With over 8.48 million residents, New York City is, by far, the largest city in the United States. It’s also one of the most storied and commercialized cities on the planet.
This reputation has historically brought a plethora of immigrants and individuals from other states to the five boroughs, with over 300,000 moving to the Big Apple in 2023 alone.
It’s good to have a diverse environment with people from all around the globe sharing individual aspects of their culture. However, a specific group of movers, typically wealthier individuals from middle America, has drawn the ire of some native New Yorkers online.
They’ve often been dubbed “New York City Transplants” and are associated with problems such as gentrification and housing shortages.
“You have all these random shops, then a huge corporate building in the middle,” freshman Aqilah Rahman said. Rahman, a Queens local, feels as though outside corporations are building over local communities and providing job opportunities primarily for non-native New Yorkers.
“[They’re] imposing and pushing out people who have been here for so long,” she emphasized.
Ebony Hudson, a junior also from the five boroughs, expressed worries surrounding overpopulation. “It can be overwhelming, especially with the lack of space in certain areas.”
This notion is backed up by data from the Citizens Budget Committee. In a June 2024 report, they found that the city’s rate of severe overcrowding was twice that of the national average, with 170,000 households having more than 1.5 persons per room.
But this doesn’t mean the entire problem is a lack of homes, as that same report stated that New York also had over 2 million households that were under-crowded. Many who have the luxury of affording more space take up more than they need. While there’s not a specific study dedicated to the percentage of out-of-state individuals with under-crowded homes, a 2023 report from the Fiscal Policy Institute showed recent increases in millionaires moving to New York, and a greater exodus of lower-income individuals from the city.
It can be reasonably inferred that with more money coming in, less space, particularly for long-term residents, has become available.
Despite these negatives, some native New Yorkers still acknowledge valid reasons for why “transplants” want to come.
“It gives them more opportunity,” Hudson said. She also acknowledged the particular cases of those moving from abroad. “It keeps them from having any issues they would’ve dealt with in their own country.”
Cesar Lopez, a sophomore from Brooklyn, believes transplants positively contribute to the cultural melting pot. “New York’s always been culturally rich across the board, [they] enhance that.”
He also thinks newer residents play a lesser role in gentrification than many think they do. “New Yorkers themselves are a bigger problem for New York than people who come to live here,” he stated.
Rahman understands how the city’s mystique tends to attract outsiders. “I get that [they] want to live in the big city, [they] want to get their opportunities, and they’re entitled to that.”
Nevertheless, she, like many, believes that it shouldn’t come at the cost of natives losing their opportunities, having to deal with a housing crisis and seeing their communities being bought out by outside corporations.
“People who have been here for so long should also be considered,” she argued.
Regardless of the opinions of students and those online, there’s no indication of a downward trend in migration to New York City. This is the reality, and it’s one that businesses, government officials and other city leaders will have to address as equitably as possible going forward.
