IV 
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 GON-
ZALEZ of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the Dominican community’s presence and con-
tributions to Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, 
and Inwood. 
Whereas historically Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, 
and Inwood have had the highest concentration of resi-
dents 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; 
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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 vi-
brant Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and 
Inwood community since the 1960s, in all areas including 
activism, advocacy, art, culture, literature, sports, busi-
ness, 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 metro-
politan New York; 
Whereas Juan Pablo Duarte, the founding father of the Do-
minican Republic, has been immortalized in the neighbor-
hood 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 com-
munity within local shops and restaurants; 
Whereas Dyckman Street restaurants have witnessed a ren-
aissance creatively fusing Dominican cuisine with dif-
ferent cultures, such as Japanese and Italian, and local 
staples, such as 809 Bar and Grill, Mamajuana, La 
Nueva Espan˜a, and La Casa Del Mofongo, continue to 
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attract patrons from the tri-State area to dine on tradi-
tional 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 Broad-
way 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 cre-
ation 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 profes-
sional 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 neighbor-
hood, 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 
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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 box-
ing at the 1984 Summer Olympics and, in 2004, Fe´lix 
Sa´nchez’s gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles; 
Whereas Dominican cultural and educational activists orga-
nized 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 his-
toric 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 Univer-
sity of New York (CUNY DSI) located in Hamilton 
Heights, founded by Dr. Silvio Torres-Saillant and di-
rected by the renowned Dominican sociologist Dr. Ra-
mona Herna´ndez, 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; 
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Whereas the area boasts of vibrant cultural centers and non-
profit organizations founded and enriched by Dominican 
activists; 
Whereas the Centro Civico Cultural Dominicano, a nonprofit 
community organization, continues to build on the invalu-
able contributions of Dominicans by engaging and em-
powering 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 com-
prehensive services to marginalized women and families, 
and serves as a haven for the artistic and activist expres-
sion of the community’s youth; 
Whereas Dominican native Normandia Maldonado had a long 
history of activism in Washington Heights where she co-
founded 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 Do-
minican cultural roots through folklore dances and cele-
brations; 
Whereas Centro Cultural Deportivo Dominicano, a social club 
founded in 1966, remains a longstanding pillar of the 
local community, where the sound of traditional meren-
gue tipico continues to expand the cultural roots of the 
Dominican immigrant experience; 
Whereas Alianza Dominicana was a leading Dominican orga-
nization in Washington Heights and employed about 350 
individuals, who provided support to victims of domestic 
violence, the elderly, children with special needs, along 
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with alcoholism and drug treatment programs, and rep-
resented 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 Domini-
can parents in Washington Heights, who personify the 
blending of dynamic cultures that make up the neighbor-
hood’s identity; 
Whereas Dominican-American artists Lucia Hierro and M. 
Tony Peralta have both been recognized internationally 
for their thought-provoking work exploring the Domini-
can-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 im-
migrant 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 
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Broadway tropes, to successfully portray the multicul-
tural 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 Amer-
ican culture, and this organization promotes literary, per-
forming, 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 Pen˜a- 
Gratereaux that shines a light on the immigrant experi-
ence 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 Wash-
ington 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 show-
cases filmmakers from 21 countries including the Domin-
ican Republic who reflect the city’s diverse and multicul-
tural population; 
Whereas the Juan Pablo Duarte Foundation encourages aca-
demic 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 
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socially and culturally, in addition to economic, com-
merce, and academic collaboration; 
Whereas the Dominican Day Parade in New York City has 
celebrated the vibrant Dominican heritage through his-
tory, traditions, and music since its beginnings in 1982 
on Audubon Avenue, and now attracts thousands of peo-
ple who gather to enjoy the reverence of Dominican cul-
ture 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 elect-
ed 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 predomi-
nantly 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 under-
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going 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 simulta-
neously longtime residents have been pushed out, as prov-
en by the fact that there were significantly fewer His-
panic 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 Do-
minican families, who are also being pushed out of the 
neighborhoods that they have called home for genera-
tions; 
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 con-
tributions of Dominicans to this area, and reinforces the 
identity of the neighborhood: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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(1) 
supports 
the 
renaming 
of 
Hamilton 
Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood to 
Quisqueya Heights in collaboration with local offi-
cials 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 con-
tributions 
to 
Hamilton 
Heights, 
Washington 
Heights, and Inwood; and 
(6) honors the long-standing history and rich 
contributions of Dominican-American elected offi-
cials, artists, small business and bodega owners, 
writers, and trailblazers. 
Æ 
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