The first immigrant in NY was dominican !

Juan Rodriguez , first foreigner ( and dominican! ) in NYC, 1613

At the renaming of Broadway into Juan Rodriguez Way. The first nyc immigrant from 1625 who was a black, free dominican man.


About three miles of northern Manhattan today honor a man who, until recently, was unknown to most of the people who live there.

Juan Rodriguez Way will be the name of Broadway from 159th to 218th Streets, after an early settler from Santo Domingo who reportedly arrived in New York in 1613. Rodriguez is believed to be the city’s first Dominican immigrant, as well as its first free black settler, its first Latino and its first non-Native American merchant.

“It completely re-conceptualizes the Dominican presence in NYC,” said Led Black, a local Dominican-American writer and editor of the Uptown Collective. “I think many Dominicans feel that even though we have been a part of this city for quite some time now, we have been left out of the city’s narrative and that is starting to change finally.”

Though many uptown residents are now learning about Rodriguez through efforts by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, which uncovered his story, Rodriguez’s existence had been completely unknown by the uptown community, with its high Dominican population.

Anthony Stevens, an assistant director at the Dominican Studies Institute, worked to unravel Rodriguez’s history and pushed for the Broadway co-naming. From what Stevens and other researchers have gathered so far, Rodriguez appears to have landed somewhere in the Hudson Bay area while on board a Dutch expedition ship.

“He’s sort of the first immigrant,” Stevens said. “Not just the first settler, because he came from afar — another culture, another place.”

Black noted the renewed sense of pride Rodriguez’ history offered Dominicans.

“People are generally happy to find out our history predates the last 50 years,” he said. “Most had no idea but once they knew, they were pretty proud of it.”

Many locals, though unfamiliar with Rodriguez, found the history interesting. Mary Kate Burke, a teacher born and raised in Inwood, was fascinated by the news.

“That is really amazing,” she said. “The thing about this area is, you always associate Dominican culture with the influx of immigrants in the ‘60s or ‘70s, not the 1600s.”

Emmanuel Abreu, lifetime local of Washington Heights, was one community member familiar with Juan Rodriguez and the upcoming street co-naming.

“I think it’s important to everyone, especially Dominicans in Washington Heights,” Abreu said. “Or at least it should be.”


An archival document about Juan Rodriguez from the Archives of the City of Amsterdam. (Reproduction by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute)

El primero de nosotros en estas tierras! Seguimos sigiendole sus pasos!
Arriba esas banderas!