When I read accounts of the heaving masses of early New York, I’m sometimes surprised the island didn’t just give up and sink back down into the Atlantic Ocean. The steady stream of people who flock to the city for its opportunities brings a constant renewal of culture, intellect, and skill. The immigrant experience that is more of a history in rural and suburban parts of the country –“when your great-grandfather came over from Ireland with $10 in his pocket…” –is a daily reality in New York. The city’s ability to accept immigrants and incorporate their unique offerings revitalizes the city and fosters innovations that keep New York a city of global importance. Some even go so far as to say that these newcomers represent the true New York.
NYC could not function without its trade culture. On the way to class today, I drank a cup of coffee made with beans imported from Columbia. In a home in colonial New York, tea was made with leaves imported from India. Like any city, New York imports that which it cannot efficiently produce itself (which at this point, is nearly everything). The act of importing has for several centuries fostered a vibrant diffusion in the ports of the city. The city’s long history of immigration has facilitated a tradition of the importing of human capital.
Considering New York in the physical sense brings to mind famous buildings, the waterfront, Central Park. The subway system runs beneath the surface of lower Manhattan, shaking the foundations of less-than-perfectly constructed apartment buildings. As fits any destination landmark, it has a gift shop. The MTA Transit Museum gift shop sells any conceivable souvenir item (yes, even socks) with subway letters plastered all over it. Beyond the fact that the system stuffs New Yorkers and tourists alike into a tiny car like sardines in a can, the very construction of the system was quintessentially New York. Drawing upon the masses of immigrant labor, the team behind the construction of the subway system benefitted from the skills of Italian artisans. Much of New York’s success can be attributed to immigrant contributions.
This constant import of new skill sets has facilitated a long history of reinvention. Last night at dinner, President Sexton talked about another import-related success story—The Courant Institute. Globally renowned for its achievements in applied mathematics, the Institute became exceedingly strong at a time when NYU wasn’t the top-ranking university it is today. The namesake of the school, Richard Courant, was a German Jew who was forced to leave his homeland. Other German Jews who had to leave Germany in the years leading up to WWII were brought onboard, and before long the University was in possession of a world-class mathematics faculty. In a fittingly New York fashion, NYU can attribute this success to the input of newcomers.
