Indians in the New York City metropolitan region

India Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, is home to the highest concentration of Asian Indians in the Western Hemisphere, ^[1] and one of at least 24 Indian American enclaves characterized as a Little India which have emerged within the New York City Metropolitan Area, with the largest metropolitan Indian population outside Asia, as large-scale immigration from India continues into New York City. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Indians in the New York City metropolitan area constitute one of the largest and fastest growing ethnicities in the New York City metropolitan area of the United States. The New York City region is home to the largest Indian American population among metropolitan areas by a significant margin, enumerating 711,174 uniracial individuals by the 2013–2017 U.S. Census American Community Survey estimates. ^[6] The Asian Indian population also represents the second-largest metropolitan Asian national diaspora both outside of Asia and within the New York City metropolitan area, following the also rapidly growing and hemisphere-leading population of the estimated 893,697 uniracial Chinese in the New York City metropolitan area in 2017. ^[7] The U.S. state of New Jersey, most of whose population is situated within the New York City metropolitan region, has by a significant margin the highest proportional Indian population concentration of any U.S. state, with a Census-estimated 4.1% of New Jersey's population being an individual of Indian origin in 2017. ^[8]

History

New India House, the home of the Indian Consulate-General in New York, on East 64th Street, in the Upper East Side Historic District of Manhattan

The first Indian to become a naturalized U.S. citizen was Bhicaji Balsara, a resident of New York. ^[9] However, this was after the Luce–Celler Act of 1946 that restored naturalization rights to Indian Americans in the United States. ^[10] A number of Indian Americans came to the U.S. via Indian communities from other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, Suriname, Guyana, ^[11] Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Jamaica. The quota on Indian immigration was removed in the 1960s, leading to exponential growth in the number of Indian immigrants to the United States. ^[12] While Indians prior to this time were primarily involved in agricultural endeavors or constructing railroads in the western United States, ^[12] the largest number hereafter came to New York City and its affluent suburban environs, consisting largely of professionals, including physicians, engineers, financiers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and lawyers, as well as businesspeople. ^[12] By 1974, there was a notable Indian population in the greater New York area, with particular concentrations in Hoboken, New Jersey and Flushing, Queens, though neither was strongly identified as a Little India at this point and there was already a push out to the suburbs. ^[13] As the 20th century came to a close, this started to change however, with growing concentrations of Indians in areas such as Middlesex County, New Jersey, where 55,000 Indians lived by 2000 and in Jersey City. ^[14] During the 1990s, these two areas would see their main centers of Indian commerce - Oak Tree Road in Edison, New Jersey, and Newark Avenue in the Journal Square neighborhood in Jersey City become primarily Indian, compared to the 1970s and 1980s, where there was a more of a mixture of businesses. ^[14] An Indian enclave also emerged in Jackson Heights during the late 20th century, with a strip of Indian stores on 74th Street, though many Indians actually lived in the adjacent, cheaper neighborhood of Elmhurst. ^[15]

Demographics

All except the pink/lavender-illustrated counties compose the New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island NY–NJ–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, the most populous in the US:
  New York–Jersey City–White Plains, NY–NJ Metropolitan Division
Dutchess County–Putnam County, NY Metropolitan Division
Nassau County–Suffolk County, NY Metropolitan Division
Newark, NJ–PA Metropolitan Division
  Remainder of the New York-Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area

The New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area, consisting of New York City, Long Island, and adjacent areas within New York State, as well as nearby areas within the states of New Jersey (extending to Trenton), Connecticut (extending to Bridgeport), and including Pike County, Pennsylvania, was home to an estimated 711,174 Indian Americans as of the 2013–2017 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, ^[6] comprising by far the largest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the United States; ^[16] New York City itself also contains by far the highest Indian American population of any individual city in North America, estimated at 246,454 as of 2017. ^[17] At least twenty four Indian American enclaves characterized as a Little India have emerged in the New York City metropolitan area. As of December 2019, Indian airline carrier Air India as well as United States airline carrier United Airlines were offering direct flights from the New York City Metropolitan Area to and from Delhi and Mumbai. Delta Air Lines inaugurated non-stop flight service from JFK International Airport to Mumbai in December 2019.

The Indian American population in the New York City metropolitan region was second in its population as an Asian ethnicity only to the approximately 893,697 uniracial Chinese New Yorkers as of 2017. ^{[6] [7]} However, while the presence and growth of the Chinese population is focused on New York City and Long Island in New York State, the gravitas of the Indian population is roughly evenly split between New Jersey and New York State. ^{[18] [19]}

Central New Jersey, at the geographic heart of the Northeast Megalopolis, has emerged as the largest hub for Indian immigrants to the U.S., followed closely by Queens and Nassau County on Long Island. Oak Tree Road in Edison and Iselin is known as an Indian dining and shopping destination.

Jersey City in New Jersey has the highest proportion of Asian Indians of any major U.S. city, comprising 10.9% of the overall population of Jersey City in 2010, ^[20] increasing to 11.4% by 2013. ^[21] Bergen County, New Jersey and Rockland County, New York are home to the highest concentrations of Malayalis outside of India. ^[22] Carteret, Middlesex County's Punjabi Sikh community, variously estimated at upwards of 3,000, is the largest concentration of Sikhs in New Jersey. ^[23] Smaller populations of Asian Indians reside in the Connecticut and Pennsylvania portions of the New York City metropolitan region. Monroe Township, Middlesex County, in central New Jersey, the geographic heart of the Northeast megalopolis and ranked one of the ten safest cities in the United States, ^[24] has displayed one of the fastest growth rates of its Indian population in the Western Hemisphere, increasing from 256 (0.9%) as of the 2000 Census ^[25] to an estimated 5,943 (13.6%) as of 2017, ^[26] representing a 2,221.5% (a multiple of 23) numerical increase over that period, including many affluent professionals and senior citizens as well as charitable benefactors to the Covid-19 relief efforts in India in official coordination with Monroe Township, in addition to Bollywood actors with second homes. By 2022, the Indian population was approaching one-third of Monroe Township’s population, and the nickname Edison-South had developed, in reference to the Little India stature of both townships. ^[27] A community named Raajipo has emerged within nearby Robbinsville, in Mercer County, New Jersey, home of Swaminarayan Akshardham ( Devnagari: स्वामिनारायण अक्षरधाम), inaugurated in 2014 as the world's largest Hindu temple. ^[28] Sikhs have established significant concentrations in Queens and Nassau County in New York and in Middlesex, Bergen, and Hudson counties in New Jersey.

In 2014, 12,350 Indians legally immigrated to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA core based statistical area; ^[29] in 2013, this number was 10,818; ^[30] in 2012, 10,550; ^[31] 11,256 in 2011; ^[32] and 11,388 in 2010. ^[33] These numbers do not include the remainder of the New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. New Jersey is the only U.S. state in which immigrants born in India comprised the largest foreign-born nationality, representing approximately 10% of all foreign-born residents in the state. ^[34]

New York City boroughs

As the city proper with the largest Asian Indian population in the United States by a wide margin, with an estimated 227,994 individuals as of the 2014 American Community Survey, ^[35] and as the primary destination for new Indian immigrants, ^[36] New York City is subdivided into official municipal boroughs, which themselves are home to significant Asian Indian and other South Asian populations. Note that this list includes neither the large Desi populations of Pakistani Americans, Bangladeshi Americans, and Sri Lankan Americans, nor Indo-Caribbean Americans, Afghan Americans, and others of South Asian origin who make their home in New York City. Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ), or Little Punjab, has emerged in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Medium and small-sized cities, as of 2012 American Community Survey

New Jersey

Aerial view of exurban Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey housing tracts in 2010. Since then, significant new housing construction is rendering an increasingly affluent and suburban environment to Monroe Township.

New Jersey, and Middlesex County in Central New Jersey), are home to by far the highest per capita Indian American populations of any U.S. state and U.S. county, respectively, at 3.9% ^[18] and 14.1%, ^[38] by 2013 U.S. Census estimates. ^[39]

• Carteret – 13.6%
• Cranbury CDP – 11.5%
• Cranbury Township – 10.5%
• East Windsor – 12.8%
• Edison – 28.3%
• Franklin – 14.6%
• Fords – 11.1%
• Iselin – 37.4%
• Monroe Township, New Jersey – 11.6% (2016) ^[40] By 2022, the Indian population was approaching one-third of Monroe Township’s population. ^[41]
• North Brunswick – 18.3%
• Parsippany – 17.3%
• Piscataway – 18.3%
• Plainsboro – 29.5%
• Robbinsville CDP – 15.7%
• Secaucus – 11.1%
• South Brunswick – 27.1%
• West Windsor – 19.2%
• Woodbridge – 15.3%

---

New York

• Nassau County on Long Island has become a major suburban destination for Indians:
  • Bellerose Terrace – 15.2%
  • Garden City Park – 18.1%
  • Herricks – 23.2%
  • Hicksville – 11.7%
  • Manhasset Hills – 18.3%
  • Searingtown – 18%

List of Little Indias

One of the most popular overseas branches of Saravanaa Bhavan, the world's largest Indian vegetarian restaurant chain, is located in Edison, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

In New Jersey

• Hudson County
  • Bombay, Jersey City, home of India Square
  • Newport, Jersey City ^[42]
• Mercer County
  • Robbinsville CDP (15.7% Asian Indian) ^[43]
  • West Windsor (19.2% Asian Indian) ^[43]
• Middlesex County, with the highest percentage of Asian Indians of any U.S. county, at nearly 20% in 2020
  • Monroe Township, with one of the fastest growth rates of its Indian population in the Western Hemisphere, increasing from 256 (0.9%) as of the 2000 Census ^[44] to an estimated 4,204 (10.0%) as of 2015, ^[45] representing a 1,542% (multiple of 16) numerical increase over that period. By 2022, the Indian population was approaching one-third of Monroe Township’s population. ^[46]
  • Oak Tree Road, Edison (28.3% Asian Indian) ^[47]
  • Oak Tree Road, Iselin (37.4% Asian Indian) ^[47]
  • Plainsboro (29.5% Asian Indian) ^[43]
  • Route 27, North Brunswick (18.3% Asian Indian) ^[43]
  • Route 27, South Brunswick (27.1% Asian Indian) ^[43]
  • Stelton Road, Piscataway (18.3% Asian Indian) ^[43]
  • Woodbridge Township (15.3% Asian Indian) ^[43]
• Morris County
  • Route 46, Parsippany (17.3% Asian Indian) ^[43]
• Somerset County
  • Bridgewater, in the vicinity of a Hindu temple on the central and western parts of the township

Bombay, Jersey City

Bombay, ^[48] in Jersey City, New Jersey, is home to the highest concentration of Asian Indians in the Western Hemisphere, ^[1] containing the rapidly growing Indian ethnic enclave of India Square. The neighborhood is centered on Newark Avenue, between Tonnele Avenue and JFK Boulevard, and is considered to be part of the larger Journal Square District. It has had a large concentration of Indian businesses since the 1970s, with about 15,000 Indians living in Jersey City by 1986. ^[49] This area has been home to the largest outdoor Navratri festivities in New Jersey as well as several Hindu temples. ^[50] This portion of Newark Avenue is lined with grocery stores, ^[51] electronics vendors, video stores, import/export businesses, clothing stores, and restaurants, and is one of the busier pedestrian areas of this part of the city, often stopping traffic for hours. According to the 2000 census, there were nearly 13,000 Indians living in this two-block stretch of Jersey City, up from 3,000 in 1980, increasing commensurately between 2000 and 2010. ^[52] An annual, color-filled spring Holi festival has taken place in Jersey City since 1992, centered upon India Square and attracting significant participation and international media attention. ^{[53] [54]} Although India Square continues to represent the heart of Little India in Jersey City, situated between Tonnele Avenue and John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Little India itself has been expanding further eastward along Newark Avenue, through Jersey City's Little Manila, to Summit Avenue and the Five Corners neighborhood.

In New York

Little India on 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens

• Nassau County, Long Island
  • Bellerose Terrace – 15.2%
  • Broadway/Route 107, Old Country Road, Hicksville ^[55]
  • Garden City Park – 18.1%
  • Herricks – 23.2%
  • Manhasset Hills – 18.3%
  • Searingtown – 18%
• New York City With over 650,000 Indo Americans, ^[16] the New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest metropolitan Asian Indian population in the Western Hemisphere.
  • Manhattan
    • Lexington Avenue, ^[56] in the neighborhoods of Rose Hill and Murray Hill in Midtown Manhattan, between 25th and 30th Streets (growing preponderance of South Indian cuisine), has become known as Curry Hill, ^[57] developing rapidly as Manhattan's Indian population nearly doubled between the 2000 and 2010 Census ^[58] and has continued to increase, to a Census-estimated 27,289 in 2013. ^[59]
    • East 6th Street, ^[60] in the East Village of Lower Manhattan, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, with many North Indian restaurants, and known as Curry Row.
  • Queens
    • Flushing, in the vicinity of the Hindu Temple Society of North America
    • Hillside Avenue, Bellerose Manor
    • Hillside Avenue, Floral Park
    • Hillside Avenue, Glen Oaks
    • Hillside Avenue, Jamaica
    • 73rd and 74th Streets between Roosevelt and 37th Avenues, Jackson Heights
    • Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ), Richmond Hill (Little Punjab)

Culture

New York City's annual India Day Parade, the world's largest Indian Independence Day parade outside India, ^[61] marches down Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The parade addresses controversial themes, including racism, sexism, corruption, and Bollywood.

The Hindu Temple Society of North America, representing Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam is the oldest Hindu temple in the Western Hemisphere, in Flushing, Queens, above. Further east on Long Island, in Melville, one of the world's largest BAPS temples opened in October 2016; ^[62]

Swaminarayan Akshardham ( Devnagari: स्वामिनारायण अक्षरधाम) in Robbinsville, Mercer County, New Jersey, inaugurated in 2014 as the world's largest Hindu temple, ^[28] above.

Sikh Center in Flushing, Queens

Commerce

Patel Brothers is the world’s large supermarket chain serving the Indian diaspora, with 57 locations in 19 U.S. states—primarily located in the New Jersey/New York Metropolitan Area, due to its large Indian population, and with the East Windsor/Monroe Township, New Jersey location representing the world’s largest and busiest Indian grocery store outside India.

Indian Independence Day Parade

The annual New York City India Day Parade, held on or approximately every August 15 since 1981, is the world's largest Indian Independence Day parade outside of India ^[61] and is hosted by The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA). According to the website of Baruch College of the City University of New York, "The FIA, which came into being in 1970 is an umbrella organization meant to represent the diverse Indian population of NYC. Its mission is to promote and further the interests of its 500,000 members and to collaborate with other Indian cultural organization. The FIA acts as a mouth piece for the diverse Indian-Asian population in United States, and is focused on furthering the interests of this diverse community. The parade begins on East 38th Street and continues down Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan until it reaches 28th Street. At the review stand on 28th Street, the grand marshal and various celebrities greet onlookers. Throughout the parade, participants find themselves surrounded by the saffron, white and green colors of the Indian flag. They can enjoy Indian food, merchandise booths, live dancing and music present at the Parade. After the parade is over, various cultural organizations and dance schools participate in program on 23rd Street and Madison Avenue until 6PM." ^[63] The New York/New Jersey metropolitan region's second-largest India Independence Day parade takes place in Little India, Edison/Iselin in Middlesex County, New Jersey, annually in August.

Sikh Day Visakhi Parade

The world's largest Sikh Day Parade outside India celebrating Vaisakhi and the season of renewal is held in Manhattan annually in April. The parade is widely regarded as being one of the most colourful parades. ^[64]

Arts, entertainment, and media

In September 2014, approximately 19,000 Indian Americans attended a speech delivered onstage by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. ^{[65] [66]} This appearance was televised live worldwide and was estimated to have been watched by a billion-strong global audience of Indians in India and overseas. The annual Miss India USA pageant is headquartered in New York City and is often held in Middlesex County, New Jersey or on Long Island. ^[67] In February 2022, an electronic billboard in Times Square sponsored by the Binder Indian Cultural Center featured a tribute to the late singer Lata Mangeshkar, known as "The Nightingale of India". ^[68]

News publications in English

• India Abroad
• Little India
• News India Times
• The Indian American
• The South Asian Times
• Tiranga in New Jersey

Languages

Indians in New York and New Jersey, as in the United States as a whole, are highly fluent in English. However, Hindi (हिन्दी), Gujarati (ગુજરાતી), Marathi (मराठी), ^[69] Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ), Bengali (বাাংলা), Tamil (தமிழ்), Telugu (తెలుగు), Malayalam (മലയാളം), Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ), and Maithili (मैथिली) languages are spoken at home and with local media incorporating these languages available for viewership. ^[70] In Middlesex County, New Jersey, election ballots are printed in English, Spanish, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, and Punjabi. ^[71]

Cuisine

Indian cuisine is very popular among Asian Indians in the United States. The growth in the New York City metropolitan region's Asian Indian populace has been accompanied by growth in the number of Indian restaurants, located both within and outside of traditional Indian enclaves, such that within New York City proper alone, there are hundreds of Indian restaurants. ^[72] According to David Shaftel of The New York Times in December 2014, the food at New York City's many chain restaurants is worthy of their flagships in India; the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood south of Murray Hill, namely Rose Hill, has been nicknamed Curry Hill, and provides an abundance of multinational India-based chains specializing in South Indian cuisine. ^[72] In 2020, CNN Travel claimed that the best Indian food in the United States could be found in Jersey City's India Square. ^[73]

In 1968, a family of Bengali brothers inaugurated the restaurant Shah Bag at 320 East 6th Street in the East Village of Lower Manhattan, followed by others, with the intention of "making an Indian street". ^[60] In time, this stretch of East 6th Street between First and Second Avenues evolved the nickname Curry Row, with a dense collection of North Indian restaurants.

By 2000, Indian food food had become ubiquitous in the New York metropolitan area, both inside and outside of Little Indias, with dhabas popping up around the metro area. These dhabas would serve a quickly growing niche of Indian quick-service food, with a particular appeal to Indians working in professions such as a trucking, taxi-driving, importing, and garment dealers. Indian was also getting more attention from the mainstream American press, with some of these dhabas getting reviews from outlets such as The New York Times. ^[74]

Religion

Parallelling India's religious constituency, most Indians in the New York City metropolitan region practice Hinduism, followed by Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Atheism, and irreligion. The Hindu Temple Society of North America in Flushing, Queens, is the oldest Hindu temple in the Western Hemisphere, and its canteen feeds 4,000 people a week, with as many as 10,000 during the Diwali (Deepavali) holiday. ^[75] Further east on Long Island, in Melville, one of the world's largest BAPS temples opened in October 2016. ^[62] Central New Jersey has large temples of Venkateswara and Guruvayurappan in Bridgewater and Morganville, respectively, and Sai Baba mandirs abound throughout the metropolitan area. BAPS also built the world's largest Hindu temple in Robbinsville, Mercer County, in Central New Jersey. ^[76] The Robbinsville temple was notably raided by the FBI in 2021 for engaging in forced labor to build the temple. ^[77] Numerous mosques, churches (geared significantly toward a Keralite membership), Sikh gurudwaras, and Jain temples are also situated in the New York City metropolitan area. Many retailers now market Diwali fireworks in the New York City metropolitan region and especially in New Jersey. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month.

Education

Indians have been attaining school board membership positions on various boards of education in New Jersey and on Long Island.

Deepavali, Eid/Ramadan as school holidays

Momentum has been growing to recognize the Hindu holy day Deepavali (Diwali) as a holiday on school district calendars in the New York City metropolitan region. ^{[78] [79]} Passaic, New Jersey established Diwali as a school holiday in 2005. ^{[78] [79]} South Brunswick, New Jersey in 2010 became the first of the many school districts with large Indian student populations in Middlesex County to add Diwali to the school calendar. ^[79] Glen Rock, New Jersey in February 2015 became the first municipality in Bergen County, with its own burgeoning Indian population post-2010, ^{[43] [80]} to recognize Diwali as an annual school holiday, ^{[81] [82]} while thousands in Bergen County celebrated the first U.S. county-wide Diwali Mela festival under a unified sponsorship banner in 2016, ^[83] while Fair Lawn in Bergen County celebrates Holi. ^[84] Diwali/Deepavali is also recognized by Monroe Township, New Jersey.

Efforts have been undertaken in Millburn, ^[78] Monroe Township, West Windsor-Plainsboro, Bernards Township, and North Brunswick, New Jersey, ^[79] Long Island, as well as in New York City, ^{[85] [86]} among other school districts in the metropolitan region, to make Diwali a holiday on the school calendar. According to the Star-Ledger, Edison, New Jersey councilman Sudhanshu Prasad has noted parents' engagement in making Deepavali a holiday there; while in Jersey City, the four schools with major Asian Indian populations mark the holiday by inviting parents to the school buildings for festivities. ^[79]

In March 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially declared the Muslim holy days Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays on the school calendar. ^[85] School districts in Paterson and South Brunswick, New Jersey observe Ramadan. ^[79]

Cricket

Cricket is one of the fastest-growing sports in the New York City metropolitan region. In 2016, a public park was expanded in Monroe Township, Middlesex County in central New Jersey to accommodate a designated cricket pitch, among other recreational facilities. ^[87] There are similar facilities available in Mercer County Park in West Windsor. ^[88]

Economic developments

Indian pharmaceutical companies are coming to New Jersey to gain a foothold in the United States. ^[89] Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, based in Hyderabad, set up its U.S. headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. ^[90] Kitex Garments, based in Kerala and India's largest children's clothing manufacturer, opened its first U.S. office in Montvale, New Jersey in October 2015. ^[91] Pharmaceutical company Aurobindo, also headquartered in Hyderabad, has established its U.S. headquarters in the Dayton section of South Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and has implemented a multimillion-dollar expansion of these Central New Jersey operations. ^[92]

Airline connections with India and the Indian diaspora

A majority of Indian Americans in the New York region are recent immigrants or children of such from India. In that context, travel between the United States and India has developed strong cultural connections, and, in more recent years, business traffic for expatriates. Air India operates nonstop flights from New York JFK to Delhi and Newark Liberty International Airport to Mumbai. United Airlines also operates a nonstop flight from Newark to Mumbai. ^[93] Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines flies to Changi International Airport in Singapore, where Tamil is one of the official state languages, both from Newark (with one of the longest non-stop flights in the world ^{[94] [95]}) and from New York JFK. In May 2019, Delta Air Lines announced non-stop flight service between JFK and Mumbai, to begin on December 22, 2019. ^[96] American Airlines started operating nonstop service from JFK to Delhi in November 2021. ^[97]

American Airlines' non-stop flight service codeshared with IndiGo between New York JFK and Delhi began in October 2021. In October 2021, Vistara secured aircraft landing slots at Newark. ^[98]

Notable people

Arts and culture

• Waris Ahluwalia – fashion designer, actor, and model ^[99]
• Aziz Ansari – actor, comedian
• Maya Deshmukh – actress, comedian ^[100]
• Bala Devi Chandrashekar – Bharatanatyam dancer
• Sarita Choudhury – actress
• Nina Davuluri – Miss America 2014, public advocate for STEM fields and cultural diversity
• Sameer Gadhia – lead singer of alternative rock band Young the Giant
• Terry Gajraj – singer
• Rohit Gupta – filmmaker
• Poorna Jagannathan – actress and fashion model ^[101]
• Norah Jones (Geetali Norah Jones Shankar) ^[102] – singer-songwriter, musician, and actress
• Vikas Khanna – Michelin Star Chef, Restaurateur, author, Filmmaker and Humanitarian.
• Rajika Puri – dance-theater artist & curator ^[103]
• Ashok Kondabolu – internet personality
• Hari Kondabolu – comedian
• Utsav Lal – pianist, composer, and educator
• Hasan Minhaj – actor, comedian
• Mira Nair – filmmaker
• Kal Penn – actor
• Rachel Roy – fashion designer
• Rakesh Satyal – novelist
• Emily Shah – Miss New Jersey USA 2014
• Suraj Sharma – actor
• Himanshu Suri – rapper
• Chhavi Verg – Miss New Jersey USA 2017 ^[104]

Business

• Anu Aiyengar – global co-head of North American mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan Chase & Co ^[105]
• Ajaypal Singh Banga – CEO, MasterCard, Purchase, Westchester County, New York
• Sant Singh Chatwal – founder of numerous hotel brands including The Chatwal, Dream Hotels, and Time Hotels.
• Vishal Garg – CEO, Better.com, Lower Manhattan
• Ajit Jain – president, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group ^{[106] [107]}
• Anshu Jain – business executive who formerly served as the Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank from 2012 until 2015 and is currently serving as president at Cantor Fitzgerald
• Arvind Krishna – CEO, IBM, Armonk, New York
• Sandeep Mathrani – CEO, WeWork
• Laxman Narasimhan – CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, in Greenwich, Connecticut
• Indra Nooyi – CEO of PepsiCo, Purchase, New York
• Vikram Pandit – former CEO of Citigroup
• Ruchir Sharma – economist, chief global strategist of asset management and emerging markets equity, Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Education

• Viral Acharya – professor of finance, New York University Stern School of Business
• Manjul Bhargava – professor of mathematics, Princeton University
• Meena Bose – director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University, Nassau County, Long Island ^[108]
• Srinivas Dhulipala – member, Board of Education, Alpine, Bergen County, New Jersey, elected in November 2017 ^[109]
• Mahmood Mamdani – professor of political science, Columbia University
• Geeta Menon - professor and previously Dean Emeritus at New York University Stern School of Business
• Sanjiv Ohri – trustee and vice president, Board of Education, Glen Rock, Bergen County, New Jersey ^{[81] [82]}
• Falguni Patel – member, Board of Education, Edison, Middlesex County, New Jersey, elected in November 2017 ^[110]
• Katepalli Sreenivasan – academic dean of New York University Tandon School of Engineering
• Raghu Sundaram – Dean of New York University Stern School of Business
• Suman Banerjee - Director of Ph.D. in Business Administration, Financial Engineering and Data Science at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey

Entrepreneurship and technology

• Dhairya Dand – inventor, artist, and designer ^[111]
• Vikram Joshi – CTO and co-founder of Pulsd ^{[112] [113]}
• Roopa Unnikrishnan – innovation consultant

Health

• Dave Chokshi, M.D., MSc – former Commissioner of Health of the City of New York, appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in August 2020
• Deepak Chopra – physician, alternative medicine advocate, public speaker, author ^[114]
• Usha George, RN, MS – president, Indian Nurses Association of New York, 2013–2014 ^[115]
• Siddhartha Mukherjee – hematologist and oncologist, scientist, and Pulitzer Prize winner for General Non-Fiction
• Samin K. Sharma – interventional cardiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, holding the American record for the highest number of complex coronary interventions performed annually, along with the highest angioplasty success rate in New York State ^[116]
• Prabhjot Singh Dhadialla, M.D., PhD – director, Arnhold Global Health Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital ^[117]
• Ashwin Vasan – Commissioner of Health of the City of New York, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams in March 2022

Law, politics, and diplomacy

• Sasha Neha Ahuja – community organizer ^[118]
• Syed Akbaruddin – Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations ^[119]
• Harjinder S. Bahia – councilman, Carteret, Middlesex County, New Jersey ^[120]
• Ravinder Bhalla – mayor, Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, the first turban-wearing Sikh American mayor in the United States to be elected by a municipality's residents, in November 2017 ^[121]
• Preet Bharara – U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, from 2009 to 2017
• Bhicaji Balsara – the first Indian to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, in 1909 ^[9]
• Saikat Chakrabarti – chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S. representative from New York's 14th congressional district representing parts of the Bronx and Queens in New York City
• Upendra J. Chivukula – Commissioner, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities since 2014; first Indian American elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2001, representing the 17th Legislative District straddling Middlesex and Somerset counties
• Bhairavi Desai – founder and executive director, New York Taxi Workers Alliance
• Parimal Garg – chief counsel to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy ^[122]
• Vin Gopal – elected to the New Jersey Senate, representing the 11th Legislative District covering portions of Monmouth County, New Jersey in November 2017
• Gurbir Grewal – New Jersey's 61st State Attorney General and former Bergen County, New Jersey prosecutor and the first Sikh American county prosecutor in the U.S., sworn into office in 2016 ^[123]
• Reema Harrysingh-Carmona – economist and the 5th First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago
• Samip Joshi – township councilman, Edison, New Jersey, elected November 2017 ^[110]
• Arati Kreibich – neurobiology researcher and the first Indian American to be elected to the Glen Rock, Bergen County, New Jersey borough council, in November 2017
• Shekar Krishnan – New York City councilman, representing the 25th council district, comprising Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst in northwestern Queens, elected in November 2021
• Zohran Mamdani – member, New York State Assembly, representing the 36th District, in Queens
• Hemant Marathe – electrical engineer and the first Indian American to be elected mayor of West Windsor, Mercer County, New Jersey, in November 2017 ^[124]
• Raj Mukherji – Assemblyman from New Jersey's 33rd legislative district, spanning portions of Hudson County, elected in 2013
• Shanti Narra – first Indian American member, Board of Chosen Freeholders, Middlesex County, New Jersey, appointed in October 2016 ^[125] and then elected in November 2017 ^[110]
• Sudhanshu Prasad – councilman, Edison, New Jersey in 2015, and former chairman of the Department of Medicine, JFK Hospital, Edison ^[126]
• Jenifer Rajkumar – New York State Assemblywoman representing the 38th district, in Queens, elected in November 2020
• Reshma Saujani – attorney and politician, founder of the tech organization Girls Who Code
• Kapil Shah – councilman, Piscataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey ^[120]
• Raj Shah – White House Deputy Press Secretary, assumed office September 12, 2017
• Jaswinder Singh – councilman, Carteret, New Jersey ^[120]
• Sterley Stanley – Assemblyman from New Jersey's 18th legislative district, spanning portions of Middlesex County, appointed in 2021

Media

• Jai Agnish – journalist, NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY network ^[127]
• Priya Arora – journalist, The New York Times ^[128]
• Vikas Bajaj – journalist, The New York Times ^[129]
• Shunondo Basu – meteorologist, gas analyst, Bloomberg News ^[130]
• Gabriela Bhaskar – photojournalist, The New York Times ^[131]
• Niraj Chokshi – business journalist, The New York Times ^[132]
• Jay Dabhi – radio disc jockey ^{[133] [134]}
• Aswath Damodaran – economic journalist and professor at New York University Stern School of Business
• Rajeev Dhir – multimedia journalist ^[135]
• Iva Dixit – audience editor, The New York Times Magazine ^[136]
• Chhavi Dublish – BBC
• Rhona Fox – founder, soca music record label Fox Fuse
• Devika Girish – film critic, The New York Times and other multimedia platforms ^[137]
• Alisha Haridasani Gupta – gender editor, The New York Times ^[138]
• Ritika Gupta – Bloomberg News ^[139]
• Meera Jagannathan – journalist, New York Daily News ^[140]
• Anna Khambampaty – styles writer, The New York Times ^[141]
• Neeraj Khemlani – executive, Hearst Communications, CBS
• Sukanya Krishnan – news anchor, WNYW Fox 5
• Devika Krishna Kumar – journalist, energy and commodities markets reporter, Thomson Reuters ^[142]
• Padma Lakshmi – television host, cookbook author, actress, and model
• Sapna Maheshwari – business journalist, The New York Times ^[143]
• Apoorva Mandavilli – health and science journalist, The New York Times; ^[144] and founding editor-in-chief of the autism news site Spectrum
• Manish Mehta – journalist, New York Daily News ^[145]
• Ved Mehta – late, blind staff writer, The New Yorker
• Seema Mody – journalist, CNBC ^[146]
• Vinita Nair – television journalist
• Sridhar Natarajan – journalist, Bloomberg News ^[147]
• Kesal Patel – head of video, Dow Jones & Company ^[148]
• Anushka Patil – social strategies editor, The New York Times ^[149]
• Neha Prakash – journalist, Mashable ^[150]
• Nidhi Prakash – journalist, BuzzFeed News ^[151]
• Anita Raghavan – journalist, The New York Times; author, The Billionaire's Apprentice ^[152]
• Shalini Ramachandran – journalist, The Wall Street Journal ^[153]
• Vandana Rambaran – journalist, Fox News ^{[154] [155]}
• Reena Roy – journalist, WCBS-TV ^[156]
• Aditi Sangal – journalist, CNN ^[157]
• Somini Sengupta – United Nations bureau chief, The New York Times ^[158]
• Sonam Sheth – Business Insider ^[159]
• Anjali Singhvi – graphics and multimedia editor, The New York Times ^[160]
• Simran Jeet Singh – journalist, Religion News Service
• Ravi Somaiya – journalist, The New York Times ^[161]
• Hari Sreenivasan – journalist, anchor, PBS NewsHour Weekend
• Sreenath Sreenivasan – technology journalist
• Radha Subramanyam – Chief Research and Analytics Officer, CBS , and President, CBS Vision ^[162]
• Arya Sundaram – journalist, The New York Times ^[163]
• Aarthi Swaminathan – journalist, Yahoo! Finance ^[164]
• Arun Venugopal – reporter, WNYC, and journalist, The New York Times ^[165]
• Shivani Vora – journalist, The New York Times ^[75]
• Ali Velshi – journalist, MSNBC
• Rohit Vyas – journalist
• Fareed Zakaria – journalist, author, and television host, CNN
• Mihir Zaveri – The New York Times ^[166]

See also

• Asian Americans in New York City
• Chinese people in New York City
• Bangladeshis in New York City
• Demographics of New York City
• Filipinos in the New York metropolitan area
• Fuzhounese in New York City
• Japanese in New York City
• Koreans in New York City
• Russians in New York City
• Taiwanese people in New York City

References