Japanese Enclave Thrives in Hartsdale

ON East Hartsdale Avenue in the Hartsdale section of Greenburgh, one can shop for food and magazines, get a haircut, take driving or piano lessons, see a doctor, or make a real estate deal -- without knowing any language other than Japanese.

The shops and professional services available here reflect the large number of Japanese families who have made their home in Greenburgh. The 1990 census showed that the highest concentration of Asians in the county was in two census tracts within Greenburgh -- from Hartsdale Avenue south toward Yonkers, said Vincent J. Pasquale, the director of research in the County Planning Department.

In those two census tracts, which had 11,262 residents, the 2,093 Asians made up 18.6 percent of the population last year, Mr. Pasquale said. And the number of Asians living there more than doubled since 1980, said Susan Tolchin, the Greenburgh Town Clerk. Cluster of Asians

Countywide, Asians were the minority group with the fastest growth rate, the 1990 census data showed. The number of Asians has more than doubled in Westchester since 1980, to 32,169 people from 15,126, and are now 3.7 percent of the total population.

The Asian category includes Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Guamanian, Samoan and Hawaiian. Data on these specific groups will not be available until late this year or early next year.

Those who live in Hartsdale said the cluster of Asians there were mostly Japanese, although squeezed in among the Japanese businesses on East Hartsdale Avenue is a long-established Chinese laundry and a new Korean nail salon.

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