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| Immigrants Stir New Life Into São Paulo’s Gritty Old Center | Immigrants Stir New Life Into São Paulo’s Gritty Old Center |
| (5 months later) | |
| SÃO PAULO, Brazil — For obvious reasons, many Paulistanos still consider this megacity’s decrepit old center a no-go zone. | |
| Carjacking and kidnapping gangs prey on motorists at stoplights. Squatters control dozens of graffiti-splattered apartment buildings. Sinewy addicts roam through the streets smoking crack cocaine in broad daylight. | Carjacking and kidnapping gangs prey on motorists at stoplights. Squatters control dozens of graffiti-splattered apartment buildings. Sinewy addicts roam through the streets smoking crack cocaine in broad daylight. |
| But slip into Jean Katumba’s cramped Internet cafe and a different picture emerges. | But slip into Jean Katumba’s cramped Internet cafe and a different picture emerges. |
| “They call this place ugly, but I see its beauty,” said Mr. Katumba, 37, who arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo just 11 months ago. | “They call this place ugly, but I see its beauty,” said Mr. Katumba, 37, who arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo just 11 months ago. |
| Trained as an engineer in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, he earns a living here in Baixada do Glicério, a crime-ridden district, renting computers to customers speaking a variety of languages, from Haitian Creole to Colombian-accented Spanish and the Lingala of his homeland. | Trained as an engineer in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, he earns a living here in Baixada do Glicério, a crime-ridden district, renting computers to customers speaking a variety of languages, from Haitian Creole to Colombian-accented Spanish and the Lingala of his homeland. |
| “São Paulo means a great thing to me: opportunity,” he said. | “São Paulo means a great thing to me: opportunity,” he said. |
| An array of similar ventures started by immigrants is flourishing amid the grit of São Paulo’s old center, reflecting shifts in global immigration patterns. Reinforcing São Paulo’s status as Brazil’s premier global city, Asians, largely from China, Africans and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans are flowing in. | An array of similar ventures started by immigrants is flourishing amid the grit of São Paulo’s old center, reflecting shifts in global immigration patterns. Reinforcing São Paulo’s status as Brazil’s premier global city, Asians, largely from China, Africans and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans are flowing in. |
| São Paulo, South America’s largest city, with a metropolitan population approaching 20 million, officially has about 368,000 foreigners. But as Brazil’s improved living standards gain notice in poorer countries, the city is experiencing a surge in arrivals of undocumented immigrants. While estimates vary widely, authorities figure that immigrants actually number around 600,000, far fewer than in a place like New York — which counts more than three million foreign-born residents — but considerably more than any other Brazilian city. | São Paulo, South America’s largest city, with a metropolitan population approaching 20 million, officially has about 368,000 foreigners. But as Brazil’s improved living standards gain notice in poorer countries, the city is experiencing a surge in arrivals of undocumented immigrants. While estimates vary widely, authorities figure that immigrants actually number around 600,000, far fewer than in a place like New York — which counts more than three million foreign-born residents — but considerably more than any other Brazilian city. |
| At the street level, this influx is injecting vitality into a downtown area that had come in recent decades to epitomize the abandonment and degradation of big sections of São Paulo. | At the street level, this influx is injecting vitality into a downtown area that had come in recent decades to epitomize the abandonment and degradation of big sections of São Paulo. |
| “Sometimes I still need to step over the crack addicts to open the door to my restaurant,” Edgard Villar, 36, a Quechua-speaking Peruvian immigrant whose restaurant, Rinconcito Peruano, on the second floor of an unmarked building, lures tattooed hipsters from more prosperous parts of the city. “But that’s O.K., since getting here is part of the thrill for our clientele.” | “Sometimes I still need to step over the crack addicts to open the door to my restaurant,” Edgard Villar, 36, a Quechua-speaking Peruvian immigrant whose restaurant, Rinconcito Peruano, on the second floor of an unmarked building, lures tattooed hipsters from more prosperous parts of the city. “But that’s O.K., since getting here is part of the thrill for our clientele.” |
| Navigating old São Paulo’s streets and alleyways did not always involve such thrills. | Navigating old São Paulo’s streets and alleyways did not always involve such thrills. |
| For centuries after Jesuits founded São Paulo in 1554, the life of the upper classes in the city revolved around the old center, where the initial landmarks of the city’s downtown emerged, including the stock exchange and modernist skyscrapers. Immigrants, largely from Italy, Portugal, Spain and the Middle East, flooded into the area at the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th centuries. | For centuries after Jesuits founded São Paulo in 1554, the life of the upper classes in the city revolved around the old center, where the initial landmarks of the city’s downtown emerged, including the stock exchange and modernist skyscrapers. Immigrants, largely from Italy, Portugal, Spain and the Middle East, flooded into the area at the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th centuries. |
| But in recent decades, developers largely shunned the old center, giving rise to a sprawling, traffic-choked metropolis characterized by gated communities, vast slums, closely guarded shopping malls, luxury high-rises equipped with helipads, a dearth of parks and new financial districts along the thoroughfares Avenida Paulista and Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima. | But in recent decades, developers largely shunned the old center, giving rise to a sprawling, traffic-choked metropolis characterized by gated communities, vast slums, closely guarded shopping malls, luxury high-rises equipped with helipads, a dearth of parks and new financial districts along the thoroughfares Avenida Paulista and Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima. |
| Meanwhile, the old center, despite boasting enviable public transportation infrastructure, fell deeper into decline, its low-rent tenements steadily enveloped in pichação, the cryptic São Paulo graffiti form that resembles Scandinavia’s ancient runic writing. | Meanwhile, the old center, despite boasting enviable public transportation infrastructure, fell deeper into decline, its low-rent tenements steadily enveloped in pichação, the cryptic São Paulo graffiti form that resembles Scandinavia’s ancient runic writing. |
| “It’s dangerous in this area, but the costs are still low,” said Kwok Man Long, 28, a Chinese immigrant who owns a store selling lighting fixtures. São Paulo’s Chinese community, largely comprising owners of small businesses such as food stores and hardware shops, now numbers more than 100,000, he and others in the community estimated. | “It’s dangerous in this area, but the costs are still low,” said Kwok Man Long, 28, a Chinese immigrant who owns a store selling lighting fixtures. São Paulo’s Chinese community, largely comprising owners of small businesses such as food stores and hardware shops, now numbers more than 100,000, he and others in the community estimated. |
| São Paulo’s new immigration surge stands in contrast to previous waves. After the overthrow of Emperor Dom Pedro II in 1889, Brazil’s first Constitution as a republic promoted a policy of “branqueamento,” or whitening, of Brazilian society through European immigration, while prohibiting immigration from Africa and Asia, according to scholars. | São Paulo’s new immigration surge stands in contrast to previous waves. After the overthrow of Emperor Dom Pedro II in 1889, Brazil’s first Constitution as a republic promoted a policy of “branqueamento,” or whitening, of Brazilian society through European immigration, while prohibiting immigration from Africa and Asia, according to scholars. |
| A notable exception was established for immigrants from Japan, giving rise in Brazil to the largest community of Japanese immigrants and their descendants, at more than 1.3 million. In recent years, Liberdade, the traditional Japanese quarter on the edge of the old center, has witnessed a sharp increase in Chinese immigration. | A notable exception was established for immigrants from Japan, giving rise in Brazil to the largest community of Japanese immigrants and their descendants, at more than 1.3 million. In recent years, Liberdade, the traditional Japanese quarter on the edge of the old center, has witnessed a sharp increase in Chinese immigration. |
| Many of São Paulo’s new immigrants, whether moving here from Asia, Latin America, Africa or southern Europe (the city also saw a new influx from Portugal and Spain as a result of the economic downturn brought on by Europe’s debt crisis), are lured in part by Brazil’s relatively relaxed immigration rules. | Many of São Paulo’s new immigrants, whether moving here from Asia, Latin America, Africa or southern Europe (the city also saw a new influx from Portugal and Spain as a result of the economic downturn brought on by Europe’s debt crisis), are lured in part by Brazil’s relatively relaxed immigration rules. |
| While legislation passed in 1980 during Brazil’s military dictatorship creates various obstacles for legal immigration, deportations remain rare. Meanwhile, officials have granted amnesty to undocumented immigrants several times since the 1980s, allowing people who overstay visas or cross Brazil’s porous borders without authorization to obtain legal residency. | While legislation passed in 1980 during Brazil’s military dictatorship creates various obstacles for legal immigration, deportations remain rare. Meanwhile, officials have granted amnesty to undocumented immigrants several times since the 1980s, allowing people who overstay visas or cross Brazil’s porous borders without authorization to obtain legal residency. |
| Wretchedness persists for many alongside the old center’s thriving immigrant ventures, and the authorities have regularly raided textile sweatshops where laborers, largely Bolivian or Peruvian immigrants, were found toiling in slavelike conditions. | Wretchedness persists for many alongside the old center’s thriving immigrant ventures, and the authorities have regularly raided textile sweatshops where laborers, largely Bolivian or Peruvian immigrants, were found toiling in slavelike conditions. |
| The vulnerability of some immigrants to exploitation and violent crime was evident in a tragic episode last year in which assailants shot and killed the 5-year-old son of Bolivian immigrants in a botched home invasion. Hundreds of Bolivians, one of São Paulo’s largest immigrant groups, took to the streets in a protest that coincided with the large demonstrations convulsing the nation. | The vulnerability of some immigrants to exploitation and violent crime was evident in a tragic episode last year in which assailants shot and killed the 5-year-old son of Bolivian immigrants in a botched home invasion. Hundreds of Bolivians, one of São Paulo’s largest immigrant groups, took to the streets in a protest that coincided with the large demonstrations convulsing the nation. |
| “Suddenly, amid the broader street protests, there was the emergence of Bolivians from the shadows,” said Jeffrey Lesser, a historian at Emory University in Atlanta who specializes in immigration in Brazil. “It was a vivid example of immigrants asserting their place in the political sphere.” | “Suddenly, amid the broader street protests, there was the emergence of Bolivians from the shadows,” said Jeffrey Lesser, a historian at Emory University in Atlanta who specializes in immigration in Brazil. “It was a vivid example of immigrants asserting their place in the political sphere.” |
| Film directors and writers here are also drawing inspiration from the immigration surge. In one recent example, “Destiny: São Paulo,” a fictional mini-series produced for HBO Brasil, depicts the travails of Korean, Nigerian, Chinese, Bolivian and Orthodox Jewish immigrants in the city. | Film directors and writers here are also drawing inspiration from the immigration surge. In one recent example, “Destiny: São Paulo,” a fictional mini-series produced for HBO Brasil, depicts the travails of Korean, Nigerian, Chinese, Bolivian and Orthodox Jewish immigrants in the city. |
| Trying to lure residents into the old center, officials have renovated architectural gems like the Júlio Prestes train station, which was converted to become the home of São Paulo’s symphony orchestra. Visitors to the venues often come and go by car, avoiding the assault on the senses that constitutes Cracolândia, as the crack-cocaine-consuming zone surrounding these cultural landmarks is widely called. | Trying to lure residents into the old center, officials have renovated architectural gems like the Júlio Prestes train station, which was converted to become the home of São Paulo’s symphony orchestra. Visitors to the venues often come and go by car, avoiding the assault on the senses that constitutes Cracolândia, as the crack-cocaine-consuming zone surrounding these cultural landmarks is widely called. |
| But for those who walk through the surrounding maze of streets, the dynamics making São Paulo one of the great immigrant cities of the developing world come into focus. On the ground floor of a squatter-occupied building on Alameda Barão de Limeira, a street featuring decaying Art Deco buildings, Mélanito Biyouha put down stakes. | But for those who walk through the surrounding maze of streets, the dynamics making São Paulo one of the great immigrant cities of the developing world come into focus. On the ground floor of a squatter-occupied building on Alameda Barão de Limeira, a street featuring decaying Art Deco buildings, Mélanito Biyouha put down stakes. |
| “They say São Paulo is the New York of Brazil, but one day maybe people will see New York as the São Paulo of the United States,” said Ms. Biyouha, 43, a Cameroonian immigrant who operates a restaurant serving food from her homeland and other African countries. “This city isn’t perfect,” she added, “but the world is coming here.” | “They say São Paulo is the New York of Brazil, but one day maybe people will see New York as the São Paulo of the United States,” said Ms. Biyouha, 43, a Cameroonian immigrant who operates a restaurant serving food from her homeland and other African countries. “This city isn’t perfect,” she added, “but the world is coming here.” |