“An error”, between quotes, has awakened the Puerto Rican fervor in the streets of Brooklyn!
On Friday, the New York City Department of Transportation removed for no apparent reason the sign pointing to Graham Avenue, Puerto Rico Avenue, at the intersection with Moore Street on the Bushwick-Williamsburg border.
Seeing what was happening, Radamés Millán took photos and asked why they were doing it. They would have told him that because he was “very big” but he did not believe them.
“I was surprised by the answer they gave me because when I asked him if all the signs that were along the avenue were going to be lowered, he told me no,” said Millán, who has had a store in the neighborhood for 56 years.
He did not remain silent and complained to various entities. Hours later, the original poster returned to its site.
He and other neighbors allege that gentrification is the real cause. New tenants in the area, who pay much higher rent, are bothered, they say.
“I was surprised that they were not going to play anything specifically in the area of the Italian community and the Croatian community”, adds Radamés Millán.
Gyvis Santos, another resident of the area “You’re going back, go away. You don’t stay here. This bothers you here go, go where you came from.”
Meanwhile, the neighbors could be heard shouting:
“Where are the Puerto Ricans who defend what is theirs?
– Here!
Without wasting time, the Puerto Ricans of the area let themselves be felt!
On Saturday at noon, the Resistencia Boricua group from New York organized a lightning march that started from Grand Street and Graham Puerto Rico Avenue to Moore.
Gabriela Malespín, from the New York Boricua Resistance, does not see good intentions in this action:
“We know that they want to try to erase, erase the legacy and the existence of the Puerto Rican community in Bushwick.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation kept insisting that “it was a mistake.” And that out of respect they corrected it.
“As soon as we found out about the mistake that had been made, in removing the signs, we took the necessary measures to recover,” says Ydanis Rodríguez, Commissioner of the Department of Transportation in New York.
Resistencia Boricua from New York said at the demonstration that they will ask the city for an exhaustive investigation to find out who gave the order to remove the sign and why. They say they know that it is the beginning of a coming fight.
