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Surge in LI's Asians

Indians lead 58% rise in population

By Emi Endo | Staff Writer

May 23, 2001

When Rajesh Kumar opened a store selling basmati rice, lentils and other South Asian staples, he remembers, there was only one other Indian supermarket in Hicksville.

Thirteen years later, he has expanded his House of Spices into a space three times larger. A cluster of grocery stores, restaurants and beauty salons has sprung up on the street, catering to an Indian population that has nearly doubled in the past decade.

Shops offering familiar goods and services helped make the area attractive to Indians, said Kumar, who also lives in Hicksville. "When they see a few here, he said, "it gives them a neighborly feeling.

Long Islanders identifying themselves solely as Indian have surpassed the Chinese as the largest group of Asians, according to census data released yesterday.

The Asian population on the Island surged more than 58 percent in the past 10 years. In 1990, Asians accounted for 2.4 percent of the population; last year, they made up 3.6 percent. One of the factors for the growth among Asians is that many are moving from the city to the suburbs. Philip Kasinitz, an associate director at the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, said Asians were following a pattern established in previous generations by Jewish and Italian immigrant families.

"One can generally say that if you have a large population growth in Queens, he said, "you're going to get a similar growth in Nassau a decade later.

While the Chinese population grew by more than 44 percent to 26,338 from 18,257, the Indian population shot up nearly 96 percent to 34,333 from 17,523 in 1990. Much of the growth among Indians can be attributed to those coming on high-skilled temporary worker visas and relatives joining families that have already immigrated, according to community leaders and academics.

"It's not just that growth is constituted as much by middle-class immigrants going from the city proper to the suburbs, said Sandhya Shukla, who teaches anthropology and Asian- American studies at Columbia University. "There are also service workers going to Long Island.

Real estate broker Raj Gandhi said many Indian immigrants who have saved money while living in apartments in Queens settle in western Nassau County. In addition to Floral Park, Gandhi works in New Hyde Park, where the Indian population multiplied more than fourfold. North New Hyde Park is now 14.9 percent Asian, compared with 3.3 percent a decade ago, the data shows.

"When they are looking for houses, they want to go for better schools and a better living style, Gandhi said, citing the convenience of commuting into Manhattan.

Avinash Suri, the president of the Indian Association of Long Island, lives in East Meadow, another community where the Indian population more than doubled. "When we moved here, Suri said, "we had to go all the way to Jackson Heights for our shopping. Now it is more convenient, she said, referring to nearby Hicksville, where the number of Indians increased to 1,772 from 671 a decade ago.

There are beauty salons in Hicksville that offer "threading, a traditional South Asian alternative to waxing in which a beautician plucks eyebrows with the use of a thread.

And a travel agency touts low fares to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Evidence of Indian communities planting roots on Long Island can also be seen in local religious institutions and entertainment.

Indians and Indian-Americans have a presence at many places of worship, including Sikh temples in Plainview and Glen Cove, the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, various Hindu temples and the First Church of God in Elmont, a community that is home to an Indian population of nearly 2,000 residents.

"That has really brought the community together, said Raj Prasad, of Farmingville, who has lived in Suffolk for 30 years. "Fifteen or 20 years ago, there was no temple here.

Indian movies play on the big screen at the Brentwood Theater and the Mid-Island Theatre in Bethpage. Stars of "Bollywood -- Bombay's answer to Hollywood -- played at the Westbury Music Fair last week. Bollywood night at the Nassau Coliseum draws about 18,000 fans.

Ram Sinha, the chairman of the Indian American Democratic Club of Long Island that formed several years ago, said he hoped Indian-Americans would gently assert themselves politically. "We must pay attention to the coming generation without disturbing the chemistry of the society we live in, said the Sands Point resident.

Chinese on Long Island, who have established Chinese-language schools and started buffet restaurants, are the second largest group among Asians, making up nearly 27 percent of the category. But the group tends to be more diffuse.

Mingder Chang, principal of a new Chinese school in Plainview, said the 250 students come from "Hicksville, Huntington, Stony Brook, all over the place.

The Korean population, the third largest group among Asians, increased by 39 percent to 12,548, up from 9,024 a decade ago.

While there are larger numbers of Koreans in Jericho and Commack, in the Village of Manorhaven the number of Koreans multiplied from 57 in 1990 to 285 last year.

Manorhaven Deputy Mayor Jennifer Wilson-Pines said affordable housing, including apartment rentals and duplexes, has made the area historically appealing to immigrants. "This is where the Italians came in who worked in the sand pits, she said, calling the peninsula "our mini-immigration area.