The Greek diaspora of New York City has caught the attention of The Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), as one of more than 800 languages spoken in New York City — one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world, the organization claims.
The book Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas by Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Shapiro contains a “map of languages” inside that is sure to get your attention. The map was created by Molly Roy with help from the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA) and their data.
The map shows where there are concentrations of people in New York City speaking the same language and it is no surprise that Greek and Cretan dialect made the map and dominate the neighborhood of Astoria.
The neighborhood of Astoria is known as a Greek hub — perhaps the biggest concentration of Greek diaspora in the nation — and is located in the northwestern corner of the New York City borough of Queens.