New York officially designated a large part of Washington Heights the Dominican Historic District, sparking controversy among some local residents. As first reported by The City, the 40-block district aims to honor the neighborhood’s Dominican heritage. However, some residents argue the state kept them out of the designation process, failing to recognize other ethnic groups with ties to important sites in the area. The designation was approved by a slim margin during a New York State Board for Historic Preservation meeting in September, where several community members showed up to oppose it.
According to a New York State Parks press release, the district captures the unique architectural and cultural history of the immigrant neighborhood, which Armenian, Greek, Irish, German, and European Jewish immigrants helped shape during the early 1900s, followed by Puerto Ricans and African Americans. By the mid-1960s, Dominicans started calling the neighborhood home.
In an announcement of nominations for the State and National Registers of Historic Places last year, the Parks Department described the neighborhood as a cultural, political, and social center for Dominicans.
“The community’s emphasis on establishing organizations to teach Dominican history and culture; encouraging political engagement; addressing social needs such as affordable housing and poverty; and continuing Dominican lifeways in Washington Heights demonstrate ongoing contributions to the history of the neighborhood and capture a unique period of immigration history,” the release reads.
The Washington Heights/Inwood area is the nation’s most populous Dominican neighborhood.
Proposed by the Dominican Studies Institute at the City University of NY, the district stretches across all of Washington Heights east of Broadway, from West 155th Street up to Dyckman Street.
Opponents of the district criticized the designation for recognizing only the Dominican community, arguing it overlooked the neighborhood’s evolving nature and historic sites linked to other ethnic groups, such as the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965.
The board also received numerous letters of support, with senders agreeing the Dominican community’s impact on Washington Heights deserved recognition. According to The City, the latest census shows that Dominicans make up roughly 45 percent of the neighborhood’s population.
In November, the proposal was sent back to its submitters and the state board due to “technical and substantive issues,” according to an evaluation from the National Register for the Historic Places acquired by The City.
The proposal was revised, with Dr. Ramona Hernandez, director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute and the proposal’s primary creator, adding further evidence of Dominican history, its impact in various locations, and its influence on the built environment.
Despite being approved, many of the recommendations made by the National Register’s evaluation were not included in the new proposal. The district was published as part of the National Register’s weekly list of approved locations on January 31.
The evaluation also called for more community outreach before moving forward. However, no additional public meetings were held before the district was officially listed.
Tanya Bonner, a former Community Board 12 member, told The City that after arranging two meetings with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office to voice her concerns, she was informed that the proposal had been re-approved by the state on December 16 and by the National Register on January 24.
Bonner first expressed these concerns before the state board’s vote last fall, and after the proposal was sent back, viewed it as a chance to reiterate her view that the designation excluded other people, including Black, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Jewish residents.
Still, despite multiple correspondence with state officials, she was never told of the proposal’s resubmission and approval.
Bonner has since teamed up with other community members to seek legal assistance in having the district removed from the state and national registers for further revision. She is also working to change a rule that only notifies property owners and gives them the chance to weigh in on nominations for historic sites.
New York Dominicans have been recognized in another way recently. In August, Hochul announced $12.5 million in funding to help establish the Dominican Center for the Arts and Culture at 375 West 207th Street. The center will include a museum and exhibition space featuring Dominican artists, a theater space, a children’s library, and an oral history and archives project preserving the cultural history of Inwood/Washington Heights.
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