Little Colombia in Queens offers a taste of home for many community members
NEW YORK - Queens is called the world's borough for good reason, and its proud diversity is exemplified in Jackson Heights.
Alejandro Osorio was 5 years old when his family moved to the United States from Colombia to escape political unrest.
"My mom was a lawyer in Colombia. She was a judge," he said.
After the move, his mother, Maria Cano, set up a food cart in Jackson Heights to make ends meet. She sold her signature arepas.
"Arepa is like a corn cake, I guess you would call it," Osorio said.
Business soared, creating a legacy she passed down to her sons. Arepa Lady now has three brick-and-mortar locations.
Osorio says the support of the neighborhood made it possible. Some patrons have been eating there childhood.
"Now, they're adults with kids of their own, and they're still coming here," he said.
Near Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, loosely bordered by 79th and 84th streets and spilling into nearby Corona, is a community enriching the area's diversity.
This vibrant corner of New York City is known as Little Colombia, where storefronts contain flavors and memories of South America.
At Seba Seba restaurant, a buñuelo (cheese fritter) dipped in hot chocolate is a time machine for Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, who grew up in Medellín.
"It reminds me of what it means to be Colombian," she said.
She's proud to represent the tight-knit group of Colombian Americans running businesses in her district, including Chic Spa and Los Arrieros restaurant.
"Small numbers of Colombians had been living in Jackson Heights from the early 1900s," Queens Historical Society board president Rob MacKay said. "But there were a lot in the '90s."
He says many Colombian newcomers fleeing turmoil in the 1990s returned home later or dispersed across the United States.
"Queens just changes and changes and changes," he said. "But the name is going to stay. 'La pequeña Colombia' is going to say."
Gustavo Salazar helps run La Boina Roja, his family's restaurant and butcher shop on 37th Avenue. He says the spirit of generations never leaves the block.
"It's Colombian seasoning," he said. "It's my mother's seasoning."
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