Mexican community in Port Richmond celebrates culture, heritage on Independence Day
PORT RICHMOND, Staten Island (WABC) -- Hispanic Heritage Month is underway and this year's theme is "honoring the past, inspiring the future" all to emphasize the importance of cultural roots.
On Staten Island, several groups are making the sure the culture and love of Mexican heritage continues to thrive, especially on Mexican Independence Day.
Along Port Richmond Avenue on Tuesday there were florists emblazoned in green, white, and red and fruit carts selling pineapples and papayas.
If it wasn't for the Bayonne Bridge looming overhead, you might not realize you're on Staten Island.
And stepping through the doors of many businesses, including Cafe con Pan Bakery, you will find a burst of ethnic pride. And behind that pride is the American dream.
Scottie Lopez works the counter with his mother Elizabeth. He said his father immigrated first -- without a dollar in his pocket.
And down the street at the San Jeronimo Restaurant and Bakery, where they handroll their tacos, it's a similar story.
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"It started with a dream, my father put all his earnings, he worked at Applebee's, he was a busboy," said co-owner Sarahi Marquez.
And today he can still be found in the kitchen working almost 90 hours a week.
They are part of a larger community blossoming in Port Richmond.
According to CUNY's Mexican Studies Institute, from 2000 to 2021, the Mexican population grew on Staten Island by 183%.
"I think it goes back to the '80s and I think considering back then the lower rents," said CUNY's Jose Higuera-Lopez.
But along with the lower rents there are shuttered storefronts that speckle the commercial strip.
So a new mural was painted to beautify and spread the word.
"There's Mexicans in Port Richmond and it's growing," said Yesenia Mata.
Mata is the executive director of La Colmena, a nonprofit immigrant rights organization focusing on workforce development
"You can see the beautiful diversity, the different backgrounds. And that was what we wanted to bring that even though there's a fast-growing Mexican population that we're still here in support of all the other communities," Mata said.
September 16 marks Mexican Independence Day, a day commemorating the moment when Father Hidalgo, a priest and leader, called for Mexico's liberation from Spain in September of 1810.
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