Little Syria: New York's Most Overlooked Historical Treasure

posted on: Feb 19, 2020

Streets of Little Syria, Library of Congress

Picture New York City. What do you see? Do you see the Empire State Building? Or do you picture Central Park? Maybe busy and tourist-filled Times Square? Have you enjoyed dinner in Little Italy? Perhaps you are a New York native, do you see your favorite quaint spots? Regardless of what you pictured, most people will not answer with “Little Syria” to this question.

However, New York City’s lost treasure is Little Syria, which is also known as the Syrian Quarter. Following the influx of immigration in the late 1800s, immigrants from the Arab world, specifically the greater Syrian area, found home in this little neighborhood. Quickly, businesses were established, stories were written, and a sense of community was discovered. However, as quickly as it came, it was also forgotten in the hustle and bustle of New York City.

Little Syria: The Roots

Syrian American Wedding, 1929, Vera Tamoush

Immigration and Settling 

Between the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, America saw a high influx of immigrants. Millions of immigrants from different countries, such as Syria, Greece, and Armenia, flooded the gates of Ellis Island in New York City. Traveling to America was a challenge in and of itself, however settling in and finding community was a separate, but formidable issue.

Thousands from the Larger Syrian area, such as modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, also passed through the Ellis Island gates. Whether they were escaping religious persecution under the Ottoman Empire or the burden of poverty, many of these people ended up finding homes in Little Syria, which was the area around Washington Street, from Battery Park to Rector Street. Conveniently, this neighborhood was located near the docks, and the men were able to find some work here.

By 1899, there were about 3,000 residents here that immigrated from the Larger Syrian area. However, only nine years later did the Syrian Business Directory detail the upwards 300 businesses established by the immigrant people here. Specifically, there were about 70 linen businesses that popped up. Many of these shops were staffed by women with ties to the Lebanese silk industry, and eventually, Rector Street became known as the lingerie capital of New York. All of this embodied the entrepreneurial spirit of the Syrian immigrants in this area and was a testament to their skills and ambition. The 1920s and 1960s also saw immigration bans, which restricted the amount of Arab people entering the U.S.

Literature 

Ameen Rihani, 1904, Wikipedia

Aside from industry and local businesses, there was also an increase in publications in the area. For example, the country’s first Arabic language publication entitled al-Hoda, or “the guidance” was published here. Naoum Mokarzel spearheaded this newspaper and helped innovate the publication industry with linotype machines fitted with Arabic letters. Without such innovation, the more than fifty Arabic language periodicals would not have been printed.

However, newspapers were not the only form of media being published in Little Syria. Kahlil Gibran, who called this neighborhood home, was a Lebanese author and artist. He is best known for his work entitled The Prophet, which was written in 1923 and paved the way for him to be the third best-selling poet ever and in the same company as Shakespeare and Laozi.

Gibran additionally founded the Arab-American literary society called The Pen League. Another significant member of The Pen League is a Lebanese writer and political activist named Ameen Rihani. Rihani is an important figure because he is often regarded as the founding father of Arab-American literature. In his 1911 work entitled The Book of Khalid, Rihani provided the first English novel by an Arab-American writer, and also used Little Syria as the backdrop for his story. His writing was specifically impressive because of its high level of style.

Little Syria Today

 

St. George Chapel, New York City in area once known as Little Syria, AFP

Today, if you were to take a trip to Little Syria, you would find three buildings. You would see a Syrian Malachite Greek Catholic Church, a tenement house, and the Downtown Community House. The first wave of destruction began in 1946. The City of New York began construction on the Battery Tunnel but at the expense of the Little Syrian neighborhood. This caused many people to relocate, specifically many people headed over to Atlantic Avenue and Brooklyn Heights, however, these neighborhoods never compared to the 300 businesses, 70 linen shops, and the books that took place in Little Syria.

There was yet another wave of destruction. The events of September 11th, 2001 would drastically alter the culture surrounding Little Syria, and the Arab-American identity as a whole. At face value, the collapse of the World Trade Center also brought down some of the buildings in Little Syria as well. Some of the buildings were found beneath the rubble.

Arab-American Identity

Negotiating an Arab-American Identity, Universiteit Leiden

However, September 11th, 2001 didn’t only symbolize the physical destruction of Little Syria. This time was also a difficult time for Arab-American people. This date is a formative period in the lives of many Americans, no matter the diaspora they are from. Many Americans feared further terror attacks and became wary of other populations, specifically the Arab people.

These Post 9/11 narratives that have painted Arab people as enemies and in a negative light are not realistic narratives of the Arab world. Mainstream discourse doesn’t provide accurate representations, and instead, it provides ignorance. At this time, there were no discourse or narratives that painted the shared experiences between Arab-Americans and their other American counterparts.

Little stories depict the contributions from Arab-Americans to American society. While it may be hard to understand what different lives and experiences, it is important for the rest of the American population to be able to draw similarities or commonalities between their culture and Arab-American culture.

Stories keep the culture alive. Therefore, remembering stories like Little Syria is a road to a better understanding of Arab American culture. Through this story, we can see the similarities that Arab Americans have to the “standard American”. These people came here and formulated the community, as we have seen time and time again in history.

Such stories are not meant to be forgotten, and people like Todd Fine work to keep the awareness and understanding of Little Syria alive through walking tours. Seeing these shared experiences across many people help keep the stories alive and draw on understandings and tolerance.

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