Northeastern Americans tend to be the ones most likely to have some form of active European tie. You have your rich 'blue blood' families that can trace their lineage back to European (mostly British) notable families and thus have stronger ties to Europe. New York City is also the traditional port of entry for European immigrants and ethnic enclaves (Little Italy, Germantown, etc) tend to persist as communities and retain some connection back to Europe. That same structure also spread out of New York City, so other Northeastern cities also have those enclaves and people keep in touch. You also have the interconnection of the NYC finance industry to the London Stock Exchange and other financial services in Europe, etc.

Beside these communities you also have the fact Americans tend to move around in their careers more so than others. If I really like spending time in Europe, I'd find a job on the East Coast because living there cuts anywhere from 6 to 8 hours off my flight time to Europe. My children would have more exposure to Europe, etc. I'd also like the East Coast more since keeping European cultural traditions alive, often in bastardized forms, is a New England thing as well.

Conversely in my part of the Midwest, which is manufacturing driven, namely cars, we have a strong German presence due to BMW/Daimler/etc but we also have a large Asian presence mixed in due to the position of the Asian 3 automakers. It's easier for me to get a direct flight out of Detroit to reach Asian than one to Europe. Japanese and Mandarin are more and more frequently taught in our schools, with a reduced selection of European languages as a result, etc. My children speak fluent Mandarin, expected as my wife is Chinese, and Japanese as well. They've been to Europe once, but visit Asia yearly to see family and to tag along on business trips, etc.

So yes it is likely a thing. Ethnic ties, economic reasons, and self selection of moving to the Northeast.