Since the early 1900s there has been a Jewish community in Canarsie, mostly of Ashkenazic background. The Jewish population grew after World War because many Jews moved out of neighborhoods such as Brownsville and East New York, and Canarsie seemed a step up for them. Levantine and Sephardic Jews also moved in from the New Lots/East New York area. It was considered a pleasant, middle and working class neighborhood.