Little Manilas have emerged in the New York City metropolitan area, located in
Woodside, Queens;
Jersey City, New Jersey; and
Bergenfield, New Jersey; in addition to smaller Filipino American subenclaves developing throughout the metropolitan region.
Woodside, Queens , Queens, New York City.
Woodside, Queens, known as Filipinotown, is commonly known for its concentration of Filipinos. Filipino cafés and restaurants dominate the area, as well as several
freight delivery and
remittance centers scattered throughout the neighborhood. the
69th Street station serves as the gateway to Queens' largest Little Manila, along with other public transportation such as the Long Island Railroad and buses. The coverage of Little Manila is along
Roosevelt Avenue, between 58th and 74th Streets. There are also smaller Filipino communities in
Jamaica, Queens and parts of
Brooklyn. The
Benigno Aquino Triangle is located on
Hillside Avenue in
Hollis, Queens to commemorate the slain Filipino political leader and to recognize the large Filipino American population in the area. In February 2008, the Bayanihan Filipino Community Center opened its doors in Woodside, a project spearheaded by the Philippine Forum. The Philippine Forum also hosts the annual Bayanihan Cultural Festival at the Hart Playground in September to commemorate Filipino American History Month. On June 12, 2022, a sign-unveiling ceremony and celebration were held at the intersection of 70th Street and Roosevelt Avenue to commemorate the Filipino community’s growing presence and contributions in Queens. Concomitantly, there is also a Roosevelt Avenue in
Quezon City, Philippines. The corner in Queens was co-named "Little Manila Avenue”.
Manhattan in
Manhattan. The
Philippine Consulate of New York has a multipurpose role – aside from its governmental duties and functions, it also caters to many events of the Filipino American community and even has a school called
Paaralan sa Konsulado (School at the consulate), which teaches newer-generation Filipino Americans about their culture and language. The consulate is known as the
Philippine Center. The Philippine Center's large edifice is situated on
Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and is open to the public on business days and closed on Philippine and American holidays. The building itself is considered as the largest foreign consulate on the strip of the avenue. The
Archdiocese of New York designated a chapel named after the first Filipino Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila for the
Filipino Apostolate. Officially designated as the "Church of Filipinos," the
Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz in
Lower Manhattan is only the third in the world and the first in the United States dedicated as such.
Eastern Long Island Long Island, with its vibrant and burgeoning Asian American populations including Chinese Americans,
Indian Americans,
Korean Americans, and
Vietnamese Americans, now adds the relatively recent growth of Filipino Americans as well, following the overall eastward expansion from Queens into
Nassau and particularly
Suffolk counties.
Northern and Central New Jersey .
Northern and
Central New Jersey are home to significant overseas Filipino populations, numbering more than 100,000 statewide, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. While Filipinos can be found across the state, the commercial districts catering to the Filipino community are found mostly in the state's urban areas. State and local governments in the Garden State have a significant number of employees of Filipino background, and they play a vital role in the state's affairs, issues, commerce, and health care. Filipino enclaves exist in
Jersey City,
Bergenfield,
Paterson,
Passaic,
Union City,
Elizabeth, and most recently,
Edison. As of 2021,
Jollibee, the restaurant
conglomerate headquartered in
Ortigas Center,
Pasig, in
Metro Manila, had five branch locations in Northern and Central Jersey, including three in
Jersey City alone.
Bergen County,
Hudson County,
Middlesex County, and
Passaic County have developed in Northern and Central New Jersey as popular destinations for Filipino Americans. Within Bergen County,
Bergenfield, along with
Paramus,
Hackensack,
New Milford,
Dumont, have developed growing Filipino populations. Taken as a whole, these municipalities are home to a significant proportion of Bergen County's Philippine population. A census-estimated 20,859 Filipino Americans resided in Bergen County as of 2013, embodying an increase from the 19,155 counted in 2010. The Philippine-American Community of Bergen County (PACBC) organization is based in Paramus, while other Filipino organizations are based in Fair Lawn and Bergenfield. Bergen County's vibrant and culturally active Filipino community repatriated significant financial assistance to victims of
Typhoon Haiyan, which ravaged the
Philippines in November 2013. In Hudson County, Jersey City is home to the largest Filipino population in New Jersey, with over 16,000 Filipinos as of 2010.
Holy Name Medical Center in
Teaneck, Bergen County, launched its
Filipino Medical Program in December 2015.
Jersey City: Five Corners, Newark Avenue, and Manila Avenue Seven percent (7%) of
Jersey City's population is of Filipino descent, part of community who first came to city in the late 1950s. The
Five Corners district has a thriving Filipino community that forms one of the largest Asian-American subgroups in the city.
Newark Avenue's strip of Filipino culture and commerce is significantly large and growing. A variety of Filipino restaurants, shippers and freighters, doctors' offices, bakeries, stores, and even an office of
The Filipino Channel have made Newark Avenue their home in recent decades. The first Filipino-owned grocery store on the East Coast, Phil-Am Food, originated in Jersey City in 1973; while the establishment's name has since been changed to FilStop, the moniker
Phil-Am has nonetheless expanded to other businesses in
Middlesex County, including in
Woodbridge and
East Brunswick. An array of Filipino-owned businesses can also be found in Jersey City's
West Side section, which is home to many locals of Filipino descent. In 2006,
Red Ribbon Bakeshop opened its first branch on the East Coast, with Jersey City being the site of the new pastry shop.
Manila Avenue in
Downtown Jersey City was named for the Philippine capital city because of the many Filipinos who had built their homes on the street during the 1970s. A memorial dedicated to the Filipino American veterans of the Vietnam War was built in a small square on Manila Avenue. Additionally, a park and statue dedicated to
José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, exist in downtown Jersey City. Furthermore, Jersey City is the host of the annual Philippine-American Friendship Day Parade, an event that occurs yearly on the last Sunday of June. The City Hall of Jersey City raises the Philippine flag in correlation with this event and as a tribute to the contributions of the local Filipino community. The city's annual Santakrusan procession has taken place since 1977 along Manila Avenue. In 2011, Rolando Lavarro, Jr. became the first Filipino American in Jersey City to win an elective position as a city council member, and in 2013, Lavarro became the first Filipino American council president of Jersey City. Several other Filipinos have been appointed to various Jersey City municipal posts and commissions. In 2014, Filipino-born attorney Arvin Amatorio was elected a
borough councilman. On the other side of Bergen County, the Filipino population of
Fair Lawn was estimated to have more than doubled between 2010 and 2017. Also in Bergen County, Jonathan Wong was elected city councilman in
Mahwah in November 2014.
Edison Edison and the surrounding areas of Middlesex County, New Jersey, have emerged as a growing hub for Filipinos since 1990. A significant number of Filipinos in Middlesex County work in the burgeoning healthcare and other
life-science disciplines at
Central Jersey's numerous medical and
pharmaceutical institutions. ==Culture==