Tragic attack on 173street

From my exprienced knowing this woman and by article in the New York Post there was a woman, Jahaira, working in a hair salon at 173street. This woman was very nice and was friends with a lot people. She was known to be a loyal friend. Unfornately, three years ago she was killed by her husband, Sergio Parra Victoria. It was a regular day, when he called her on phone but she didn't pick up the phone. So he went to her job and was looking for her. No one expected that her husband would possibily do his wife. The people that work at the salon went to tell her that her husband was looking for her. She seemed fine so she went outside because he asked her to walk with her across the street. When she went across the street the people at the salon saw a van moving back and forth so then quickly knew that something was happening. When they went it was too late. Her husband slashed 30 times. On April 10, 2007, the Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus said that Sergio Parra Victoria will be sentenced 25 years to life. He says, "To kill the mother of your daughter in such a brutal way is not excusable." He announced that Sergio killed her because of vengeance. He called her cell phone the night before and a man answered.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04102007/news/regionalnews/wife_killer_gets_23_yrs__regionalnews_laura_italiano.htm

Trespass arrests!!

Lately there have many trespassing arrests that are coming from the housing projects. In fact, on April 13th, 2007, the New York Department said that was a criminal complaint and a separate sworn affidavit as the place an officer arrested two people for trespassing on an address that did not exist in Washington Heights. They have been searching on this case for three days, and then they found out that the address that was given was no where found in Washington Heights. Police states that they don’t have a reason of why Officer Roberto Argaluza of 34th Precinct gave a complaint of Franklin Santana, 17, and Amurys Alcides, 21, were trespassing inside a building of 560 w. 182 ST. In addition, the 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care and the Latino Officers Association states that since 2002 there have been 25 percent of trespassing arrests. The NYPD spokesman Paul Browne says, “arrests for trespass, which are often violations and not solely criminal, are unrelated to revenue or quotas.” In fact, people have been caught selling drugs outside and this could also lead to an arrest for trespassing. The Legal Aid lawyers states that policemen usually make arrests without checking to see whether the suspect is lying or saying the truth when they say they are visiting a friend or a family member in the building.” Police said their trespassing initiative is an effective way to rid housing projects and private apartment buildings of drug dealers and other troublemakers.” http://www.norwalkadvocate.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nytres135169248apr13,0,2500877.story

Opening a new High School in Washington height *Fall 2008*

On April 13, 2007, there has been a decision from Major Bloomberg and schools chancellor Joel Klein that they will open a high school in Washington Heights named “Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics.” They decided on $34 million to build this school. The school will give good opportunities for students to be in a school that has many high quality resources including a technology lab, a gymnasium, and a soundproof music room. The people that were planning to build the Gregorio Luperon High School are Deputy Mayor of Education and community development, Dennis Walcott, Deputy Chancellor of Education, Kathleen Grimm; School Construction Authority President, Sharon Greenberger, and a host of elected officials and community resident, which chose to have 500 students in the school. Mayor Bloomberg believes that these students could be successful in this school because he says “all of students are entitled to a quality education in schools that meets their needs. We are happy to make good on our promise to the Washington Heights community in making the new Gregorio Luperon High School a reality.” This school will have a library and a media center that will allow students to take advantage in exploring new ideas. Also there will be a gym that will consist of several of sports, such as basketball, volleyball, and baseball that will allow them to “grow and become competitive.” Chancellor Klein adds, “I’m thrilled that the students here with us today will have this beautiful new facility. I look forward to coming back to see them excelling in their new building.” http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2007a%2Fpr107-07.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1

A dramatic attack leave 2 dead and 1 injured in Washington Heights (179 street)

On March 26, 2007, a sad attack happened in Washington Heights. Around 12:30 in the morning an unidentified killer jumped into where the two men were driving and terribly stabbed both of them at the corner of West 179th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. As a result to this assault, one man was found dead and another it was shown that it was left bleeding from the stomach. The man that was found dead in New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia, his name was Norberto Colon also known as Noa was 37 years old and was from Manhattan. The other victim that was with Norberto, which his name wasn’t released was 23 years old and he was stabbed in the stomach. He was taken to another hospital, Harlem Hospital Center, where they state that he was in critical condition. The police states that the person that “entered the victims’ vehicle” and stabbed these men is described in his 40s. However, “cops are still investigating whether the men stabbed each other.”
http://persia.org/Images/Angali/crucifix.jpg
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nystab265145935mar26,0,3101016.story http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/2007/03/26/2007-03-26_weekend_knifings_kill_2_and_wound_1.html

The Upper Upper West Side Story- IN THE HEIGHTS

Listen to this fantastic play describing the Washington Heights. The play is called In the Heights, by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Many people that watched this play have been extremely amazed on how the characters from the play reveal was is truly Washington Heights. Washington Heights has been a home for alot of different immgrants, such as Irish, Jewish, Italian, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans. The 27 year old man, Miranda grew in the Northern Manhattan states that now the neighborhood "is a largely a Dominican community." For example some high school students from the Theater Development Fund went to the play and they demostrated their excitement by "stomping wildly through the show." The play is consisted of hip-hop, salsa, and old-fashioned storytelling into a nouveau. The play is a"West Side story tale of love, loss, dreams, and change in the gentrifying but-still-mostly Dominican Heights." The students from the Theater Development Fund were thrilled when they heard one main characters rapping about Dominican Republic. They kept being excited when they heard the electrifying dance at the end of Act One, "to the hysteria-inducing moment when hunky heartthrob Christopher Jackson."

Infact, I also exprienced watching this incredible play with fellow classmates and teachers from Murry Bergtraum. We got to share wonderful times filled with Dominican spirit. I was so happy watching how they transform this play to be exactly how Washington Heights is. The way they organized the stage was marvelous. They had the typical Dominican beauty salon with women chatting and gossiping while they fixed their hair, and the grocery store serving their coffee with milk consisting of 4 spoons of sugar. Watching this play, it truly made me feel like a true Dominican girl.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/101170.html-29k-Mar
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2007/03/upper_upper_west_side_story.html#more

About My Community

If you hear the loud music of bachata, merengue, reggueton, you already know that you are in Washington Heights. People talking loud, from one street to another, the whole block knowing everyone’s business you are in Washington Heights. There are multiple parks, such as Inwood Hill Park and Fort Tryon Park, both with along the Hudson River. In my neighborhood, 173street, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, kids from Elementary School at P.S.173 crossing the streets with their friends. Kids running around and go to bodegas for junk food. A man usually stands in front of the school selling patelitos, or frio frio. Dominican women are always on the sidewalks gossiping who did what and when and how. In the middle of the night, cars are playing loud music. Most of the times, you can't even sleep because its either your neighbors talking loud in the hallways, teens shouting outside like they are crazy, or someone in the building is having a party. If you want to live in Washington Heights, expect a whole of money, rounding from $800 to $1500 for just 1 bedroom apartment. However, you could get in a studio, which is less expensive. Once you enter Washington Heights, you could truly feel like you are in Dominican Republic!