Under an elevated subway track in Queens, Victor José Hernández was whipping up the pepitos that he had perfected at a street cart in Caracas, Venezuela. Just steps away, an Ecuadorean restaurant now displays a big Venezuelan flag and offers karaoke with Venezuelan love songs. And the line for arepas and cachapas (sweet corn cakes) spills out the door of a Venezuelan cafe. Though New York City was built on immigrant neighborhoods — Chinatown, Curry Hill, Little Italy and Little Haiti, among many others — it has never had a Venezuelan neighborhood. Historically, the city’s Venezuelan population was tiny and overshadowed by much larger Hispanic groups, including Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, immigration experts said.

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Persons: Victor José Hernández Organizations: New, Puerto Ricans Locations: Queens, Caracas, Venezuela, Roosevelt, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Venezuelan, Little Venezuela, New York City, Curry Hill, Little Italy, Little Haiti