Indians in the New York City metropolitan area

Though most of these peddlers were transient seasonal workers at resorts, a small number of men stayed in New Jersey year-round to renew stocks of goods and shepherd younger traders from India to the US.

[19] However, the largest number hereafter came to New York City and its affluent suburban environs, consisting largely of professionals, including physicians, engineers, financiers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and lawyers, as well as businesspeople,[18] though there was also small population concentrated along 116th Street and Broadway in Manhattan that was poorer.

By 1974, there was a notable Indian population in the greater New York area, with particular concentrations in Hoboken, New Jersey and Flushing, Queens, though neither was strongly identified as a Little India at this point and there was already a push to move out to the suburbs, especially to Nassau County on Long Island.

[21] During 1960s and 1970s, Indians also set up several cultural and religious institutions based in New York City, though they drew people from the entire metropolitan area.

In the late 1980s, a hate group called the Dotbusters – named after the bindi that many Hindu women wear – beat up several Indians in Jersey City, including killing a Parsi man, Narvoze Mody.

[34] The Indian American population would also surge in the further reaches of Central New Jersey in the 2000s in towns such as West Windsor, Plainsboro, and Montgomery.

[42][43] Central New Jersey, at the geographic heart of the Northeast Megalopolis, has emerged as the largest hub for Indian immigrants to the U.S., followed closely by Queens and Nassau County on Long Island.

Monroe Township, Middlesex County, in central New Jersey, the geographic heart of the Northeast megalopolis and ranked the safest small city in the United States,[48][49] has displayed one of the fastest growth rates of its Indian population in the Western Hemisphere, increasing from 256 (0.9%) as of the 2000 Census[50] to an estimated 5,943 (13.6%) as of 2017,[51] representing a 2,221.5% (a multiple of 23) numerical increase over that period, including many affluent professionals and senior citizens as well as charitable benefactors to the Covid-19 relief efforts in India in official coordination with Monroe Township, in addition to Bollywood actors with second homes.

[52] A community named Raajipo (meaning happiness) has emerged within nearby Robbinsville, in Mercer County, New Jersey, home of Swaminarayan Akshardham (Devnagari: स्वामिनारायण अक्षरधाम), inaugurated in 2014 as the world's largest Hindu temple.

[74] An annual, color-filled spring Holi festival has taken place in Jersey City since 1992, centered upon India Square and attracting significant participation and international media attention.

[77][78] The Oak Tree Road strip runs for about one-and-a-half miles through Edison and neighboring Iselin, New Jersey, near the area's sprawling Chinatown and Koreatown.

[88] Edison was, per 2010 American Community Survey census data, 28.3% ethnic Asian Indian population, the highest percentage for any municipality in the United States.

[97] Today, Indian-owned businesses in the United States include various enterprises, ranging from small retailers and service providers to large corporations.

Momentum has been growing to recognize the Hindu holy day Deepavali (Diwali) as a holiday on school district calendars in the New York City metropolitan region.

[102] Glen Rock, New Jersey in February 2015 became the first municipality in Bergen County, with its own burgeoning Indian population post-2010,[66][105] to recognize Diwali as an annual school holiday.

[102] The beaches of the Jersey Shore and Long Island have become popular recreational destinations for Indians in the New York City metropolitan region.

According to the website of Baruch College of the City University of New York, "The FIA, which came into being in 1970 is an umbrella organization meant to represent the diverse Indian population of NYC.

[115] The world's largest Sikh Day Parade outside India celebrating Vaisakhi and the season of renewal is held in Manhattan annually in April.

The annual Miss India USA pageant is headquartered in New York City and is often held in Middlesex County, New Jersey or on Long Island.

[119] In February 2022, an electronic billboard in Times Square sponsored by the Binder Indian Cultural Center featured a tribute to the late singer Lata Mangeshkar, known as "The Nightingale of India".

[96] In time, this stretch of East 6th Street between First and Second Avenues evolved the nickname Curry Row, with a dense collection of North Indian restaurants.

[126] Parallelling India's religious constituency, most Indians in the New York City metropolitan region practice Hinduism, followed by Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, and irreligion.

[100] Central New Jersey has large temples of Venkateswara and Guruvayurappan in Bridgewater and Morganville, respectively; and Sai Baba mandirs abound throughout the metropolitan area, the two largest both being in Middlesex County, New Jersey, in Monroe Township (also the largest Sai mandir in the Western Hemisphere) and in Edison, bookending the southern and northern ends of Middlesex County, respectively.

[130] Numerous mosques, churches (geared significantly toward a Keralite membership), Sikh gurudwaras, and Jain temples are also situated in the New York City metropolitan area.

In 2016, a public park was expanded in Monroe Township, Middlesex County in central New Jersey to accommodate a designated cricket pitch, among other recreational facilities.

[143] Kitex Garments, based in Kerala and India's largest children's clothing manufacturer, opened its first U.S. office in Montvale, New Jersey in October 2015.

[145] In March 2023, Bengaluru-based technology services and consulting company Wipro opened its American international headquarters in East Brunswick, Middlesex, County, New Jersey.

[148] South Asians also make up 50% of New York's taxicab drivers,[149] with Indians such as Bhairavi Desai playing a prominent role in organizing cabbies from the 1990s to the present.

In that context, travel between the United States and India has developed strong cultural connections, and, in more recent years, business traffic for expatriates.

In May 2019, Delta Air Lines announced non-stop flight service between JFK and Mumbai, to begin on December 22, 2019[155] but suspended the route in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.