The history of the Dominican diaspora in New York City is much longer and more important than you might imagine. Actually there are more than 20 streets They bear the names of Dominicans who have stood out inside and outside the country, and a list of eight that are awaiting approval.
Maybe you’ve already heard of the most famous: Freddy Rice-Goico, Juan Pablo Duarte, Mirabal Sisters The Rafael Corporán de los Santos. The truth is that there are many more, and it is possible that some of the names that we will mention below you have already forgotten or do not remember.
Here we leave you a small biography of each one and in what they stood out to be immortalized in the capital of the world.
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Merlin Germán Street, located at the southwest corner of 189th Street and St. Nicholas
Merlin Germán, the son of Dominican parents, was known as “the miracle man” after having survived a bomb explosion in 2005 that left 97% of his body burned, while serving as a sergeant in the US Navy. In Iraq.
No one expected him to survive. But for more than three years, he did not give up. He endured more than 100 surgeries and procedures. After this, he regained the ability to walk and founded a charity for children who had been burned. Just over three years after the explosion, in 2008 he died after minor skin graft surgery.
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Juan Rodríguez Street, located between 159th and 218th streets in Upper Manhattan
More than 400 years ago, Juan became the first Hispanic to arrive in New York and it turns out he was Dominican. Many know that, but what you may not have known is that he was also the first immigrant. After arriving on a boat from New England, the entire crew returned, but Juan decided to stay in Manhattan. And so began the history of the Dominicans in the Big Apple.
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Sargento José Enrique Ulloa Street, located at the intersection of 177th Street and Audubon Avenue
Right where Sergeant Ulloa lived is where the authorities put his name. José Ulloa was a member of the United States Army. He was born in Santiago on December 20, 1984 and died in 2008 after being the only soldier among a large group who voluntarily joined a dangerous mission in Sadr province in Iraq and fell dejected there at the age of 23.
It all happened when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb and the explosion occurred. He is still survived by his wife Melanie and son Steven, who is now 13 years old.
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Altagracia Diloné Levat Street, located on 166th Street, between St. Nicholas and Audubon Avenues
On New Year’s Eve 2013, Altagracia Diloné Levat, Program Manager and Director of the Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center (ADCC), discovered that she had stage four gallbladder cancer.
She died four months later, on April 16, 2013. Levat was known as a fighter on all fronts, particularly in her work in defense of the arts.
Prior to his work at ADCC, he also helped establish the Institute for Dominican Studies (DSI) at the City College of New York, the country’s first university research institute focused on the study of people of Dominican descent in the United States and other parts of the United States. world.
Levat remained dedicated to her work until her last moments. Her sister recalled that she kept her computer by her side while she was being treated at the New York Presbyterian and continued working days before she died.
Levat was born and raised in a humble home in Santo Domingo. She moved to New York City after her mother, who had several jobs, took her and her four siblings one by one.
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Matty Alou Street, located at the intersection of Isham Street and Seaman Avenue in northern Manhattan
Matty Alou (1938-2011) was a batting champion in the Dominican Republic National League. Although he never resided in New York City, the Dominicans of Washington Heights and Inwood proudly point out his accomplishments. He was one of three brothers who had long careers in the Major Leagues, with Felipe and Jesús Alou. The three of them broke in with the San Francisco Giants and appeared in the outfield together three times.
Matty Alou was a backup outfielder and occasional starter with the Giants until he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1966, and then led the National League in hitting with a .342 mark in his first season with the team. He played for the New York Yankees in 1973, joining Felipe, who played for the Bombers from 1971 to 1973.
Matty Alou was awarded an honorary name change at Isham Street and Seaman Avenue in 2015, four years after his death.
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Plaza Luis Peña Jr., at the intersection of 172nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan
New York City honored a Dominican lifeguard Luis de Peña Jr., who died in May 2014 of an illness related to his work at Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks.
De Peña helped save a dozen lives when he responded to the World Trade Center’s wake-up call.
He was a veteran of over 18 years. De Peña was known for inviting neighborhood kids to lifeguard team barbecues and for his commitment to the residents of Washington Heights and Inwood in Manhattan.
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Freddy Beras-Goico Street, located at 175th Street, between Broadway and Wadsworth Avenues
“A whole city should bear the name of Freddy Beras Goico, who deserves much more than a corner,” said businessman Félix Cabrera in December 2016 when the name of Don Freddy Beras-Goico was placed on the street that is right in front of the United Palace, one of the most emblematic of New York.
Don Freddy is remembered as one of the most emblematic figures of Dominican television.
He was producer-host of the program “El Gordo de la Semana”, a weekly program that he retired from the air, after 30 uninterrupted years. He was the producer and host of “Con Freddy y punto,” a two-hour daily variety show that aired on Color Vision.
His career as a television entertainer and comedian began in the early 1960s, when he established a program of political satires in which he was limited to the characters of that time.
At the time of his death, he was married to Pilar Mejía de Beras-Goico, previously he was married to the singer Lucy Vicioso.
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Flight 587, located at the northeast corner of 181 Street and Amsterdam Avenue
The crash of American Airlines Flight 587 claimed the lives of 251 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants, mostly Dominicans. Five people were also killed on the ground in the accident.
The tragedy is remembered as the second worst plane crash in US history after the September 11 attack that occurred that same year.
According to the airline, the plane that took off at 9:17 in the morning from the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City and whose destination was the International Airport of the Americas in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, had 13 years of service without presenting any incident or inconvenience previously.
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