Under bands of wood held tensely in place by the ceiling of the Steinway & Sons piano factory, 19 thin sheets of tulipwood are pressed into one uniform piece. Behind the worktable, newspaper clippings from the sports page of an Italian newspaper scream soccer highlights.

Up the stairs and past workers from Bangladesh, India and Croatia, another workstation showcases articles about the New York Giants. In the employee locker room on the same floor, a makeshift shrine to the Yankees hangs at eye-level.

On each of the four floors composing the 40,000 sq ft. building, banners display the company motto: “We Are Family.”

But despite the eclectic taste in sports and mélange of ethnicities, none of the 450 employees that work at Steinway in Astoria need to be reminded that they are family; the average tenure of a worker is 15 years and many have been there for more than 30.

The company has provided steady employment for more than 150 years, relying heavily on the waves of immigration that continuously wash into New York’s harbors.

“First it was Germans, Italians, Yugoslavs and Russians. Now it’s India and Haiti,” said Dominic Iovino. “But it’s always been a family.”

“A Passion”

Iovino should know. During his 40 years as a tuner with the company, he has worked with two of his uncles and a cousin. And for many of those years, he tuned pianos side by side with Wally Boots. Boots, who grew up two blocks from the factory, has worked at Steinway for 46 years. So have three of his brothers.

“At first it was just a job,” Boots said. “Now it is a passion.”

The passion Boots speaks of is obvious — the factory is full of burly blue-collar men delicately crafting intricate parts and running their ruddy fingers over faux-ivory keys. It is the thread that connects workers, who hail from more than two dozen countries.

Talent Search

Though historically the factory provided a bellwether for immigration patterns in the Astoria, a recent influx of young professionals priced out of Manhattan has changed the neighborhood’s demographics. Steinway now relies on word-of-mouth — passed from cousins and uncles in America to relatives in villages all over the world — to find workers with the technical skills required to make one of Steinway’s iconic pianos.

“What we get are talented workers coming to us, either in woodcraft or in music,” said Leo Spellman, senior director of communications for Steinway.

In the small world where Boots and Iovino have sat together for decades, pictures cover the walls from ceiling to floor. It is impossible to tell where the photographs of family stop and those of colleagues begin. Leaning over the shiny lacquered top of a Steinway Grand, Boots proudly shows off the fringed American flag vest he wears while riding his motorcycle. Next to the vest is a calendar he recently made, each month featuring a fellow worker’s bike.

Looking on, Spellman smiled.

“The faces will change; the accents may change,” he said, “but the characters don’t.”

(Click here to read an interview with Henry Steinway)

Since she was a little girl in the Dominican Republic, Flor Diaz dreamed of being a modista, or dressmaker. She is now the owner of a popular dress shop in Corona.

The Queens Economic Development Corporation reports that immigrant business niche markets make Queens the borough most resilient to economic recession. Diaz – armed with needle, thread, and measuring tape – is making ends meet by stitching them together

Ernesto Rosales freely admits he and his wife, Maria Reyna, are undocumented immigrants. But after living and working in Queens for eight years, it’s hard for them to fathom that the mother of two is facing possible deportation.

Reyna was riding an Amtrak train to Chicago in February when federal immigration agents boarded near Buffalo and pulled her off. She was traveling with her sister-in-law and 8-year-old son Alejandro, who has Downs syndrome and has battled cancer.

Now the Mexican immigrant faces the prospect of being torn away from her husband and children, and the life they’ve built from scratch in Woodside.

“She needs to stay here,” Rosales said, sitting in the front room of the small house his family shares with his two brothers.

“It’s not a life with her in Mexico.”

A Hard Journey

Reyna was four months pregnant when she and her husband crossed in to the United States from Mexico in 2000. Travel was difficult, and she narrowly avoided a miscarriage in the mountains east of Tijuana. They paid a smuggler, known as a “coyote,” $4,000 to get them from Arizona to New York.

Five months after the couple’s arrival, Alejandro was born at Metropolitan Hospital in Manhattan. The boy was born with Down syndrome and Reyna had to visit him in the hospital for his first month, while her husband worked every day at a Queens catering hall.

It wouldn’t be the boy’s last hospital stay: When he was 3, Alejandro was diagnosed with leukemia and treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center.

His cancer is in remission. He now visits the hospital every three months for a checkup.

Once Alejandro could travel, the Make-A-Wish Foundation flew the family to Disney World. Reyna has several photo albums documenting the Florida trip and keeps every one of the many stuffed animals given to Alejandro on top of a cabinet in the family’s cramped bedroom.

She said the pile of colorful toys like Mickey, Barney, Donald Duck and Kermit the Frog, reminds her of the kindness of strangers.

Alejandro finally began school this year. He receives occupational therapy and special education services at Public School 9 on Grand Avenue. Alejandro’s little sister, Evelyn, is 4 and will start school in September.

‘A Travesty’

Reyna, her son and her sister-in-law were riding an Amtrak train to see relatives in Chicago when their lives were turned upside down in February. Immigration agents boarded the train outside of Buffalo, and asked selected passengers for identification, Reyna said in Spanish through her husband.

The women were arrested and put up with Alejandro in a hotel rather than a holding cell. She said she and her sister-in-law were questioned for several days, before being released and given a May 16th hearing date.

Reyna’s lawyer Robert J. Shannon notched a postponement and got her case moved to New York City. He told Rosales he’s hoping Reyna will continue to get postponements until the 10-year anniversary of the couple’s arrival in New York. Being here 10 years without any criminal activity would allow Reyna a stay of deportation.

Still, he warned Reyna her chances of staying in the United States are slim – regardless of her son’s needs.

Reyna’s situation, Shannon said, is “a travesty.”

Other immigration lawyers agreed Reyna has very little legal footing to prevent her deportation.

“Children are never a good enough reason,” said Theodore Rothman, a Manhattan-based attorney. “The child can stay and be a ward of the state.”

Rothman added allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. because their children were born here would create havoc on the legal system.

“It would be a policy nightmare,” he said. “It would overwhelm and create a huge backlash against the system. You can’t just reward illegal immigrants for (having U.S.-born children), because it undercuts the people who are doing it the right way. It goes to the contrary of the rules of the country.”

In 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility (IIRIR) Act was passed, toughening regulations regarding undocumented workers in the U.S., expanding the criminal grounds for deportation and giving immigrants far less legal recourse.

It also changed the definition by which an immigrant could claim a “removal waiver.” Before 1996, an illegal immigrant had to show “extreme hardship” to stay in the U.S., but the standard since has been upped to an “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” – making it tougher for Reyna.

“The law doesn’t provide any benefit for her just because of her child,” said Alan Wernick, a professor at Baruch College and director of the CUNY Citizenship and Immigration Project. “Either the child goes to Mexico, or stays with other relatives. It’s a very tragic outcome.”

Congressman Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) has authored a bill called the Child Citizen Protection Act, which would give judges some discretion when deciding deportation cases and allow them to keep families with special needs together.

But the measure is in the early stages, and likely won’t help Reyna.

Enforcement Increase

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of Department of Homeland Security, is charged with enforcing U.S. immigration laws – and judging from the numbers, ICE has been very busy.

In 2006, ICE set new records for illegal immigrant removals, with 187,513. The agency focuses on tracking down those who have criminal records, have ignored previous deportation decisions or have been accused of document fraud.

ICE also has boosted its workforce. The agency’s Web site shows that the number of fugitive operation teams tripled in 2005, and that a record was set in 2006 for total number of “worksite enforcements.”

There have been a spate of reported accounts of undocumented immigrant roundups on trains and buses – a development immigration advocates called disturbing.

“Sadly, we think there are families being fed into the deportation system through the trains and buses,” said Maria Muentes, co-founder of the New York-based Families for Freedom, a defense network for immigrants facing deportation.

Families for Freedom recently began an awareness campaign geared toward alerting immigrants they are not required to answer immigration enforcement agents’ questions without an attorney present.

ICE officials did not return calls seeking comment.

‘Sanctuary City’

Undocumented immigrants in New York City have more protections than in many other places in the country.

In 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed Executive Order 41, prohibiting civic agencies from inquiring about or disclosing an individual’s immigration status – earning New York the moniker of being a “sanctuary city.”

ICE agents, however, are allowed to ask about immigration status if there is a suspicion of illegal activity.

That power, according to immigration advocates, makes undocumented workers particularly vulnerable to deportation.

“The membership are low-wage workers in precarious industries such as child care, construction and the restaurant industry,” said Valeria Trevis, executive director of the Queens-based New Immigrant Community Empowerment. “We are doing a lot of preventative work.”

Cathy Ellen Rosenholtz, the pastor of St. Jacobus Evangelical Lutheran Church in Woodside, said she helped fund an undocumented woman’s flight back to Peru to take care of her ailing mom after her Queens factory was raided.

“We’re in the midst of a community of diverse immigrants,” said Rosenholtz, whose congregation draws from Elmhurst, Woodside and Jackson Heights.

“I talk to families and walk the streets, and people just want a good job and good schools for their kids and are willing to work hard for it. It’s clear they want to be active contributors to the community. And the Bible says that we’re called upon to welcome strangers. It’s essential to who we are.”

“We see at a local level the human consequences of political decisions,” she added. “I just hope that people at the local level can be heard.”

Frustration and Hope

Rosales, meanwhile, is frustrated the law is working against his family.

“We just work for a better life, that’s why we came,” he said. “We don’t do criminal things. We work hard and don’t make any problems, but the law doesn’t understand.”

As Reyna awaits word on her next hearing, the family is trying to go on as usual.

Alejandro will continue therapy and check-ups. Evelyn will prepare for kindergarten. Reyna will continue English classes and taking care of her children. Rosales will work.

There will be no summer vacation, though: Shannon advised the family to stay in New York.

“The lawyer told us to stay away from the train, the bus. We’re not going anywhere,” said Rosales.

With his wife and family facing an uncertain future, Rosales is doing his best to stay hopeful.

“The life is very long,” he said. “It’s hard, it’s not easy. I’m not concentrating on my job because of this, I’m just thinking, ‘What’s going to happen?’

“But you don’t have to get depressed.”

A growing number of real estate concerns in Corona and Jackson Heights are marketing South American homes to Latino immigrants, who are considering moving home to look for the American dream of property ownership that eluded them here.

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In a tiny office in the LeFrak City Jewish Center, Manash Shimonov thumbed through a tattered Russian-to-English dictionary. The 78-year-old scanned the pages of his trusted companion in silence, lips pursed.

Within 30 seconds he found his word: “difficult.” A wide smile covered his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a Russian accent. “I’m not good with English.”

He repeated the word, testing it out. “Yes, very difficult. Very difficult for us,” he said, nodding. “That’s why we come here and to Israel.”

Leaving Kokand

It pains Shimonov to talk about the town he left behind, but he understands his homeland always will be a part of him. Fortunately for him and several hundred other Buhkarian families living in LeFrak City, they are able to make a transition with help from the congregation – a congregation that shares the same past – at LeFrak City’s Jewish Center.

For Shimonov, life as a Bukharian Jew in Uzbekistan was indeed difficult. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Islamic fundamentalists took control of Uzbekistan, spurring a mass emigration of Jews to Israel and the United States.

After nearly 70 years in his homeland, Shimonov left behind the oasis city of Kokand, and his job as an engineering professor to seek religious freedom for his family.

Searching for Freedom

While the practice of Judaism and other religions is legally permitted in Uzbekistan – as long as the government is not criticized – young Jewish men were frequently harassed as they walked to temple. Amid this environment, Shimonov and his family immigrated to Queens in 1999.

“We have religious freedom here,” Shimonov said. “Every day we have people who come to synagogue.”

On a recent Friday evening as the sun began its descent, Shimonov greeted the elderly men who came to celebrate Shabbat.

As the men made their way into the prayer room for the elders, Shimonov busied himself with final preparations. For eight years he has volunteered at the Center, and is known to all. On this night he checked on the younger men as they slowly filed into a separate prayer room.

Everyone who came in stopped by Shimonov’s office. They touched the mezuzah on the doorframe before warmly greeting their fellow Uzbeki. Most of the elderly men wore suits and fedoras, and spoke in Russian. After everyone had arrived and service began, Shimonov joined his peers with his prayer book in hand.

An Influx of Jews

The LeFrak City Jewish Center, located on the northern side of the Long Island Expressway, is in one of the 18 apartment towers within LeFrak City. The construction of LeFrak City in 1966 provided affordable housing for thousands of working class families. However, the buildings were overrun by gang violence and drugs by the 1980s. The area saw a revival in the mid-1990s after a large number of immigrants - mainly Russians - moved in. With this Jewish influx, a synagogue was built in 1996.

Today, Russian, West African and other working-class families make up LeFrak’s 20,000 residents.

Shimonov opted for Queens because he believes Israel is not his country. “People from Israel are patriots,” he said.His daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren moved to Israel in 1991. Shimonov’s eldest grandson currently serves in the Israeli army. He worries for his family’s safety. “We had a difficult life in Uzbekistan and now Israel too,” Shimonov said.Shimonov wasn’t the only Bukharian Jew to resettle in Queens.

Serving the Community

According to U.S. Department of State statistics, 70,000 Bukharian Jews left their homeland of Uzbekistan. More than 40,000 relocated to the Queens neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Rego Park and LeFrak City. In 2003, fewer than 30,000 Jews remained in Uzbekistan. Shimonov recently learned from a friend in Kokand that only 26 Jews live in his hometown.

Shimonov misses his village, and as he reflects on his long exile he wonders if he will ever return. He places the dog-eared, yellow-paged dictionary onto his desk and walks into another room. Here, Shimonov has made party preparations for Jewish World War II veterans.

“This is what I want to do,” he said. “I serve the community.”

To hear Shimonov talk about the LeFrak City Jewish Center, click below.

To hear Shimonov talk about the dangers of being a young Jew in Uzbekistan, click below.

To hear Shimonov talk about a about friend back in Uzbekistan, click below.

Many Polish immigrants are moving into Ridgewood, which is quickly becoming the “new Greenpoint,” with a growing number of Polish food stores and other businesses. But with U.S. economy sinking, some young Poles are moving back to Europe in search of economic opportunities.

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Many Bukharian Jewish immigrants from Uzbekistan have found a home in Forest Hills. While they embrace customs that might seem archaic to outsiders, the community has developed a sharp sense of media savvy as its presence grows.

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When John Liu moves on from his City Council seat in 2009, he will leave behind a new political landscape for future Asian-American politicians in Queens and beyond.

The Flushing Democrat, who chaired the powerful transportation committee during his two terms, is the first Asian American elected to the City Council. He is expected to seek citywide office – possibly controller or even mayor – after being forced out by term limits.

Although his seat won’t be open for a year, who will succeed him already is the subject of much local debate. In Flushing, one of the city’s most heavily Asian communities, many residents would like to see the office remain in Asian American hands. But so far, only one candidate has declared — Constantine Kavadas, a Greek-American political novice who is working to persuade the neighborhood’s Asian voters that he can represent them.

Liu Paves Way

“When you walk down the street (in Flushing), it’s 60 percent Asian American,” said 23-year-old Ran Chen, a Flushing resident who would like to see an Asian American succeed Liu. “They understand our needs and our culture. For Flushing, it’s a very good thing.”

Chen, manager of the Zoni Language Center on Flushing’s bustling Main Street, read that Liu may run for mayor in the “World Journal,” a Chinese-language newspaper, and he plans to donate to his campaign.

“(Liu) is very good, he’s excellent,” said Chen. “Every day I take the commuter bus, and he’s the one that built the station for it.”

Liu’s election in 2000 paved the way for other Asian Americans to run for statewide office.

“More and more it proves that Asians are American,” said state Assemblymember Ellen Young of Flushing, the first Asian-American woman to serve in the New York legislation. “(John Liu and I) both have proved that we can be good legislators.”

Young, a Taiwanese immigrant, followed Jimmy Meng, who became the first Asian American elected to the legislature in 2004. Meng, a businessman, stepped down from his seat due to health problems. In 2006, Young won Meng’s seat – with Liu’s support.

Young, who sponsored four bills that turned into state law, is proud of her two years in the Assembly, calling them “history in the making.”

“Never before has an Asian American lawmaker seen their bills signed into law in New York,” said Young.

Despite the achievements of Young and Liu, so far no Asian Americans have announced candidacy for Liu’s slot.

A Greek Newcomer

”At this time, it’s a little bit early,” said Young.

It’s not too early, though, for Kavadas, owner of a food distribution business and a Flushing resident for all of his 26 years.

The son of Greek immigrants, Kavadas said he has been knocking on doors and visiting Asian churches for months. He cited downzoning as an important issue to Asian Americans in Flushing, many of whom feel the restrictions unfairly target Asian businesses.

“I am very well-versed with the Asian community in Flushing,” said Kavadas. “I have met literally hundreds of them.”

Kavadas acknowledges he is new to politics but calls himself a quick study, and said he appreciates the contributions Asian Americans make to Flushing.

“Look at the public school grades in this district — it is ridiculous the good grades that they get — the district is mostly a majority of Asians, and the grades are like out of this world,” Kavadas said. “It goes back to the parents: the whole country can learn from them. They are focused on their kids and their grades – the main thing is school, school, school.”

Meanwhile, Grace Meng, daughter of Jimmy Meng, is mulling a run for Liu’s seat.

“It’s definitely crossed my mind,” she said. “I, too, haven’t made any final decisions yet.”

Although some say it’s early, 82 candidates citywide have declared their candidacy for 2009 City Council races. In District 19, next to Flushing, four candidates already are running.

Asian Impact

Flushing’s Asian population will be an important constituency in the 2009 election, no matter who the candidates.

Young, though, said she doesn’t necessarily prefer that an Asian American replace Liu.

“I would like to see any outstanding [public servant] – not based on their race and gender — take that seat,” Young said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re young or old, it doesn’t matter if they’re male or female, it doesn’t matter if they’re Asian or non-Asian.”

When Josh Levy left the Soviet Union, he moved his devout Bukharian Jewish family to Jamaica Estates. They left communist Russia with a simple goal — to raise a family and worship freely.

They found the opportunity in Queens.

And so did 30,000 other people from more than 150 different countries, making Jamaica Estates one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the world. But a rising population of immigrants has created a greater demand for religious real estate.

“All we need is something for our children so they can keep our traditions,” Levy said. “We’re not trying to take over. It would be good for all the neighbors since we’re trying to upgrade the community.”

‘Saturation’ Point

Levy, the executive director of the Bokharian Community Facility, asked the local community board in March to approve an extension on the congregation’s synagogue. The congregation, he said, is quickly outgrowing its building.

The board turned down the request, however, citing fears of traffic congestion and a “saturation of religious institutions,” according to Marie Adam-Ovide, the community board’s district manager.

Within a 2.5-mile radius — not even the entire community district — there are at least 51 places of worship. So a conservative estimate finds one religious institution every four blocks. And with recent immigrants comprising seven percent of the population, it still may not be enough.

“You have new Jewish temples, mosques, Korean churches and Buddhist temples opening up all over, especially in Flushing and the outlying area more than other places,” said City Councilman David Weprin (D-Queens). “Some are bigger, more modern places, but most are these small, local, orthodox institutions.”

A Fresh Approach

While Weprin didn’t have an answer to sprawling temples and churches, he noted there are many institutions that do not have a shortage of space, like the all-inclusive Unitarian Church and the 250-seat Fresh Anointing International Church.

Joyce Valentine, a secretary for the Fresh Anointing International Church in Jamaica Estates, believes her church has found a model that works. The five-year-old Fresh Anointing is housed a large cement building with concrete slabs of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew above the entrance, a testament to its past as a synagogue.

“You find people separated with such small, disjointed churches,” she said. “Here we bring people from all over together under one roof.”

Valentine described her church as an open place of Christian worship with members from more than 35 countries, though the sermons lean toward Methodism. Parking is sometimes an issue, but there is no shortage of seats.

Property and Values

So for now, the religious community and local government may be at an impasse. Neither wants a confrontation but until the influx of religious immigrants abates, property for worship will become increasingly scarce.

“There’s a lot of Jewish people living in the neighborhood and not enough shuls,” Levy said. “That’s why we want to make one big place for the Bukharian, so we don’t have to build again and again. We’re trying to think five years ahead. Why build so small and then have to get another property?”

“We respect the community’s decision, we’re good people and we pay taxes,” he added. “Over here, finally we have freedom of religion and we want to practice it. It’s a shame that we come here to this country and they’re against us.”

To hear a podcast about the music program at Fresh Anointing International Church, click below:

Korean-run businesses are filling bustling Liberty Avenue in the heart of Richmond Hill’s Little Guyana. The change has rankled some longtime local grocers – but not Guyanese immigrant shoppers, who flock to many of the new shops.

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