Mexican Diaspora In New York @ Univision 41.

The roots of the little-known but large Mexican community in New York were featured in a special report by Antonio Martinez on “Noticias 41,” the local newscast of Spanish-language Univision 41 (WXTV) here, on Thursday and Friday, August 2 & 3, on both its 6 pm and 11 pm broadcasts.

When Anglos think of Hispanics in the tri-state area, they tend to think of Puerto Ricans or Dominicans. The year 2000 census revealed for the first time that Puerto Ricans no longer make up the majority of Hispanics in the New York area. There is a little-known Mexican community that is growing in both numbers and significance. It already numbers almost half a million people.

In an exclusive TV report, “Noticias 41″‘s Martinez visits the town of Tulcingo, the center of the area in the Mexican state of Puebla where an estimated 70% of the New York area’s half- million Mexicans originate. The New Yorkers from the Tulcingo area remit the amazing sum of $50,000 daily to relatives in Mexico. Tulcingo is now at the center of efforts by Mexico’s new president, Vincente Fox, to reach out to the Mexican diaspora in the United States. Fox is interviewed in the special report.

Featured in the “Noticias 41” report is Jaime Lucero, President of New York’s Casa Puebla, a non-profit organization on New York’s Upper West Side, which aids Hispanic immigrants. Lucero, who emigrated from Mexico to New York 25 years ago, worked his way up from dishwasher to successful garment manufacturer. He is at the center of a program called “Adopt A Region” in which President Fox has asked successful Mexican expatriates who run businesses in the United States to set up plants in Mexico to increase local employment. “Noticias 41” will feature footage from the opening, earlier this week, of Lucero’s first clothing factory in Mexico. His garment company, Gold and Silver Inc., hopes to employ 7,000 Mexicans in the next two years.