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I don’t understand why Washington Heights, a Dominican neighborhood, isn’t considered a tourist destination. Isn’t New York City a place where diversity should be embraced? Just like Little Italy, Harlem, and Chinatown are considered tourist destinations, I think Washington Heights should start to be promoted that way. I have been there and I haven’t felt unsafe. The crime rate isn’t like what it is in the 1990’s. I would like to see the day when Washington Heights is a well-known and fun place for the outsider to get a chimi churry or a Dominican cake just like other neighborhoods are successful in attracting outsiders to their restaurants like the Ironbound in Newark for example. Do people just have a fear of Dominicans and Latinos in general?
I don’t understand why Washington Heights, a Dominican neighborhood, isn’t considered a tourist destination. Isn’t New York City a place where diversity should be embraced? Just like Little Italy, Harlem, and Chinatown are considered tourist destinations, I think Washington Heights should start to be promoted that way. I have been there and I haven’t felt unsafe. The crime rate isn’t like what it is in the 1990’s. I would like to see the day when Washington Heights is a well-known and fun place for the outsider to get a chimi churry or a Dominican cake just like other neighborhoods are successful in attracting outsiders to their restaurants like the Ironbound in Newark for example. Do people just have a fear of Dominicans and Latinos in general?
Not much attractions to go there. The only thing around there is the Cloisters in Inwood and that's not even that popular.
They are not welcoming of outsiders, nor do they market towards them. In reality, they mean well but are very insular for a number of reasons. Being pushed out towards the Bronx.
Tourist attraction? What is there to do in Washington Heights? The Hispanic Museum with its Goyas and such at 155th Street, the Cloisters at the end of Ft. Washington Ave., and after that it's pretty slim pickin'. There is no Dominican experience museum AFAIK, like say, the tenement museum on the Lower East side that details the lives of Jewish immigrants. Occasionally there is a concert at the Palace on 175th, but not much more than that. The clubs and restaurants on Dyckman, like La Marina, though heavily Dominican, are all at the far edge of the Heights. And I don't know of a single Dominican restaurant that has gone mainstream enough to attract downtown tourists like, for instance, Sylvia's did in Harlem. (Correct me if I'm wrong about that.)
I cant' ever recall seeing hats, or T-shirts, or anything like that with the name of the neighborhood, like you can see "Harlem" or "Brooklyn" splattered on things. And I've never seen anything resembling a souvenir shop when I'm on upper upper Broadway that sells the type of stuff you'd see in Times Square or Chinatown.
Basically, I think that the area needs a "brand." I don't know how you do that, but for the Heights to attract tourists it has to have a brand, like Williamsburg says "expensive hipster cool" or Chinatown says "lots of good, cheap Chinese food" or something like that. To us New Yorkers the Heights stands for the DR. But what does the DR mean to everyone else? I think if folks in the Heights figure that out, and promote it, people will come there to visit.
The other thing, of course, is that many folks uptown (and not just Dominicans) probably don't want their neighborhood to become another tourist stop, and prefer that it stay the old-school New York place that it is.
They are not welcoming of outsiders, nor do they market towards them. In reality, they mean well but are very insular for a number of reasons. Being pushed out towards the Bronx.
Lol you talk about Dominicans like their some indigenous tribe in the amazon.
I don’t understand why Washington Heights, a Dominican neighborhood, isn’t considered a tourist destination. Isn’t New York City a place where diversity should be embraced? Just like Little Italy, Harlem, and Chinatown are considered tourist destinations, I think Washington Heights should start to be promoted that way. I have been there and I haven’t felt unsafe. The crime rate isn’t like what it is in the 1990’s. I would like to see the day when Washington Heights is a well-known and fun place for the outsider to get a chimi churry or a Dominican cake just like other neighborhoods are successful in attracting outsiders to their restaurants like the Ironbound in Newark for example. Do people just have a fear of Dominicans and Latinos in general?
There has been attempts at this, MTV picked up "Washington Heights."
Why should it be? For it to be a tourist attraction, it has to have.... attractions. The only thing that really comes to mind for the area is the Cloisters, which is nice and all, but relatively unknown.
There has been attempts at this, MTV picked up "Washington Heights."
That failed.
I read this comment and just had to comment real quick..... I actually watched this show and thought it was decent. MTV didn't bring it back because there was nobody on the show getting drunk or high and sleeping around like they do in the Real World. It's actually a shame that the young people on "Washington Heights" who were pursuing careers and pretty much following their dreams on-camera were not brought back, but every year you have a new group of kids from all over the U.S. on the Real World who just show up to a new city, get drunk and high, and have a huge orgy. MTV has no problem bringing that back!! Smh..............
They are not welcoming of outsiders, nor do they market towards them. In reality, they mean well but are very insular for a number of reasons. Being pushed out towards the Bronx.
Did they pinch your Michigan booty and cat called you in Caribbean accented Spanish?
The only things of interest in the area are access to GW Bridge (which has nice views from the walkway) and the Cloisters. But I can't see these things as being great tourist attractions.
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