Table 2–1 Demographic Trends in New York City, 1890–1940, ~ Total Numbers and Percentages of New York City Population59
The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of the How Mafia Captured New York Chapter Two: Prohibition and the Rise of the Sicilians enclaves. In 1910, 41% of its residents had been born outside America. While Germans and Irish were the largest immigrant groups in the 1800s, Jews and Italians were the largest groups by the early 1900s. “Within the brief span of less than a generation the ethnic composition of the metropolis altered radically,” explains demographer Ira Rosenwaike. “[P]ersons of Jewish and Italian background had become numerically superior to those of Irish and German descent.”58 Table 2–1 Demographic Trends in New York City, 1890–1940, ~ Total Numbers and Percentages of New York City Population59 Census Irish Jewish Italian Black NYC Total Year Population 1890 624,000 (26%) 175,000 (7%) 67,000 (2%) 35,000 (<2%) 2,321,000 1900 710,000 (20%) 510,000 (14%) 216,000 (6%) 60,000 (<2%) 3,437,000 1910 676,000 (14%) 1,050,000 (22%) 544,000 (11%) 91,000 (<2%) 4,766,000 1920 616,000 (10%) 1,600,000 (28%) 802,000 (14%) 152,000 (2%) 5,620,000 1930 613,000 (8%) 1,800,000 (25%) 1,070,000 (15%) 327,000 (4%) 6,930,000 1940 518,000 (6%) 1,785,000 (23%) 1,785,000 (23%) 458,000 (6%) 7,454,000 In Chapter Three: The Racketeer Cometh, we will see how these demographic trends bolstered the Mafia’s labor racketeering. Now, let us look at their social effects on the underworld.
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