In the East Village and Lower East Side, there was a significant Filipino migration in the late 1980s due to mass recruitment of Filipino medical professionals to area hospitals, notably New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, St. Vincent's Hospital, and Beth Israel Medical Center. Migration was spurred by the hospitals' offer of subsidized housing to employees, in the midst of ongoing rent strikes in the neighborhood. The burgeoning Little Manila centered on 1st Avenue and 14th Street, around which there were, at the peak, a number of grocer and video rental stores and Filipino restaurants within a few blocks of one another. Filipino American community relations were strengthened by local Roman Catholic churches in the East Village and Gramercy area. As rents increased, and properties were taken over by New York University, the number of Filipinos and Filipino businesses in East Village Little Manila waned. Elvie's Turo-Turo, the longest standing Filipino business in the area, closed in late 2009 after almost 20 years of operation. New Filipino business continue to sprout up.