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NEW YORK, U.S.A., October 14, 2004: Twenty years ago, 74th street in Jackson Heights featured only a few Indian-owned shops. Today this same street has over 200 businesses that are Indian. For the sixth year in a row, the Hindu community has decorated the street with full fanfare to celebrate the Hindu festival of Deepavali. The merchants plan on leaving the lights up on every arbor even after Deepavali ends on November 17. Shiv Das, president of the Jackson Heights Merchants’ Association, says, “This is a way of saying thank you. You have Jewish customers, Muslim customers, Christian customers, we want to keep everybody happy, and the street looks good.” Attendance in Little India exceeded expectations as over 20,000 people attended the street celebration this year. R. Radhakrishan, president of the Federation of Indian Associations, comments, “It is very large compared to what it was 20 years ago. They appreciate our culture.” The article explains, “Over the past two decades, the borough’s Indian community has achieved increasing notoriety, and their success has transformed 74th Street. In July, the street was renamed Kalpana Chawla Way to honor Chawla, one of seven astronauts to die in the ill-fated Columbia shuttle mission and the first Indian American in space. And the street recently has become the focus of a Pratt University study aimed at weaving the area more firmly into Queens’ tourist and cultural offerings.” Police officer Ravi Malhotra, the son of Indian immigrants from Delhi, says, “It’s absolutely amazing. This is the sixth year they’ve done this.” U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens), one of Queen’s politicians, says, “Even Jewish kids from Brooklyn are Hindus today.” Congressman Joseph Crowley adds, “I promise before my time is done in Washington, we will have a stamp honoring Deepavali in the United States.”

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