Nassau News

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Shoppers packed a local supermarket on a recent Sunday afternoon. This supermarket, however, is not your usual suburban market. Patel Brothers in Hicksville carries Indian groceries, spices, snacks and household items, the kind which nearby Waldbaum's, Pathmark or Stop & Shop stores do not stock.

Customers pack the aisles as they taste-test the fried snacks known as samosas, or search for rice or flour, basic staples of the Indian meal, amongst the shelves stocked with shiny boxes of spices and flavorings.

This large supermarket opened up as the biggest store in the Patel Brothers Plaza last year, a plaza which also features a Habib American Bank. The plaza is not just a center of commerce for the large number of Indians and other South Asians living in the area, it serves as a symbol of a prolific presence over the past two decades and one that is here to remain and flourish.

Asians on Long Island have been increasing at a rapid pace. More than doubling since 1990 when Asians only made up 2.4 percent of the population was, the group which now includes 16 different census categorizations, makes up 5.3 percent of the population according to a recent 2006 count.

Indians in Nassau numbered only 11,875 in 1990 but have also more than doubled over the course of a decade. The 2000 census revealed that the group had grown to 23,793. Including Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who are also from South Asia, the number would be just shy of 30,000 for Indians living in Nassau County.

The growing South Asian community in Nassau eventually led to the rise of a vibrant residential and commercial area in Hicksville; the heart of Nassau County. A wide array of Indian businesses have set up shop along Route 107.

This central location makes a trip to the Patel Brothers shop an easy one for people from further out on Long Island and feasible for those who travel from as far away as Brooklyn and Queens.

Older Indian hubs in Queens, such as those in Jackson Heights and Flushing, were the usual destinations for Indian residents of Long Island who needed Indian goods such Shan masala or tandoori naan, and for those who sought a temporary reprieve into their culture. Now, however, many upper-class Indians make the trip out to Hicksville where they can find much of the same Indian fashion boutiques, beauty salons, grocery stores, jewelers, travel agencies, movie theaters and restaurants without the crowds and traffic of Jackson Heights and Flushing, areas where middle-class Indians continue to live and shop.

Indian business owners have also realized the potential of this suburban clientèle which may be much smaller, but wealthier. Ginni Jaggi of Habib’s Beauty Salon explains that Habib’s is a brand in urban areas of India that sought to attract an urban and upper-class clientèle which would recognize the brand name from India. “Hicksville was the right place to open up this salon because people come from all over Long Island and recognize our brand.”

Related Links

• Little India News
  
• Hindville: An Indian publication profiles the area of Hicksville, Long Island, describing its transformation into a central Indian commerce.
  
• Surge in LI’s Asians: A Newsday article, written in 2001, delves into the growing number of Asians on Long Island. An expert explains that a surge of a certain demographic in Queens leads to an increase of that demographic in Nassau County a decade later.
• Ethnic Mysteries Solved: The Village Voice explored the business pioneers of ethnic hubs such as Hicksville which is also known as the ‘Little India’ of Nassau County. The very first Indian business to open in Hicksville was a grocery store called Modern Bazaar.
• A recent Newsday article, A Global Food Tour, lists a number of the Indian restaurants, grocery stores and sweet shops located along Route 107 in Hicksville.
  
• Census data for Indians in Hicksville. A breakdown of the population by gender, ethnicity, age, occupation throughout Long Island.
  

Map

A map showing the distance between HIcksville and Jackson Heights -- the first Indian commercial and cultural center in Queens:

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Production Memo:

I've learned a lot over the course of the past few weeks in assembling this two-minute video. If I can offer any one bit of advice it would be: It seems a lot easier than it actually is, so start way ahead of time.

When Professor Krochmal first showed us what he wanted the video to look like, I thought to myself "piece of cake, this should take me two days tops". Well, little did I know!

Although going out and getting interviews can be daunting, interesting and even kind of fun, this part of the project should be done well in advance. The nature of my project allowed me to simply walk around Hicksville to find people to interview but I did plan on interviewing an expert or academic, who did not get back to me in time. So make sure you book your interview well in advance.

My biggest challenges however, came with the editing. I didn't realize that my laptop had the newest version of Windows Movie Maker which made it impossible to work on my project on any other computer even after my computer caught a virus! This caused a lot of unnecessary stress and waste of time. So if it's possible, just work on your project in the NewsHub.

To ensure that you have the skills and basic knowledge of Movie Maker to make the best video possible, be sure to familiarize yourself with the program before you even begin this project. This can save a lot of time and frustration as well.

Another really helpful tool are the Six Elements by Bill Blundell. If you can answer all six of those questions well, it will really help you to organize your video and your article.

So start early, plan ahead, and keep your cool if something doesn't go as planned. That's where teamwork and collaboration come in. Ask a classmate or the Professor -- someone is likely to help.