Washington Heights — No, not like the movie.
Washington Heights, also known as “The Heights” and “Little Dominican Republic”, is a neighborhood in upper Manhattan that has been a Dominican-dominated community ever since the 1960s. Spanning from West 155th Street to Dyckman 200th Street, Washington Heights has become home to over 150,000 people with about half of them being immigrants, mainly of Dominican origin.
The name ”Little Dominican Republic” is not solely due to the population demographics, but mainly due to the culture that engulfs the neighborhood. You can’t walk one block in Washington Heights without the sound of bachata, salsa, or merengue filling the streets. Everywhere you look, you see a restaurant promoting tempting dishes — some combination of rice, beans, and a protein, always with a side of maduros. On a hot summer day you’ll see the sidewalks full of families, the kids running around using the pump (aka the fire hydrant, but we call it a pump) as a makeshift sprinkler. Tios will sit around a table playing dominoes, laughing and conversing so passionately you’d think they’re arguing.
There is so much about Washington Heights that makes it the amazing community it is. The bodegas, delis, restaurants, hair salons, barbershops, supermarkets, fruit stands, and everything in between; all of this makes this community so uniquely comforting and full of life. Everywhere you go, you’ll be called “mi amor” even though they’ve never met you — that’s just the type of place Washington Heights is. Over time, every face becomes more and more familiar, and you’ll understand the charm of The Heights.
• • •
In 2020, COVID-19 shook all of New York City. Washington Heights was no exception — we had to say bye to several businesses and watch new ones take their place. Notably, we’ve had a lot of big chains make their way up here. A popular bubble tea chain, Kung Fu Tea, for instance, took the place of a nail salon. A Jersey Mike’s Subs took the place of Marcha, a Hispanic-owned cocina-bar. During the summer of 2021, a Chipotle replaced a fabric shop and a 99¢ store on the corner of 180th Street. Currently, an Auntie Anne’s and a Cinnabon are being built in place of what was a popular Latin-American restaurant, Tipico Dominicano, La Casa Del Churrasco. Additionally, the entire block spanning Broadway between 169th and 170th street has been completely demolished. Having housed a plethora of businesses over time — neighborhood supermarket Gristedes, a shoe cobbler, a pharmacy, and a nail salon, among others — the street is now a bare, fenced construction site. Leaving behind the memory of what it used to be for the locals who were here to witness it.
To help elucidate my point, change throughout the neighborhood isn’t a bad thing. It’s nice seeing more businesses join the community, especially independent or family-owned ones. It’s also not inherently bad that we’re getting these specific chains like Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, and Auntie Anne’s up here. But these chains moving up to Washington Heights are a symbol of something heavier; rent prices are going up, families that have lived here for decades are moving out, and unfamiliar faces are taking their place. Streets that were once filled with Spanish music are becoming quieter, there are fewer “hola’s” and more “hello’s”, and then the gut-wrenching epiphany that gentrification is taking place right before your eyes hits you.
Whenever I introduce myself to someone who isn’t from New York City and I tell them I’m from Washington Heights, their first response is usually, “like the movie?!”, cue my eye roll. New York City is already an overly romanticized city — influencers and small-town people who dream of moving to “The Big Apple” make their way over here the first chance they get. College students who moved to study here love flashing their New York City dorms and sharing “day in my life in NYC”. To non-NYC natives, this is just a big city where your dreams can come true. However, they forget that this city is home to real people — people who were born and raised here, whose families have a history here, people who have to live and deal with the issues that the big city lights outshine.
So no, I’m not from Washington Heights, “like the movie”. I’m from Washington Heights: a real neighborhood with real people and a rich culture; a neighborhood that is slowly being erased by big chains and people who only move here because “it’s cheap” or “it’s cool”.
I understand I may be saying a whole lot of things that sound convoluted, but to put it simply: imagine you come home and the home-cooked meals you grew up with and love were replaced by generic brand ones. Imagine your family photos were replaced with stock images. Imagine your closet: filled with the wardrobe you’ve accumulated over the years, which holds your memories and imperfect clothes, being replaced with plain, boring clothes. Individually, these may not seem like a big deal. However, when you take a step back and look around you, your home has become unrecognizable, and the things that made your home distinctly yours no longer exist.
If you visit Washington Heights, instead of patronizing Chick-fil-A, try stopping by an independent restaurant and getting a plate of rice and chicken. Instead of getting your usual at Kung Fu Tea, try ordering from the local, family-owned bubble tea shop. This neighborhood is a beautiful community of hardworking people and families just trying to make a living — don’t give big chains more potential to replace them. If you happen to move to The Heights, be cognizant of the community you are inserting yourself into, the culture that surrounds you, and prepare to embrace it. This neighborhood is notorious and loved for a reason; don’t be part of the reason it becomes another memory of what used to be for those who were lucky to be there.
