Margaret, In all fairness you really do not know how your life would have been if your parents stayed in NY. My Irish and German great grandparents came to NY in the 1850's and 1880's. My Hungarian Grandparents came to NYC circa 1900. Now I know the Hungarian grandparents lived in the tenements of NYC....my mother was born in one....but they all went on to live better and actually very good lives. The Irish and German ones went to Long Island City which is just across the east river....they also did quite well for themselves. I doubt immigrants especially those without funds had it difficult no matter where they went.....at least at first. I am a native New Yorker....and have lived all over the US...currently reside in South West Florida.....their is poverty and hardship even here in one of the wealthiest counties in the US. Except now we have Haitians and Guatemalans and so on. Elizabeth V. Cardinal evc1369@comcast.net