Bienvenidos a Nueva York
In response to recent census figures that show a whopping twenty-five per cent of New Yorkers speak Spanish, the Post trots out Sandra Guzman to offer some celebratory thoughts:
WHEN I heard about the new Census numbers - that one out of four New Yorkers speaks Spanish - I did not choke on my taco. I was eating corned beef and cabbage at an Irish pub.
What surprised me the most was that it took a study to figure out the obvious - that the Big Apple is really la Gran Manzana.
Wow, no cutesy ethnic stereotyping or gratuitous use of Spanish for authenticity here! You'll find the rest of the column after the jump.
From the churro salesmen on the subway to the hombres de negocios in the great glass towers, Latinos give new meaning to the "new" in New York.
In the process, the city's Latino entrepreneurs are helping revive the economy like a quick kick to the head helps revive a drunken frat boy in a Mexican jail. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in New York grew faster than anywhere else in the nation - 60 percent from 1997 to 2002. Many of them even work in industries that have nothing to do with landscaping!
This growing trend is something to shout Arriba! about - so Minutemen maricones, Border Patrol wannabes and haters, lean back!
There was one thing that I did find curious with the study - a startling 47 percent of Spanish speakers admitted that they spoke English less than well. Ay, que triste.
I applaud my vatos for their courageous honesty.
But given the mangled English I hear every day on the subway, I wonder how many native New Yorkers - from Bensonhurst to Staten Island - would honestly declare how well they really speak English. It's enough to make you choke on your rice and beans.
