Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group and transform New York City into a majority ‘minority’ city. The decennial census allows for the political redistricting in accordance with the goal of the fourteenth amendment. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) launch a survey-based study to document New York City’s historic and emergent Asian neighborhoods. AALDEF aims to learn of the Asian immigrant populations whose interests are typically not represented in the political or policy discourses. The survey discusses the survey findings for four neighborhoods with the most concentration of Asians. Their goal was to draw a district boundary that kept Asians in a neighborhood whole to create opportunities in electing a politician who will represent their interests. The article discusses neighborhood boundaries and its subjectivity influenced by various social factors including such as gender and race. The quality of the neighborhoods and its problems, and how being Asian affects that situation.

This policy brief examines minority banks and their lending practices in New York City. By synthesizing various public data sources, this policy brief finds that Asian banks now make up a majority of minority banks, and their loans are concentrated in commercial real estate development. This brief underscores the need for improved data collection and access to research minority banks and the need to improve their contributions to equitable community development and sustainability.

This special AAPI Nexus issue examines Asian American experiences in global cities through comparative studies of Los Angeles and New York. The demographic facts are astonishing—more than a quarter of the sixteen million Asian Americans reside in either of the two greater metropolises where they comprise more than a tenth of the total population in each region. Consequently, it is difficult to fully understand and appreciate Asian American experiences without studying these two global cities. The comparative approach offers great analytical potential because it can generate insights into what phenomena transcend regions and patterns that are produced by factors and forces common to Asian Americans regardless of location and fundamental global-city processes. The comparative approach can also identify phenomena that are unique to each region, such as the outcomes of specific local and regional structures and dynamics.