[wideawake]

didn't a lot of Sephardic Jews come to the US, esp. NY City

What defines "a lot" is the question. A few thousand, maybe.

But their descendants began the Reform movement and were more or less absorbed into the general population, or into the larger Ashkenazi communities that arrived in the 1800s.

The original Sephardic synagogues in the US are now either museums or have Ashkenazi congregations.

[miss marmelstein]

My only problem with the Sephardics (we have tons of them at the Jersey Shore) is that their healthy diet is becoming really popular and pushing out the Ashkenazim food culture of pastrami and matzo ball soup. You can't find an old-fashioned Jewish cookbook these days - it's all “middle eastern” stuff.

[miss marmelstein]

My only problem with the Sephardics (we have tons of them at the Jersey Shore) is that their healthy diet is becoming really popular and pushing out the Ashkenazim food culture of pastrami and matzo ball soup. You can't find an old-fashioned Jewish cookbook these days - it's all “middle eastern” stuff.