That return-to-roots narrative took center stage at yesterday evening’s opening night performance.
It’s where they grew from Los Tinellers into Generation Next, a place where they broke the rules, where young, urban quisqueyanos saw themselves represented for the first time. “They ask me, ‘why United Palace?’” As he so accurately conveyed, it’s a place that carries over 15 years of the band’s history. At yesterday’s opening night concert, Romeo himself seemed to contemplate the meaning of the group’s return to the Heights. These performances mark their first formal reunion since Lenny, Max, and Henry Santos joined bandleader Romeo at his sold-out Yankee Stadium show in 2014. So it’s all the more powerful that Aventura, the Bronx-born quartet that brought bachata to the world, have a residency at the Heights’ United Palace Theater this month. I don’t mean to claim ownership over the Heights under false pretenses, but when so many worked tirelessly to get your people visibility and support, it’s taxing to see that history slowly erased by predatory real estate developers. 2 fastest gentrifying neighborhood in New York.
In 2014, Curbed ranked Washington Heights as the no. The greasy pollo horneado at Margot Restaurant, a classic Alto Manhattan joint, is no more. Over five short years, I’ve seen that community turn into boutique bodegas, marble sinks and counters, wi-fi connections over breakfast pastries. When I moved to New York at 18, that facile mythology unraveled into a more realistic portrait of the neighborhood: a community rooted in struggle and tradition, but anchored by its familial and warm spirit. It seemed like a place where I’d feel whole, where the hollow space in my chest would fill up with the sense of belonging I so desperately sought. perico ripiao, street corner quipe, tigueres and buenmosos. As a Dominican kid born and bred in Chicago, I grew up with a wildly romanticized vision of Washington Heights.
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