Editing Washington Heights, Manhattan (section)

====1980s crime and drug crisis====
[[File:TransManhattan Expressway from Audubon Avenue.jpg|thumb|The [[Interstate 95 in New York|Trans-Manhattan Expressway]], one of several highway connections that made Washington Heights a hotspot for the [[cocaine]] trade in the 1980s.]]
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Washington Heights was severely affected by the [[Crack epidemic|crack-cocaine epidemic]], as was the rest of New York City.<ref name=CB/>{{Rp|158}} Washington Heights had become one of the largest drug distribution centers in the [[Northeastern United States]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/01/nyregion/washington-heights-cocaine-trade-thrives.html|title=WASHINGTON HEIGHTS: COCAINE TRADE THRIVES|first=Peter|last=Kerr|date=April 1, 1986|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 9, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://academics.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Chem102/war/html%20pages/ny-heights-crime.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 9, 2021|date=May 18, 1998|first=David M.|last=Halbfinger|title=In Washington Heights, Drug War Survivors Reclaim Their Stoops}}</ref> bringing a negative reputation to Dominican Americans as a group.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/22/nyregion/talk-in-washington-heights-fear-drugs-and-now-corruption.html|date=June 22, 1992|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 11, 2021|first=Maria|last=Newman|title=Talk in Washington Heights: Fear, Drugs, and Now Corruption}}</ref> Then-U.S. Attorney [[Rudy Giuliani]] and Senator [[Al D'Amato|Alphonse D'Amato]] chose the corner of 160th Street and Broadway for their widely publicized undercover crack purchase,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/10/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-answer.html|title=NEW YORK DAY BY DAY; Answer|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 31, 2020|date=July 10, 1986|first1=Susan|last1=Anderson|first2=David|last2=Dunlap}}</ref> and in 1989, ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the neighborhood "the crack capital of America".<ref name="crackdestruction">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/01/magazine/crack-s-destructive-sprint-across-america.html|title=Crack's Destructive Sprint Across America|last=Massing|first=Michael|date=October 1, 1989|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 31, 2020}}</ref> By 1990, crack's impact on crime was evident: 103 murders were committed in the 34th Precinct that year, along with 1,130 felony assaults, 1,919 robberies, and 2,647 burglaries.<ref name="NYPD 34th Precinct"/>

The causes behind the severity of the crisis for Washington Heights, however, were more intricate. One was the neighborhood's location: The [[George Washington Bridge]] and its numerous highway connections made for easy access from the [[New Jersey]] suburbs.<ref name=CB>{{cite book|first=Robert W.|last=Snyder|title=Crossing Broadway: Washington Heights and the Promise of New York City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quqMBQAAQBAJ|isbn=9780801449611|publisher=[[Cornell University Press]]|year=2015}}</ref>{{Rp|162}} Another contributing factor was that, as Dominican dealers such as [[Santiago Luis Polanco Rodríguez]] brought the group higher status in cocaine operations, the heavily Dominican Washington Heights became increasingly important as a strategic location.<ref name="crackdestruction"/><ref name="cocaine kids">{{cite book|first=Terry|last=Williams|date=1990|url=https://archive.org/details/cocainekids00terr_0/|publisher=Hachette Books|isbn=9780306820861|title=Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story of a Teenage Drug Ring}}</ref> Washington Heights also had a high level of unemployment and poverty in the 1980s and 1990s, providing ample economic motivation for young people to enter the drug trade.<ref name=Bergad/>

The effects of the crack trade extended beyond physical danger to a breakdown in trust and widespread fear provoked by violence in public places as well as murders of people uninvolved in the drug business.<ref name=CB/>{{Rp|178}} It was common for police and detectives to note unresponsiveness from residents during murder inquiries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-09-mn-10061-story.html|title=Hispaniola to New York Streets: Immigrant Dreams Gone Awry|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 9, 1994|access-date=April 1, 2020|first=Dana|last=Kennedy}}</ref> Overall distrust of the police may have stemmed from the perception of corruption, which was alleged numerous times concerning the 34th Precinct overlooking drug crimes for bribes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/19/nyregion/us-is-investigating-reports-of-corrupt-new-york-police.html|title=U.S. is Investigating Reports of Corrupt New York Police|date=June 19, 1992|first=Craig|last=Wolff|access-date=April 1, 2020|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Tensions between residents and the [[New York Police Department|NYPD]] came to a head on July 4, 1992, when José "Kiko" Garcia was shot by 34th Precinct Officer Michael O'Keefe on the corner of 162nd Street and [[St. Nicholas Avenue|Saint Nicholas Avenue]]. Although evidence later supported that the killing was a reaction to violence initiated by Garcia, many residents quickly suspected wanton [[police brutality]].<ref name=CB/>{{Rp|180}} The suspicion was not unfounded, as O'Keefe already had several civilian complaints of unnecessary aggression in arrests.<ref name="cowboys">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MTfK24Yon1QC|title=Wild Cowboys: Urban Marauders & the Forces of Order|first=Robert|last=Jackall|date=2005|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674018389}}</ref>{{Rp|320}} What began as a peaceful demonstration for Garcia's death turned into a violent riot, causing multiple fires, 15 injuries, and one death.<ref name=CB/>{{Rp|181}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/07/nyregion/angered-by-police-killing-a-neighborhood-erupts.html|access-date=April 1, 2020|title=Angered by Police Killing, a Neighborhood Erupts|date=July 7, 1992|first=James|last=Dao|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Then-mayor [[David Dinkins]], who had met with the Garcia family following the killing, pleaded for an end to the rioting: "You do not build a better city by destroying it. ... There is much anger in the community about the death of Jose Garcia and other incidents. But you do not obtain justice by being unjust to others."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-08-mn-1523-story.html|first=John J.|last=Goldman|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=Dinkins Appeals for Calm After N.Y. Disturbances : Inner city: Police pour into neighborhood to quell violence. Democratic chairman predicts that tensions will ease before convention.|date=July 8, 1992|access-date=February 9, 2021}}</ref>