Something visible and that has reflected the Hispanic presence in New York for decades, has been disappearing little by little…
They are the medallions that hang along the Sixth Avenue or Avenue of the Americas as it was also baptized. Each medallion represents a nation from the continent.
Miguel Pérez, a columnist and professor at Lehman University, has just started a campaign for the city to reinstate them.
“One has to wonder why they have abandoned this beautiful thing that recognizes the union of Hispanics in this country?” Pérez said.
After the statues of seven Latin American heroes were placed on Avenida las Américas in 1959, the city government installed 300 of these medallions. From where Sixth Avenue begins at Canal Street in lower Manhattan, to Central Park.
In other words, almost 60 blocks… But now there are less than 20 left and in poor condition.
Ten in ‘downtown’ near the statue of Juan Pablo Duarte, the founder of the Dominican Republic, on Canal street and seven in ‘midtown’, near the statues of José Martí, Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín.
“It’s a slap in the face to the Hispanic community,” Pérez added.
Many of these medallions were removed during renovations to the avenue in the 1990s, but were never replaced, Professor Pérez explained. Some others have recently disappeared.
Those of Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic are some of the medallions that no longer exist.
Something that both New Yorkers and tourists see as an oversight.
“This city has grown a lot because of all the different people from different cultures, I think it’s important to represent that,” said Angely Antonio, of Dominican origin.
“You are losing our culture,” said Mexican tourist Juan Gutiérrez.
Professor Pérez emphasized that now that the Hispanic population in New York is 28 percent, the government needs to restore the 300 medallions.
“What should be said to this new administration is ‘look what’s happening with this, please do something and if you don’t do it, it’s going to fall on that new negligence,’” Pérez said.
The NYTimes has been reporting this same problem since 1998 when they started disappearing. But according to their reports, they have not seen a change on the part of the authorities.
We tried to communicate with the Department of Transportation but they still have not responded.
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