Espaillat Halts Push To Change Uptown's Name To Quisqueya Heights

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Upper Manhattan getting renamed to Quisqueya Heights is no more.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat announced on Wednesday that he has reintroduced a revised version of resolution H.Res.717, which still seeks to honor the longstanding history of the Dominican American community in parts of Washington Heights, Inwood and Upper Manhattan — but not change the names of the neighborhoods.

Espaillat says that following the 2021 introduction of the resolution he heard from Community Board 9 and other neighborhood residents who "expressed concerns about the intent of the resolution."

"The intent of H.Res.77 was never to legally change the name of Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights and Inwood to 'Quisqueya Heights,' which is extrinsic to the purpose of congressional simple resolutions," Espaillat wrote in a news release. "It was, however, always my intention to honor the contributions of Dominicans to this area and to reiterate my call to action to ensure the affordability of the neighborhoods that many Dominicans have called home for generations."

While Espaillat stated the intent of the original resolution was never to legally change the name of the uptown neighborhoods, the first two central requests of the piece of legislation read as such:

"(1) supports the renaming of Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood to Quisqueya Heights in collaboration with local officials to recognize the area as the cultural hub for Dominican Americans across the Nation;

(2) supports the engagement with Google, Wikipedia, Global Positioning System applications, post offices, Metropolitan Transportation Authority maps, and tourist maps to recognize Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, and Inwood as Quisqueya Heights;"

Espaillat has actually introduced the resolution each of the three years he's been in Congress, but the legislation was never approved.

The revised resolution will look to recognize the Dominican community's presence and contributions to Washington Heights and Inwood without the corresponding neighborhood name changes.

“The beauty and diversity of my congressional district, which includes Harlem, recognized as the Black mecca of the world; East Harlem (El Barrio), a vibrant showcase of Puerto Rican culture; and the immigrant communities of Washington Heights and Inwood, the center of the Dominican diaspora in the United States, should be recognized.," Espaillat wrote in a news release about the resolution revision.

The other noteworthy element of the revised resolution is that it no longer makes any reference to Harlem's Hamilton Heights, and now exclusively focuses on Washington Heights and Inwood.

Quisqueya is one of the names in the Taino language for the island that is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is also the name of a municipality within the Dominican Republic.

Despite a significant amount of concern about the neighborhood name change when Patch first reported on it earlier this year, there were also many people across Upper Manhattan Facebook groups who said they'd support the uptown rename to Quisqueya Heights.

You can read the complete revised resolution here, which lists the many contributions Dominicans have made to Upper Manhattan.

Read More:

• Congress Asked To Change Uptown's Name To Quisqueya Heights
• Uptown Community Board To Discuss Quisqueya Heights Renaming