If you’re looking for proof of the City of Albany’s growing diversity, just visit a mid-city stretch of markets and restaurants.
With a population around 100,000, Albany is a hub for immigration in New York, and one street in particular showcases the city’s diversity.
Central Avenue is true to its name; it runs from east to west across nearly the length of the city, beginning just a couple blocks away from the state capitol. The commercial corridor is at the center of Albany’s immigrant neighborhoods, and is populated with restaurants and markets that represent at least 18 different nations according to an estimate by the Central Business Improvement District.
Lo Nuestro is a Dominican restaurant. In the kitchen, a large pot of chicken soup is simmering on the stove. It’s known for generous portions and strong flavors. Even an appetizer-sized portion of Picadera, a dish of salted and fried sausage, beef, chicken, and plantains, and sliced lemons, weighs down a 9-by-13 tin.
Lo Nuestro offers its international flavors to customers from all backgrounds. Angel Mejia, an 18-year-old server who emigrated from the Dominican Republic about a decade ago, has been on the job for three years. He says Lo Nuestro has introduced him to people from a variety of cultures.
“It's easier for me to engage in a conversation with somebody I don't know now than it was before, because you know, obviously, I gotta go to tables,” Mejia said. “I got to talk to people up close, and now it's just easier for me.”
Further down the street is Capital District Latinos, a social services and community advocacy non-profit. Founder and chairman Dan Irizarry, a regular WAMC “Roundtable” panelist, says Latino-owned small businesses are especially important following a significant wave of immigrants arriving in Albany. Many came from South and Central American countries by way of New York City.
“Every immigrant that I have encountered, especially during this last surge in migration, has pretty much asked one thing: that they be allowed to work,” Irizarry said. “The creation of these businesses I think speaks to an independent spirit that is very much American.”
Across the street from Lo Nuestro is Irie Vybez, a Jamaican restaurant. Even after Irie Vybez closed its dining area during the pandemic, its kitchen is as busy as ever, with three chefs manning several large pans. The restaurant is filled with zesty, savory smells unique to Caribbean cooking. Irie Vybez is known for its creamy, spicy penne pasta paired with sauteed red and green peppers and garnished with basil.
Shaun Freeman, who’s originally from Jamaica and grew up in the Bronx before coming to Albany, is a co-owner. Freeman says that despite his origins in a multinational area, he’s more in tune with the international community in this corner of Albany than the big city.
“Over here we actually have relationships with say, a dude that’s from Sudan, or a dude that’s from Nigeria specifically, or a dude that’s from Malaysia, you know, just specifically knowing different kind[s] of cultures,” he said. “I kind of personally get a chance to dive into a whole different kind of culture being on this block.
Freeman says he started Irie Vybez with two partners 10 years ago, one of whom recommended Albany for its regional interest in Jamaican food and cheaper rent. He’s enjoyed seeing the block around him explode in diversity since.
“We can't just say we get Jamaican/Caribbean customers, you know? We get young, old, age working class, non-working class, everything,” said Freeman.
Dtrae Carter, Director of Community Engagement for the International Center of the Capital Region, an organization that fosters dialogue with and promotes multicultural communities, thinks these restaurant and markets are a meaningful measuring stick for the city’s diversity.
“It’s just pretty spectacular to see different cultures that want to share their cuisine and share their food with us, and I think that's an indicator of how the local population is changing,” Carter said. “When you see when a restaurant pops up, that's because there's demand for that type of food.”
Carter feels the storefronts on Central Avenue provide a beacon for new arrivals to the city.
“They come to this area, they don’t know the language, they need food, but they don’t know where to go and maybe their diets are specific,” he said. “But if we have enough diversity for all of these types of restaurants for all these visitors that come here, there’s options for all of us to be fed, and I think that can only be a positive thing.”
Win Htain is a Burmese refugee and restaurateur who has spent the last quarter-century in the Albany area. His latest venture, Thai Garden, opened on Central Avenue in January. A freedom fighter against Myanmar’s military government in the 1990s, he says refugees like him have to scrape by after emigrating.
“Most people are not [educated], [they have] no money,” Htain said. “That’s why whenever we got a job, we do it.”
Thai Garden’s Kee Mao Noodles are soft with crunchy vegetables and a fragrant dressing of teriyaki sauce and red pepper flakes. Despite his admittedly limited English, Htain says he’s gotten along well with workers from the numerous Halal markets on the avenue, doing his best to offer friendship through food.
“I asked them, ‘Hey can you stop by my restaurant? I just opened here.’ [They said] ‘Yeah we [will] stop in there but [do] you have halal meat?’ [I said] ‘No I don't have [it],’ but even though [I have] no halal meat they can eat fish and seafood, so no need to [have] halal [meat],” said Htain.
One of the storefronts catering to Muslim dietary restrictions is Aladdin Halal Market, managed by Sajjad Hossen. While Hossen’s main mode of providing for others is through groceries, he also spends plenty of time answering questions from new arrivals looking to get around the Capital Region.
“Sometimes when I do this business, I feel like it's not [just beneficial] money-wise, I'm also helping community to build,” said Hossen.
Hossen feels Muslims are at home on Central Avenue thanks to the mosque across the street, Masjid As-Salam.
“If we have any issues, we go there and there are people [that] can help us on anything,” Hossen said. “It it doesn't matter from which country you come from, even some non-Muslim [people] go to the mosque and they get help.”
Irizarry at Capital District Latinos says immigrant-owned businesses are transformative points of contact for integrating people of foreign backgrounds into Albany and American life.
“You come into contact with the denizens of that community with people who have been here for a long time, and can explain to you how you can register your child in school, or what restaurant serves as the food that you're most likely to eat,” Irizarry said. “It’s that connection that merchants have with their customers.”
Anthony Capece, Executive Director of the Central Business Improvement District, sits on WAMC’s Board of Trustees. He says maintaining diversity and investing in the Central Avenue community are key to small business growth here.
“The more we can invest in these neighborhoods, the more we can provide opportunities to invest through incentives, then we can create a neighborhood where people want to move in, and then the diversity comes with it, because that’s the demographics of this community,” Capece said. “And there’s a lot of people here that we’ve been working with through our ARPA dollars and care funds to invest in this neighborhood again, and they’re here. They want to do it, and that’s wonderful.”
With Albany continuing its trajectory of welcoming immigrants, people like Angel Mejia at Lo Nuestro hope to see an even wider range of businesses on Central Avenue.
“I feel like the only thing we have as Dominicans here is restaurants, and that’s not the full extent to our culture,” Mejia said. "I would like to see more of that in the community."
WAMC Newsroom Intern Christian Hince is a senior at UAlbany studying journalism.