November 3, 2012, Saturday, 307

Washington Heights, Manhattan

From From the Island to the City: Dominican Communities in New York City

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This map shows the boundaries of Washington Heights

The largest concentration of Dominicans outside of the Dominican Republic is located in Washington Heights. Named after Fort Washington, Washington Heights is a mecca of Dominican culture. The boundaries of Washington Heights are commonly known as stretching from Hamilton Heights at 155th Street to Inwood, stopping at Dyckman Street.
Men playing dominoes on the street.[1]

Dominicans began immigrating to Washington Heights in droves during the crack epidemic in the 1980s, and surprisingly haven't stopped. While Mexicans and Ecuadorians are currently moving into Washington Heights, Dominicans still make up the majority of the population. The Dominican population in Washington Heights is very slowly decreasing due to the movement of the Puerto Ricans in the Bronx. The Puerto Ricans are migrating from areas in the Bronx such as Fordham, Morris Heights, and Morrisania, allowing the socially mobile Dominicans to buy and/or rent houses and apartments in these areas of the Bronx.

The following is a video of different images found in Washington Heights, Manhattan.


"In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in Manhattan's Washington Heights – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind."[2]


References

  1. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08197/897049-13.stm
  2. "In the Heights". Homepage. In the Heights Musical. http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com/story.html