I first came to the Heights in July of 1964 at 10 years of age from the "baseball" town of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. 

The recession of the 70s and the rising poverty of the 80s left the newly arrived Dominican community of Washington Heights in the worst of shape. In response I initiated the Alianza project with one staff member and five volunteers. Almost 16 years have passed, and the small project has bloomed into the largest and most comprehensive nonprofit organiza- tion in Washington Heights... Working jointly with local institutions and other nonprofits we have been able to turn the community around. Washington Heights is now one of the safest communities. 

There isn't a place in New York City that feels more like home than Washington Heights. The crowded streets are unlike any other in NYC. The older folks still greet you with a "Buenos dias" as if we were still back in a small town. The local barbers rarely speak whenever Pedro Martinez loses a game or argue madly about the team that did not support him with their bat. Manny Ramirez is a local hero, and the older generation of baseball activists brag about hav- ing seen him play for the local little league teams years before. Merengue and Palo music blast out of bodegas, and women with "pañuelos" wrapped around their heads consult the local "botanicas" for remedies before going to a doctor. I think of my moth- er, who came to Washington Heights in 1962, on a cold winter afternoon as I wait on a long line of peo- ple and livery cab drivers on 182nd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue for a hot cup of Doña Nena's "habichuelas con dulce." Que chuleria!