NYC Ladies and Natural Hair: Where is it most common?

[MsSanz92]

I was on the 2 train going uptown and I noticed how many natural haired ladies I saw uptown in Harlem and as soon as the train got to the Bronx, they all disappeared. I was wondering what the hell is going on up here in the Bronx?! I'm kinda saddened that there aren't many naturals up here because even in Midtown you're more likely to see natural haired Black women amidst all the YT folks and definitely in Brooklyn. Maybe because the prominence of Dominican salons and LORD knows they aren't planning on giving up the creamy crack anytime soon!

NYC Ladies, which section of the city do you think natural hair is more common?

 

[Harina]

I was going to say everywhere. But I guess when I was in NYC, I didn't really visit The Bronx that much. I would say definitely Brooklyn.

 

[Nayna]

It depends on the area. I see more naturals further up in the Bronx. I see them all over Brooklyn and Manhattan though. I don't frequent Queens and Staten Island too much so I can't speak for those areas.

 

[mzteaze]

I see them all over altho most often in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

 

[jennboo]

I heard that BK is like the natural hair mecca. But i can't say it has been my personal observation because i don't endeavor into bk too often.

I can speak on manhattan and the bx. I do see black women with natural hair in Manhattan (Harlem and downtown areas, village). But not many. Usually when i see a black woman with natural hair, its locs. Sometimes a chunky, small fro, or even shaved. I take the 5 train into the bronx frequently and all the black women i see on the trains are weave-a-licious or picked-out-hair-a-licious.

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

My NYC Native husband says Manhattan

ETA now he's saying Brooklyn...

 

[BklynHeart]

Brooklyn definitely. Last summer when I attended First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum and go to the Target at Atlantic Avenue, almost every women in there was natural. In Staten Island we still have women with the most unnatural weaves and wigs.

 

[Ijanei]

bklyn most def. I even saw a lot in qu

 

[Dposh167]

i think its BK too.
but in all honesty its not something i analyze in each borough.

 

[kimmy89]

^^^^^^

Okay.... So, I can't comment on the topic of the thread, but why have you got Micheal Jackson looking at me like that??! mhhmm he puts LL to shame with the way he licks his lips. R.I.P Micheal.

 

[30something]

edit : Oops my phone quoted a random replay some how

 

[niqu92]

off topic:i hate the term creamy crack.its kinda offensive to relaxed ladies im not a crackhead

oh well...continue...

 

[GL925]

I live in Brooklyn and there are many here. There might be more in Manhattan.

 

[Duchesse]

BK..though I see alot of naturals all over.

 

[andromeda]

Brooklyn! :reddancer:

 

[Simply_elle]

See,

The BK I know and love is the Flatbush(?) area...With a VERY dense Caribbean population

thanks to my Grenadian boyfriend, anyway the lovely ladies there were DR salon-ed and

weaved(relaxed) five ways till Sunday. So this booming BK natural population has

me a bit intruguederplexed LOL? I see most naturals say...40th and below???

 

[Simply_elle]

off topic:i hate the term creamy crack.its kinda offensive to relaxed ladies im not a crackhead

oh well...continue...

I see where your coming from,

I personally think it's a term of endearment. I joked when I was relaxed that

there was NO way I was giving up the "creamy crack", as it was addictive and

VERY satisfying..the feeling after a touchup!? *cough* anyway..

"chemical fire cream"?? Ain't no way of making that pretty...

 

[andromeda]

See,

The BK I know and love is the Flatbush(?) area...With a VERY dense Caribbean population

thanks to my Grenadian boyfriend, anyway the lovely ladies there were DR salon-ed and

weaved(relaxed) five ways till Sunday. So this booming BK natural population has

me a bit intruguederplexed LOL? I see most naturals say...40th and below???

@Simply_elle Yeah, I see what you're saying. Flatbush from the ocean ave to the junction is definitely filled with relaxed heads and straightened naturals, cared for by the dominicans like Maribels, and weaves, installed by the W Indian operated salons. There has been an increase in the # of natural heads, though. But it still doesn't compare to areas like Ft Greene, Clinton Hill, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, etc.

Also there's been a natural hair/loc movement going on in Brooklyn for quite some and a lot of those salons are located on or near Flatbush ave near 7th ave or so (park slope).

I'm sure if you go to places like E New York or some of the grittier parts of Bed Stuy, naturals are probably few and far between there too. But when compared on the whole with other boroughs, I think Brooklyn still wins with naturals. Even when comparing progressive BK nabes to progressive NYC nabes, BK still wins.

Another thing is that there's more diversity in how the very kinky natural-haired women in my part of BK wear their hair vs women of a similar type on the hairboards.

 

[RegaLady]

@Simply_elle Yeah, I see what you're saying. Flatbush from the ocean ave to the junction is definitely filled with relaxed heads and straightened naturals, cared for by the dominicans like Maribels, and weaves, installed by the W Indian operated salons. There has been an increase in the # of natural heads, though. But it still doesn't compare to areas like Ft Greene, Clinton Hill, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, etc.

Also there's been a natural hair/loc movement going on in Brooklyn for quite some and a lot of those salons are located on or near Flatbush ave near 7th ave or so (park slope).

I'm sure if you go to places like E New York or some of the grittier parts of Bed Stuy, naturals are probably few and far between there too. But when compared on the whole with other boroughs, I think Brooklyn still wins with naturals. Even when comparing progressive BK nabes to progressive NYC nabes, BK still wins.

Another thing is that there's more diversity in how the very kinky natural-haired women in my part of BK wear their hair vs women of a similar type on the hairboards.

What do you mean by this?

 

[MsSanz92]

I knew the Bronx was not winning this! Another thing is that the Bronx is about ~ 30% Black and of the Black people here, there is less diversity like there is in Brooklyn. There are some Caribbean Blacks in the Bronx mostly in the Northeast part of the borough near Mount Vernon, and even amongst them, most of them are weaved up or relaxed from what I see. Since the Bronx has a lot of Dominican salons and Dominicans who are very pro-straight hair, these sentiments seemed to have rubbed off on most of the Black people here. Another thing, the Bronx in general is NOT a Black friendly place (which is one of the major reasons why I got the hell out of here for school as soon as I could) so things related to Blackness such as natural hair is not valued at all. Black culture and appreciation for it is few and far in between! It's almost as if the only way natural hair is acceptable up here is if its type 3b or lower anything else someone will pressure you to relax it or get your hair blow fried at the Dominicans!

 

[Nayna]

I knew the Bronx was not winning this! Another thing is that the Bronx is about ~ 30% Black and of the Black people here, there is less diversity like there is in Brooklyn. There are some Caribbean Blacks in the Bronx mostly in the Northeast part of the borough near Mount Vernon, and even amongst them, most of them are weaved up or relaxed from what I see. Since the Bronx has a lot of Dominican salons and Dominicans who are very pro-straight hair, these sentiments seemed to have rubbed off on most of the Black people here. Another thing, the Bronx in general is NOT a Black friendly place (which is one of the major reasons why I got the hell out of here for school as soon as I could) so things related to Blackness such as natural hair is not valued at all. Black culture and appreciation for it is few and far in between! It's almost as if the only way natural hair is acceptable up here is if its type 3b or lower anything else someone will pressure you to relax it or get your hair blow fried at the Dominicans!

Maybe it's your particular area. I've lived between the Bronx and Brooklyn all my life and I haven't experienced all that... All areas of the Bronx are not the same.

 

[MsSanz92]

Maybe it's your particular area. I've lived between the Bronx and Brooklyn all my life and I haven't experienced all that... All areas of the Bronx are not the same.

By "Black friendly" I mean that I personally don't feel as if the majority of the borough is as welcoming to Black people or as rich in Black culture as other parts of the city. For example, my sister just moved to Bed Stuy, obviously a very "Black friendly" place due to its history but for the most part, you will not find many places like Bed Stuy, Harlem, Southern Queens, etc, areas which are predominately Black and foster a somewhat conscious Black community in the Bronx. Not to say I face daily racism in the Bronx, but in general around where I live and in many parts of the Bronx, I just don't feel as comfortable being Black as I do in other parts of other boroughs.

 

[Napp]

I see where your coming from,

I personally think it's a term of endearment. I joked when I was relaxed that

there was NO way I was giving up the "creamy crack", as it was addictive and

VERY satisfying..the feeling after a touchup!? *cough* anyway..

"chemical fire cream"?? Ain't no way of making that pretty...

 

[1989]

I see more naturals on the L train between Union Square going into Brooklyn, but I live in Westchester where I hardly encounter black women with natural hair aside from locs. In fact, I usually get a lot of side eye and stares from people when I wear my 'fro out.

 

[lala89]

Lol I grew up in the Bronx around chewed hair and weaves and nothings changed (but there's still a good number of naturals mixed in), I barely go to queens so I don't know but id say the Bronx has the least natural out of the other boroughs. Harlem and Brooklyn have the most (imo).

Eta: I'm mad staten island is even on this poll

 

[lala89]

1989 what part of Westchester are you in?

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

Generally, the more affluent the NYC neighborhood, and the closer the proximity to universities (especially our prestigious ones ie. Columbia NYU) the denser the natural population.

I realized this working as a real estate agent and took note of the difference.

Before we "moved on up" my fam lived on Flatbush close to Parkside or Caton, it was a dense carribbean population but it was pretty hood and low income. Relaxers weaves and wigs are king in that area and hoods like it, not even gonna discuss the bright colors some folks throw in . Not to dog out my stomping grounds it had its positive aspects, but it's true.

When you go to the yuppie areas of Brooklyn and even Manhattan, that are high income, higher education ie. Park slope, Bklyn heights, Clinton hill, fort Greene carol gardens and for manhattan w village, soho, union sq etc. You can't walk an inch in any direction without bumping into some ultra fly naturals

I was meeting with a client today in downtown bk at a cafe and I saw countless naturals but this one natural family walked past and I was just in awe, they looked SO amazing.

I would definitely say that the yuppie neighborhoods in bk really take the cake in terms of naturals.

Sent from my iPhone4 using LHCF

 

[lala89]

^^writing you a pm

 

[jennboo]

Generally, the more affluent the NYC neighborhood, and the closer the proximity to universities (especially our prestigious ones ie. Columbia NYU) the denser the natural population.

I realized this working as a real estate agent and took note of the difference.

Before we "moved on up" my fam lived on Flatbush close to Parkside or Caton, it was a dense carribbean population but it was pretty hood and low income. Relaxers weaves and wigs are king in that area and hoods like it, not even gonna discuss the bright colors some folks throw in . Not to dog out my stomping grounds it had its positive aspects, but it's true.

When you go to the yuppie areas of Brooklyn and even Manhattan, that are high income, higher education ie. Park slope, Bklyn heights, Clinton hill, fort Greene carol gardens and for manhattan w village, soho, union sq etc. You can't walk an inch in any direction without bumping into some ultra fly naturals

I was meeting with a client today in downtown bk at a cafe and I saw countless naturals but this one natural family walked past and I was just in awe, they looked SO amazing.

I would definitely say that the yuppie neighborhoods in bk really take the cake in terms of naturals.

Sent from my iPhone4 using LHCF

Yup.

Didn't wanna get flamed for stating the bolded

 

[Nayna]

By "Black friendly" I mean that I personally don't feel as if the majority of the borough is as welcoming to Black people or as rich in Black culture as other parts of the city. For example, my sister just moved to Bed Stuy, obviously a very "Black friendly" place due to its history but for the most part, you will not find many places like Bed Stuy, Harlem, Southern Queens, etc, areas which are predominately Black and foster a somewhat conscious Black community in the Bronx. Not to say I face daily racism in the Bronx, but in general around where I live and in many parts of the Bronx, I just don't feel as comfortable being Black as I do in other parts of other boroughs.

OK. I get more of what you mean now. I don't get that feeling anywhere but I see what you're saying as for as the history thing. I still think it's the areas. I find Spanish people near me to be very welcoming if that's the right word. I see a few funny style ones but overall I don't see a big clash between blacks and hispanics out here. I definitely can't relate to the comfortable being black thing. Do you mind pming where that is so that I never go there? lol.

As far as the hair thing, idk. There are plenty of black salons but they are expensive. Dominican salons are cheaper and you get in and out. I know when my mom used to give me my little allowance I was not paying more than $10 for my wash and set so Dominican salons it was. However, it was my Dominican stylist that helped me begin my natural journey so I can't say they all go hard with straight hair and relaxers. I'm a hairstlyist on the weekends and I work in Fort Greene so I see naturals on the daily out there. But when I venture to my roots in BK it's not the same. It's the areas.

I mean natural hair is still not the majority. You may see it more in certain areas than others but it still is what it is.