Le Petit Sénégal
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Le Petit Sénégal, or Little Senegal, is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It has been called Le Petit Sénégal by the West African immigrant community and Little Senegal by some people from outside the neighborhood.
Le Petit Sénégal is a smaller section of the much larger, and older, neighborhood of Harlem. The neighborhood's exact borders are difficult to define as it is still new, growing from nonexistent in 1985 to 6,500 by 2005.[1][2] Le Petit Sénégal is generally defined as located in Central Harlem. The neighborhood's main streets are the blocks surrounding West 116th Street between Lenox Avenue / Malcolm X Boulevard on the east and Frederick Douglass Boulevard to the west.[3]
Le Petit Sénégal is the main shopping and social area for many of Harlem's West African immigrants. The majority of these recent immigrants hail from French-speaking Senegal, reflecting the French local name of Little Senegal. However, West African languages, such as Wolof, are also spoken. There are also immigrants from other West African countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Gambia, and Burkina Faso.
West African shops, restaurants, bistros, bakeries, cafes, and other proprietorships can be found in the neighborhood.
References
[edit]- ^ Kankam, Nana (July 22, 2007). "Uptown, Africa Toujours". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- ^ Daff, Marieme O. (January 1, 1997). "A Little Senegal in Harlem". Washington Square News. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- ^ Attah, Ayesha (July 30, 2007). "Mourides Celebrate 19 Years in North America". The AFRican. Archived from the original on 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
116th Street in Harlem, New York is aptly named Le Petit Sénégal. It abounds in aromas of stewing mafe and yassa wafting out of restaurants, sidewalks turned into mosques and businesses stocked with merchandise right out of Dakar.
Further reading
[edit]- African culture in New York (state)
- Burkinabé diaspora in the United States
- Ethnic enclaves in New York (state)
- Gambian-American history
- Ghanaian-American history
- Guinean diaspora in the United States
- Harlem
- Ivorian diaspora in the United States
- Malian diaspora in the United States
- Neighborhoods in Manhattan
- Senegalese-American history