Jews and Puerto Ricans in NYC

The city of New York has many names, including the “Big Apple”, and the “City that Never Sleeps”.  Among these names is perhaps its most accurate, the “Melting Pot”.  The melting pot, filled with Italians, Irish, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Indians, Blacks, and more, was made popular to characterize New York City in 1908 on account of the play conveniently called: “The Melting Pot”.  Jews, among other groups, were treated less than fairly by other members of the NYC community.  The immigrant groups that came during this time, like many Jews, Italians, and Puerto Ricans, were more heavily affected by the Great Depression.  Puerto Rico was hit by the Depression after the mainland US because its economy is dependent on ours, and when the US tanked, so did they.  This brought many Puerto Ricans to the US in search of better opportunity and better conditions, but like many Jews that came to America seeking opportunity at this time, they found little to nothing.  On account of the similarities in treatment and exposure to hardship, the Puerto Rican and Jewish communities, along with other smaller minorities formed tightly knit communities on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  Although nicknamed the melting pot, the areas and communities in NYC did not fully  homogenize.