NEW YORK – Immigrant Heritage Week kicked off this Monday, April 17 to honor the generations of immigrants from around the world who make up New York City.

The celebration is the 19th iteration and had its first event in 2004. Immigrant Heritage Week commemorates the 115th anniversary of April 17, 1907 when the largest number of immigrants (11,000) arrived in the United States via Ellis Island . When celebrating this 2023, the motto is We love NYC immigrants.

This year, New York City will host events through June 30, with June marking National Immigrant Heritage Month.

For the first time in MOIA’s history, it is releasing a series of 25 illustrations each week through June 30 highlighting ethnic enclaves and immigrant communities in New York City.

The endless contributions, rich histories and unique cultures of the diverse immigrant communities of the five boroughs will also be showcased.

Here are some of the events in New York:

APRIL 18

  • World Literature Festival: focus on the Philippines Fabulous komiks from here and elsewhere
    • Organization: New York Public Library
    • Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
    • Location: This event is ONLINE ONLY. You can register here.
    • Admission fee: FREE
    • About the event: NYPL World Literature Festival presents: “Philippines Spotlight: Fabulous Komiks from Near and Far.” This is a panel discussion with comic book writers and artists, including Arnold Arre, Rina Ayuyang, and Eliza Victoria. The discussion will be moderated by Mark Teodosio.

April 19

  • Story time in Creole
  • Screening of the documentary “From Here” at Lehman College CUNY
    • Organization: New York City Commission on Human Rights.
    • Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
    • Location: Lehman College, East Room, Music Building.
    • Admission fee: FREE. Here you can register.
    • About the event: A free screening of “From Here”, a documentary about the immigrant experience in New York and Berlin, for Lehman College students and the general public. After the film, the Human Rights Commission will host a panel of stars and directors from the film to discuss the film’s themes and lessons.

April 21

  • Vagabond Hotel
    • Organization: ID Studio Theater
    • Hour: 7:30 p.m.
    • Location: 311 East 140th street, Bronx, New York, 10454
    • Admission fee: Here you can register.
    • About the event: Hotel de vagabundos (The Vagabond Hotel) (1955), a play written by Afro-Colombian doctor and anthropologist Manuel Zapata Olivella, oscillates between fiction and the writer’s biographical experiences while living in New York in the 1960s. 1950. 1940. The play deals with the racial and social segregation and discrimination he suffered as a Latino black immigrant to the United States. It is a metaphor for society, where bedrooms are the breeding ground for tensions between cultures. In the play, Manuel Zapata Olivella explores the myth of the “land of opportunity” and the realities he faced once arriving in the United States only to find himself facing a complex and racist society.

April 23

  • Port Museum Open Day with PJ Library
    • Organization: South Street Seaport Museum
    • Hour: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
    • Location: 12 Fulton Street, New York, NY 10038
    • Admission fee: FREE
    • About the event: Visit the Seaport Museum for free family fun on campus in partnership with PJ Library! On Sunday, April 23, 2023, during Immigrant Heritage Week, general admission ticket fees will be waived for a full day of activities for all ages at the Museum. Inspired by the PJ Library book, When Jessie Came Across the Sea, families are invited to visit the iconic Ambrose Lightship, which served for a quarter of a century as a beacon of hope for immigrants arriving in New York. Long before seeing the Statue of Liberty, incoming ships carried those who “yearned to breathe freely” past Ambrose on their way to a new life in America.

April 24

  • NYPL Festival of World Literature Presents: A Conversation with Dolores Reyes
    • Organization: New York Public Library
    • Hour: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
    • Location: This is an online program only. You can register here.
    • Admission fee: FREE
    • About the event: You’ll be with multi-award-winning writer and author Dolores Reyes for a special event in Spanish. Learn about his process of writing short stories and novels, the influences of his upbringing and upbringing in Argentina, his internationally acclaimed novel, Cometierra (Eartheater), as well as his forthcoming book Miseria (Misery).
    • Read more about NYPL’s In Conversation: Dolores Reyes here.

For more events, go here.

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