New York City Huddled Masses Yearning

New York City's great immigration tradition got off to a booming start because of potatoes–yes, potatoes. The Irish Potato Famine brought an influx of Irish immigrants who thanked their 8 Lucky Charms that they made it to the City; in fact, they comprised a whopping one quarter of NYC's population by 1850. The immigrant influx led to the creation of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which created the New York City grid system as a way to sell land in an organized fashion to all the new folks. Most of these immigrants sympathized with the South during the Civil War; they liked conscription even less than New Yorkers today like the Red Sox, and the New York Draft Riots of 1863 were the largest civil uprising in American history, excluding the Civil War. Immigration from Europe continued after the war, and after France's gift in 1886, they were greeted by Lady Liberty herself upon entering the city. Around this time, a slew of African-Americans from the South made their way up to the City, and this Great Migration laid the foundations of the Harlem Renaissance.

Fast forward a few decades to the period following World War I. Immigration to the United States began to wane, as several measures were taken to control the influx of newcomers, including the Immigration Act of 1917. After World War II, New York experienced the “Great Migration,” during which more than half a million Puerto Ricans entered the Big Apple. Among other things, this surge in the Puerto Rican population inspired one of the most popular American musicals of all time (thank you, Leonard Bernstein). Whether you're a Shark or a Jet, you can't help but weep a little when the dulcet chords of “Somewhere” begin.