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Cleveland wasn't there so I will add it. We have "Slavic Village",https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadw...Slavic_Village we have at least two restaurants in Cleveland's Little Italy where the chefs are actually Albanian, Our City Sandwich is The Polish Boy, pirogi are as common as pizza, for many Clevelanders, Christmas and Easter mean "Kolache", a rolled pastry stuffed with Apricot, apple, berries, and "leckvar" poppyseeds (don't knock it if you haven't tried it) - among other things. https://www.bing.com/alink/link?url=...63197002623223
The Lenten Season, begins with paczki (Polish filled Doughnuts). During Lent, pirogi pizza is a "thing"
Parma may be in Italy, but Eastern European Americans, are in Parma OH.
I'm half Albanian. My grandparents were Tosks and Albanian Orthodox. When they came to America, they first stayed in NYC where my grandmother had some relatives. Eventually, they left NYC and moved to Boston. Back then, there was a good sized Albanian community. They didn't have any ethnic enclaves but they did have 2 Orthodox churches and a local newspaper that had articles in English and Albanian. Some Albanians ended up in Worcester and Springfield. Once a year they would have a picnic gathering in the summer in Worcester where Albanians in the area would congregate.
We had some Albanian relatives who settled in Chicago. From what I've been told, they lived in an area called Bricktown.
As to where the most Albanians in the US are living now, I've always thought it would be either CT or The Bronx.
Interesting to see this thread at this time. For dinner, I made Albanian spinach pie---something I hadn't made in a long time
The questions should be asked separately, not lumped together. South Boston, long famed for Irish, also is historically home to an important Albanian immigrant community (its Orthodox cathedral is atop the hill outside the heart of Southie) and also Lithuanian community as well as Polish.
I'm half Albanian. My grandparents were Tosks and Albanian Orthodox. When they came to America, they first stayed in NYC where my grandmother had some relatives. Eventually, they left NYC and moved to Boston. Back then, there was a good sized Albanian community. They didn't have any ethnic enclaves but they did have 2 Orthodox churches and a local newspaper that had articles in English and Albanian. Some Albanians ended up in Worcester and Springfield. Once a year they would have a picnic gathering in the summer in Worcester where Albanians in the area would congregate.
We had some Albanian relatives who settled in Chicago. From what I've been told, they lived in an area called Bricktown.
As to where the most Albanians in the US are living now, I've always thought it would be either CT or The Bronx.
Interesting to see this thread at this time. For dinner, I made Albanian spinach pie---something I hadn't made in a long time
Thank you for anecdotally proving my point. It's a simple fact many Albanians in other places (in your family's case - Boston) left NY and spread out. I don't know why some doubt Hartford. While I don't know any - I did know specifically from The Bronx that moved to Jacksonville - which is 1,000 miles away. So Hartford would be much closer... Which is why I say Connecticut shouldn't really be counted separate because it's so close...
Cleveland wasn't there so I will add it. We have "Slavic Village",https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadw...Slavic_Village we have at least two restaurants in Cleveland's Little Italy where the chefs are actually Albanian, Our City Sandwich is The Polish Boy, pirogi are as common as pizza, for many Clevelanders, Christmas and Easter mean "Kolache", a rolled pastry stuffed with Apricot, apple, berries, and "leckvar" poppyseeds (don't knock it if you haven't tried it) - among other things. https://www.bing.com/alink/link?url=...63197002623223
The Lenten Season, begins with paczki (Polish filled Doughnuts). During Lent, pirogi pizza is a "thing"
Parma may be in Italy, but Eastern European Americans, are in Parma OH.
In NYC (especially The Bronx and Queens) - you find Albanians in areas formerly dominated by Italians. As one told me directly he said - many of them actually went to work in Italy first before coming to NY - so it's natural for them to live around Italians. I guess Cleveland is the same thing. We got into the conversation because he and his cousin both supported Italian teams in Serie A. So I asked how did they as Albanians start supporting Italian teams..
All of New York and New England had West Indian migration from the colonial days and onward. People moving from NYC is a much more recent phenomenon and not unique really to Connecticut. It’s definitely not the source of most Jamaicans in CT- having live there for 4 years and gotten to know date and befriend many Hartford Jamaicans I know this not to be true.
If you really want to learn more about the originals of West Indians in CT, UConn has a ton of information
It’s less spill over from New York and more CT and Southern New England in general have the same climactic and topographical conditions as the New York City area and a similar industrial and immigrant based city usually around rivers (Providence River, Connecticut River, Mystic River, Housatonic River, Charles River, Merrimack River, Hudson River, East River) that supplied the energy, transit and water sources to create cities like Lowel, Waterbury, Paterson, Hartford, Providence, Fall River, Central Falls etc…
It’s not like every major NYC group is present to the same extent in CT, certain groups find certain cities and more or less skip over other ones.
https://zipatlas.com/us/city-compari...-community.htm
In the case of Albanians, funnily enough 3 of the top 10 cities for Albanians are in Massachusetts- Boston, Worcester and Quincy. Worcester being just ahead of Waterbury (but a much larger city). Hartford , Bridgeport, and Stamford dont rank though.
I can tell you almost 100% I know more about the migration patterns of Jamaicans than any UCONN study. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt the overwhelming MAJORITY (does not mean all) went to NYC primarily or South Florida secondarily (and many who are in Florida initially migrated to NY). It doesn't mean there aren't farm workers who were in Louisiana or Indiana. But they are a tiny minority in comparison.
As to Albanians in 1919. That's not even close to when most migrated to the US. That would be the latter half of the 20th century. I'm not Albanian - but I am from an immigrant family. I know how diasporas think. For the first generation people like to cluster and they move places based on where their own kind is and moves to... They then recruit others. As you see later in the thread an Albanian said their family settled in Boston AFTER first moving to NY. I know the cycle because an immigrant family - ours had similar experiences.
Cleveland wasn't there so I will add it. We have "Slavic Village",https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadw...Slavic_Village we have at least two restaurants in Cleveland's Little Italy where the chefs are actually Albanian, Our City Sandwich is The Polish Boy, pirogi are as common as pizza, for many Clevelanders, Christmas and Easter mean "Kolache", a rolled pastry stuffed with Apricot, apple, berries, and "leckvar" poppyseeds (don't knock it if you haven't tried it) - among other things. https://www.bing.com/alink/link?url=...63197002623223
The Lenten Season, begins with paczki (Polish filled Doughnuts). During Lent, pirogi pizza is a "thing"
Parma may be in Italy, but Eastern European Americans, are in Parma OH.
You are so well read and you articulate your thoughts so well. Always a pleasure to read these informative posts.
In NYC (especially The Bronx and Queens) - you find Albanians in areas formerly dominated by Italians. As one told me directly he said - many of them actually went to work in Italy first before coming to NY - so it's natural for them to live around Italians. I guess Cleveland is the same thing. We got into the conversation because he and his cousin both supported Italian teams in Serie A. So I asked how did they as Albanians start supporting Italian teams..
That's true about the Bronx and Queens. I am originally from NYC. My nephew met his wife at Fordham law about five years ago. She is the daughter of Albanian immigrants.
I can tell you almost 100% I know more about the migration patterns of Jamaicans than any UCONN study.
Lmao. No, I *really* doubt that. It is the state university of the most Jamaican state in the US, with a campus in Hartford. A premier Tier 1 research univeristy at that. I majored in Urban and Glob Studies while in Hartford and did much work with the community. The vast majority of Hartford Jamaicans have never lived in New York City at any point.i can't soeakbto Brisgelort Noewalk Stamford and New Haven. But yea, there is a reason their deepest concentration is in Hartford, the major CT city *furthest* from NYC…
Also the first Albanian to live in the US migrated to….Boston. Not NYC.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 05-11-2024 at 07:39 AM..
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