Queens—specifically Rego Park and Forest Hills—is home to many Bukharan Jews from Central Asia, the result of emigration since the 1970s. Rego Park is sometimes given a “-stan” suffix (like the countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) and is nicknamed “Rego Parkistan.”
108th Street in Rego Park has been called the “Bukharan Broadway” or “Bukharian Broadway.” Many Bukharian restaurants and shops can be found in the area.
The name “Buharlem” or “Bukharlem” (Bukhara + Harlem) has also been applied to the area, showing that the area is as vibrant for Central Asian immigrants as Harlem once was for African-Americans.
Bukharan Jews, also Bukharian Jews or Bukhari Jews, (Hebrew: בוכרים, Bukharim) are Jews from Central Asia who speak Bukhori, a dialect of the Persian language. Their name comes from the former Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara, which once had a sizeable Jewish community. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the vast majority were evacuated to Israel or the United States, while others have emigrated to Europe or Australia.
Currently, Bukharian Jews are mostly concentrated in the U.S. cities of New York, Arizona, Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, as well as in Israel, Austria, Russia, France England, Australia, Argentina, and Uzbekistan. New York City’s 108th Street, often referred to as “Buharlem” or “Bukharian Broadway” in Forest Hills, Queens, is filled with Bukharian restaurants and gift shops. They have formed a tight-knit enclave in this area that was once primarily inhabited by Ashkenazi Jews (many of the Ashkenazi had also become more assimilated to wider American and American Jewish culture with successive generations).
On the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5765 (2005), the Bukharian Jewish Community of Queens (mainly Rego Park and Forest Hills) celebrated the opening of the Bukharian Jewish Congress. This establishment further reflects the growing Bukharian community in Queens and their desire to preserve their identity in an ever-changing world.