•HRES 63 IH 
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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•HRES 63 IH 
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 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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