 1981, is the world's largestIndian Independence Day parade outside of India[100] and is hosted by The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA). According to the website ofBaruch College of theCity University of New York, "The FIA, which came into being in 1970 is anumbrella organization meant to represent the diverse Indian population of NYC. Its mission is to promote and further the interests of its 500,000 members and to collaborate with other Indian cultural organization. The FIA acts as a mouth piece for the diverse Indian-Asian population in United States, and is focused on furthering the interests of this diverse community. The parade begins onEast 38th Street and continues downMadison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan until it reaches28th Street. At the review stand on 28th Street, the grand marshal and various celebrities greet onlookers. Throughout the parade, participants find themselves surrounded by the saffron, white and green colors of theIndian flag. They can enjoy Indian food, merchandise booths, live dancing and music present at the Parade. After the parade is over, various cultural organizations and dance schools participate in program on23rd Street and Madison Avenue until 6PM."[115] The New York/New Jersey metropolitan region's second-largest India Independence Day parade takes place inLittle India, Edison/Iselin in Middlesex County, New Jersey, annually in August.Governor of New YorkKathy Hochul officially declared August 15, 2022 to be India Independence Day in New York; the governor lauded the accomplishments of Indian Americans in a speech that began with "Namaste" and concluded with "Jai Hind".[116]
The world's largest Sikh Day Parade outside India celebratingVaisakhi and the season of renewal is held inManhattan annually in April. The parade is widely regarded as being one of the most colourful parades.[117]
In September 2014, approximately 19,000 Indian Americans attended a speech delivered onstage by Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi atMadison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan.[118][119] This appearance was televised live worldwide and was estimated to have been watched by a billion-strong global audience of Indians in India andoverseas. The annualMiss India USA pageant is headquartered in New York City and is often held inMiddlesex County, New Jersey or onLong Island.[120] In February 2022, anelectronic billboard inTimes Square sponsored by the Binder Indian Cultural Center featured a tribute to the late singerLata Mangeshkar, known as "The Nightingale of India".[121] In the 2023 filmSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the fictional world ofMumbattan (portmanteau ofMumbai andManhattan) is introduced.[122]
Indians in New York and New Jersey, as in the United States as a whole, are highly fluent in English. However,Hindi (हिन्दी),Gujarati (ગુજરાતી),Marathi (मराठी),[123]Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ),Bengali (বাংলা),Tamil (தமிழ்),Telugu (తెలుగు),Malayalam (മലയാളം),Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ), andMaithili (मैथिली) languages are spoken at home and with local media incorporating these languages available for viewership.[124] InMiddlesex County, New Jersey, electionballots are printed in English, Spanish, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, and Punjabi.[88]
Indian cuisine is very popular in the New York City metropolitan region, bolstered by the growth of the Asian Indian populace and accompanied by growth in the number of Indian restaurants, located both within and outside of traditional Indian enclaves; such that within New York City proper alone, there are hundreds of Indian restaurants.[125] According to David Shaftel ofThe New York Times in December 2014, the food at New York City's manyIndian chain restaurants is worthy of their flagships in India; the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood south ofMurray Hill, namelyRose Hill, has been nicknamedCurry Hill, and provides an abundance ofmultinational India-based chains specializing inSouth Indian cuisine.[125] In 2020,CNN Travel claimed that the best Indian food in the United States could be found in Jersey City's India Square.[126]
In 1968, a family ofBengali brothers inaugurated the restaurant Shah Bag at 320 East 6th Street in the East Village of Lower Manhattan, followed by others, with the intention of "making an Indian street".[96] In time, this stretch of East 6th Street betweenFirst andSecond Avenues evolved the nicknameCurry Row, with a dense collection ofNorth Indian restaurants.
By 2000, Indian food had become ubiquitous in the New York metropolitan area, both inside and outside of Little Indias, withdhabas popping up around the metro area. These dhabas would serve a quickly growing niche of Indian quick-service food, with a particular appeal to Indians working in professions such as a trucking, taxi-driving, importing, and garment dealers. Indian was also getting more attention from the mainstream American press, with some of these dhabas getting reviews from outlets such asThe New York Times.[127]
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Parallelling India's religious constituency, most Indians in the New York City metropolitan region practiceHinduism, followed byIslam, Christianity,Sikhism,Buddhism,Jainism,Zoroastrianism, and irreligion. On October 30, 2024, the State of New Jersey legally designated October of every year to be Hindu Heritage Month.[129] TheHindu Temple Society of North America inFlushing, Queens, is the oldestHindu temple in theWestern Hemisphere, and itscanteen feeds 4,000 people a week, with as many as 10,000 during theDiwali (Deepavali) holiday.[130] Further east onLong Island, inMelville, one of the world's largestBAPS temples opened in October 2016.[101]Central New Jersey has large temples ofVenkateswara andGuruvayurappan inBridgewater andMorganville, respectively; andSai Babamandirs abound throughout the metropolitan area, the two largest both being inMiddlesex County, New Jersey, inMonroe Township (also the largest Sai mandir in theWestern Hemisphere) and inEdison, bookending the southern and northern ends of Middlesex County, respectively.
BAPS also built the world's largest Hindu temple inRobbinsville,Mercer County, in Central New Jersey.[131] Numerous mosques, churches (geared significantly toward aKeralite membership),Sikh gurudwaras, andJain temples are also situated in the New York City metropolitan area. TheJain Center of America inElmhurst, Queens is the oldest Jain temple in theWestern hemisphere[128] Many retailers now market Diwali fireworks in the New York City metropolitan region and especially in New Jersey. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month. while thousands in Bergen County celebrated the firstU.S. county-wideDiwali Mela festival under a unifiedsponsorship banner in 2016,[132] whileFair Lawn inBergen County, New Jersey has celebrated an internationally prominent annualHoli celebration since 2022,[133][134][135] and in 2023 declared October to be acknowledged as Hindu-American Awareness and Appreciation Month.[136] Diwali/Deepavali is also recognized by many other municipalities throughout the metropolitan area. The largestLord Hanuman statue in the US arrived in Monroe Township in January 2024.[137]
Cricket is one of the fastest-growing sports in the New York City metropolitan region. In 2016, a public park was expanded inMonroe Township, Middlesex County incentral New Jersey to accommodate a designatedcricket pitch, among other recreational facilities.[138] There are similar facilities available inMercer County Park inWest Windsor.[139] Overall, there are 56 cricket grounds in New Jersey[140] and fields in all five boroughs of New York.[141] In 2023,Monroe Township High School launched the first high school cricket team.[142]
Indianpharmaceutical and technology companies are coming to New Jersey to gain a foothold in the United States.[143]Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, based inHyderabad, set up its U.S. headquarters inPrinceton, New Jersey.[144] Kitex Garments, based inKerala and India's largest children's clothing manufacturer, opened its first U.S. office inMontvale, New Jersey in October 2015.[145] Pharmaceutical companyAurobindo, also headquartered in Hyderabad, has established its U.S. headquarters in theDayton section ofSouth Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and has implemented a multimillion-dollar expansion of theseCentral New Jersey operations.[146] In March 2023,Bengaluru-based technology services and consulting companyWipro opened its American international headquarters inEast Brunswick, Middlesex, County, New Jersey.[147]
Much like other immigrant groups in the US, Indians have established themselves in a variety of different small businesses in the New York area, with South Asians owning 40% of the gas stations in New York City by the early 1990s[148] and also owning many of New York's newsstands by the mid-1980s.[149] South Asians also make up 50% of New York's taxicab drivers,[150] with Indians such asBhairavi Desai playing a prominent role in organizing cabbies from the 1990s to the present.[151][152]
A majority of Indian Americans in the New York region are recent immigrants or children of such from India. In that context, travel between the United States and India has developed strong cultural connections, and, in more recent years, business traffic for expatriates. Air India operatesnonstop flights fromNew York JFK andNewark EWR to both Delhi and Mumbai. United Airlines also operates a nonstop flight from Newark to Delhi.[153] Meanwhile,Singapore Airlines flies toChangi International Airport in Singapore, whereTamil is one of the official state languages, both from Newark and New York (with two of the longest non-stop flights in the world[154][155]). In May 2019,Delta Air Lines announced non-stop flight service between JFK and Mumbai, to begin on December 22, 2019[156] but suspended the route in March 2020 at the start of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[157]American Airlines started operating nonstop service from JFK to Delhi in November 2021.[158]
American Airlines' non-stop flight servicecodeshares withIndiGo between New York JFK and Delhi, which began in June 2022.[159] In October 2021,Vistara securedaircraft landing slots at Newark.[160] In 2023, United Airlines announced it would be doubling its non-stop flight service between Newark and Delhi with two daily non-stop flights beginning in October 2023.[161]
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Indian Americans have emerged prominently in the New York City journalism sphere. Thismedia subsection has been created to acknowledge this professional prominence.
Several of the communities that topped the list are in the northeast. According to the study, the safest town in the country is Monroe Township, New Jersey, which ranks first. At number two on the list is Hillsborough Township, New Jersey, followed by Zionsville, Indiana, ranking third. Wallingford, Connecticut, ranks fourth, and Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, rounds out the top five.
The mayor declared Diwali a public school holiday in New York City beginning next year.
The law mandates all city public schools close on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Indian calendar each year, also known as Diwali.
Hindus seek holiday status for Diwali in all 24 school districts of Middlesex County. Rajan Zed is the president of the Universal Society of Hindus. He says establishing a holiday on Diwali in all Middlesex County school districts will be a step in the right direction to meet the religious and spiritual needs of Hindu students, who make up a significant portion of the population in the county.
Yesterday, however, we got a sneak peek at one of the most interesting promised worlds: Mumbattan, a hybrid of Manhattan and Mumbai, where Pavitr Prabhakar lives.
"This is the first time in Bergen County that all religious organizations and community organizations are participating under this banner, the Indian Heritage Center," said Dinesh Khosla, president and one of the founders of the temple in Mahwah. "Ten families started the temple 20 years ago and we have over 3,000 members now."
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