[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 77 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 77
Recognizing the Dominican community's presence and contributions to
Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 2021
Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Mr. Castro of Texas, and Mr. Vicente
Gonzalez of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the Dominican community's presence and contributions to
Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood.
Whereas historically Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood have had
the highest concentration of residents of Dominican descent in New York
City, making it the center of Dominican culture in the United States;
Whereas the neighborhood continues to be an iconic hub and cultural center for
Dominicans, epitomizing the fusion of upper Manhattan and Dominican
culture;
Whereas referring to Washington Heights and Inwood as Wahi is perpetuating the
rebranding and erasure of the community's identity to appeal to an
incoming wave;
Whereas the cultural legacy of the Dominican community in the neighborhood must
be upheld to ensure it does not disappear;
Whereas Dominicans have been an integral part of the vibrant Hamilton Heights,
Washington Heights, and Inwood community since the 1960s, in all areas
including activism, advocacy, art, culture, literature, sports,
business, and government;
Whereas Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood have the highest
population of Dominican immigrants in New York City, and Dominicans make
up 63 percent of the immigrant population;
Whereas, in 1613, Juan Rodriguez, a man who migrated from the island of
Hispaniola, which is now known as the Dominican Republic and Haiti, was
the first immigrant, the first Black person, the first merchant, the
first Latino, and the first Dominican to have resided in metropolitan
New York;
Whereas Juan Pablo Duarte, the founding father of the Dominican Republic, has
been immortalized in the neighborhood by the renaming of St. Nicholas
Avenue to Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard from 170th to 193rd Streets;
Whereas small businesses in Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood
continue to be fueled by Dominican entrepreneurs and loyal patrons,
creating a sense of community within local shops and restaurants;
Whereas Dyckman Street restaurants have witnessed a renaissance creatively
fusing Dominican cuisine with different cultures, such as Japanese and
Italian, and local staples, such as 809 Bar and Grill, Mamajuana, La
Nueva Espana, and La Casa Del Mofongo, continue to attract patrons from
the tri-State area to dine on traditional Dominican fare and visit the
lively neighborhood;
Whereas Dominican vendors continue to serve the public with fresh fruits and
foods from the Dominican culture in La Plaza de Las Americas and the
newly opened Uptown Plaza in Inwood, and line the sidewalks between
Broadway and Audubon Avenue, a tradition that embodies the hard-working
immigrant spirit of the neighborhood;
Whereas the National Supermarket Association and the Bodega Association of the
United States promote the creation of jobs and sustainable economic
growth in inner cities and Latino communities that have been overlooked
by large chains, such as Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and
Inwood;
Whereas professional associations, such as Dominicans on Wall Street (DOWS), the
Association of Dominican-American Supervisors and Administrators
(ADASA), the New York Dominican Officers Organization (NYDO), Dominican
Bar Association (DBA), Dominican Medical Association (DMA), and the
Dominican Medical-Dental Society (DMDS), highlight the contributions of
professional Dominicans nationwide to the development of their
communities;
Whereas the New York Yankees, an all-American baseball team, had its beginnings
in Washington Heights, baseball continues to be one of the main sports
in the neighborhood, and Dominican baseball players have brought great
pride and recognition to the sport;
Whereas three-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Alex Rodriguez and four-time Major
League Baseball All-Star Dellin Betances of the New York Yankees, were
born in Washington Heights, and Manny Ramirez, the award-winning MVP and
twelve-time All-Star baseball player, moved from the Dominican Republic
to New York City where he attended George Washington High School in
Washington Heights and became a baseball prodigy;
Whereas the Dominican Republic has won six medals at the Olympics, including
Pedro Nolasco's bronze medal in boxing at the 1984 Summer Olympics and,
in 2004, Felix Sanchez's gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles;
Whereas Dominican cultural and educational activists organized to reverse
inequities in public schools within the area, and developed Gregorio
Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics to meet the needs of
immigrant Spanish-speaking adolescents and to create an inclusive
learning environment;
Whereas six schools in the area have been named after historic Dominican
figures: I.S. 218 Salome Urena, P.S. 132 Juan Pablo Duarte School,
Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics, Mirabal
Sisters Campus, Professor Juan Bosch Public School, and P.S. 8 Luis
Belliard;
Whereas the Dominican Studies Institute of the City University of New York (CUNY
DSI) located in Hamilton Heights, founded by Dr. Silvio Torres-Saillant
and directed by the renowned Dominican sociologist Dr. Ramona Hernandez,
is the first university-based research institute in the United States
dedicated to the study of people of Dominican descent in the United
States and other parts of the world;
Whereas the area boasts of vibrant cultural centers and nonprofit organizations
founded and enriched by Dominican activists;
Whereas the Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano, a nonprofit community
organization, continues to build on the invaluable contributions of
Dominicans by engaging and empowering Dominican and Hispanic communities
locally;
Whereas the Dominican Women's Development Center has been a vital resource to
the Washington Heights and Inwood communities for over 25 years,
providing comprehensive services to marginalized women and families, and
serves as a haven for the artistic and activist expression of the
community's youth;
Whereas Dominican native Normandia Maldonado had a long history of activism in
Washington Heights where she cofounded the Instituto Duartiano of the
United States in 1966, the Dominican Day Parade, Inc., in 1983 with
Miguel Amaro, and the Centro Cultural Ballet Quisqueya in 1967, all of
which have helped the community with necessary resources and fostered a
connection with Dominican cultural roots through folklore dances and
celebrations;
Whereas Centro Cultural Deportivo Dominicano, a social club founded in 1966,
remains a longstanding pillar of the local community, where the sound of
traditional merengue tipico continues to expand the cultural roots of
the Dominican immigrant experience;
Whereas Alianza Dominicana was a leading Dominican organization in Washington
Heights and employed about 350 individuals, who provided support to
victims of domestic violence, the elderly, children with special needs,
along with alcoholism and drug treatment programs, and represented the
families of the Flight 587 tragedy;
Whereas the Dominican community was heavily involved in the advocacy and
restoration efforts to bring local parks back to life in the 1990s from
their state of neglect and vandalism, such as High Bridge Park, Inwood
Hill Park, Riverside Park, and Fort Tryon Park;
Whereas the legacy of upper Manhattan is being upheld by Dominican artists and
artists born to immigrant Dominican parents in Washington Heights, who
personify the blending of dynamic cultures that make up the
neighborhood's identity;
Whereas Dominican-American artists Lucia Hierro and M. Tony Peralta have both
been recognized internationally for their thought-provoking work
exploring the Dominican-American experience in intersecting areas of
class, culture, identity, and gender;
Whereas Dominican theater artist Mino Lora cofounded the People's Theater
Project, which provides creative youth development programs for children
growing up in the immigrant communities of upper Manhattan;
Whereas the story of Alexander Hamilton, founding father of Hamilton Heights,
was highlighted by Washington Heights native and second-generation
Puerto Rican Lin-Manuel Miranda in the critically acclaimed Broadway
show ``Hamilton'';
Whereas Lin-Manuel Miranda conceived ``In the Heights'', the Tony award-winning
musical set in Washington Heights, which incorporated salsa and merengue
with rap and hip-hop, blending them with more conventional Broadway
tropes, to successfully portray the multicultural and Dominican
influence in the neighborhood;
Whereas Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center serves as a hub for local artists who
enrich northern Manhattan through art and the celebration of Dominican
and Latin American culture, and this organization promotes literary,
performing, and visual arts programs in Washington Heights and Inwood
that foster the artistic development of the neighborhood's youth;
Whereas Cayena Publications is a publishing firm based in Washington Heights and
founded by Mary Ely Pena-Gratereaux that shines a light on the immigrant
experience by supporting literary works that project a positive
representation of Dominicans and other Latinos in the United States;
Whereas author and activist Angie Cruz is a native of Washington Heights whose
books, ``Soledad'' and ``Let It Rain Coffee'', highlight the issues of
working-class life, gender, and race in New York City;
Whereas the Dominican Film Festival in New York showcases filmmakers from 21
countries including the Dominican Republic who reflect the city's
diverse and multicultural population;
Whereas the Juan Pablo Duarte Foundation encourages academic excellence via
scholarships, along with pride and collaboration within the community by
hosting the annual El Carnaval Del Boulevard on St. Nicholas Avenue from
181st to 188th Streets;
Whereas Semana Dominicana en Estados Unidos (Dominican Week in the United
States) has been celebrated for 25 years, highlighting the Dominican and
United States ties socially and culturally, in addition to economic,
commerce, and academic collaboration;
Whereas the Dominican Day Parade in New York City has celebrated the vibrant
Dominican heritage through history, traditions, and music since its
beginnings in 1982 on Audubon Avenue, and now attracts thousands of
people who gather to enjoy the reverence of Dominican culture on the
Avenue of the Americas;
Whereas Dominican Americans have earned their place in local and Federal
Government, where they have fought to uphold the rights and liberties of
New York residents and the Nation overall;
Whereas Guillermo Linares became the first Dominican elected to public office in
New York City in 1991, who also served as President Bill Clinton's
Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans;
Whereas Adriano Espaillat is the first Dominican immigrant to be elected to the
New York State Assembly in 1996, and the first formerly undocumented
person elected to the United States Congress in 2016, representing New
York's 13th Congressional District which is predominantly Dominican
American;
Whereas Rolando Acosta was elected as the first Dominican-American New York
State Supreme Court Justice in New York County in 2002;
Whereas Judge Faviola Soto, who was born and raised in Hamilton Heights, was
appointed as the first Dominican judge in New York in 1993, and was the
first Hispanic to sit in the Court of Claims in 2006;
Whereas the character of Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood is
changing, as the area is undergoing cultural expulsion brought on by
gentrification, as evidenced by the massive increase in average income
in recent years;
Whereas the forces of gentrification have meant that more high-income people
have begun moving into Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood
while simultaneously longtime residents have been pushed out, as proven
by the fact that there were significantly fewer Hispanic residents in
these neighborhoods in 2015;
Whereas gentrification has meant that upper Manhattan is significantly less
affordable, and that Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood
have seen the biggest rent increases in all of New York City;
Whereas high rent is a significant burden on low-income Dominican families, who
are also being pushed out of the neighborhoods that they have called
home for generations;
Whereas longtime businesses, such as bodegas, have also been forced out of
Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood due to unaffordable
rents and the new influx of chain stores;
Whereas Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood are defined as the
10031, 10032, 10033, 10034, and 10040; and
Whereas referring to Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood as
Quisqueya Heights, as it has been colloquially referred to by the
community, honors the contributions of Dominicans to this area, and
reinforces the identity of the neighborhood: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the renaming of Hamilton Heights, Washington
Heights, and Inwood to Quisqueya Heights in collaboration with
local officials to recognize the area as the cultural hub for
Dominican Americans across the Nation;
(2) supports the engagement with Google, Wikipedia, Global
Positioning System applications, post offices, Metropolitan
Transportation Authority maps, and tourist maps to recognize
Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood as Quisqueya
Heights;
(3) supports the fight against the gentrification of the
neighborhood that is threatening the identity of Hamilton
Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood;
(4) opposes the rebranding of the Washington Heights, and
Inwood neighborhoods to Wahi;
(5) recognizes the Dominican community's contributions to
Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood; and
(6) honors the long-standing history and rich contributions
of Dominican-American elected officials, artists, small
business and bodega owners, writers, and trailblazers.
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