HIDDEN HISPANIC HERITAGE
MENU
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US/QUIENES SOMOS
  • CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • ON FACEBOOK
  • IN THE NEWS/NOTICIAS
  • ACCOLADES/ELOGIOS
  • VIDEO LECTURES/CHARLAS
  • MIGUELPEREZ.COM
    • MY STUDENTS
  • ABOUT/SOBRE MIGUEL
  • VIDEOS WE LIKE
  • CONTACT US/CONTÁCTENOS
  • TIMELINE/CRONOLOGIA
  • THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM
  • THE GREAT TOUR/LA GRAN GIRA
  • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA
Picture
"Possibly on the moon," says the great cartoonist Carlos (CABE) Bernales in this wonderful depiction of DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and his senseless decision to exclude Puerto Rico from the new medallions that will be installed on the Avenue of the Americas. Bravo CABE!



​WHY IS PUERTO RICO EXCLUDED
FROM THE NEW MEDALLIONS
​FOR THE AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS?

​​Take your pick: Discrimination or Stupidity!


En español: ™POR QUÉ SE EXCLUYE A
​PUERTO RICO DE LOS NUEVOS MEDALLONES PARA LA AVENIDA DE LAS AMÉRICAS?​

Picture
DOT Commissioner Rodriguez and the emblem he excluded!
OPINION: By Miguel Pérez                Part II
​
There is no other plausible explanation: When New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez chose to exclude Puerto Rico from the list of 35 medallions that will be restored on the Avenue of the Americas, he obviously had not done his homework — not enough to know that Puerto Rico indeed had medallions that should be replaced!

 
Rodriguez not only stole the idea of restoring the medallions from the “Save the Medallions” campaign I led with my former students over the past six months, without giving us credit, he also chose to exclude the largest Hispanic group in the city!
 
How does that happen? How do you leave Puerto Rico out of the Americas? I don’t want to believe it’s outright discrimination, so I have to believe it’s outright stupidity!

​​Otherwise, how is it possible for the city's Department of Transportation (DOT) not to realize that Puerto Rico once had medallions that should be restored? How is it possible that they did not do the research that would have told them that Puerto Rico medallions were originally installed in 1965 by former mayor Robert Wagner and reinstalled in 1984 by former mayor Ed Koch?

Picture
Dec. 20, 1984 photo, taken by Diario/La Presa photographer Humberto Arellano, now part of the Columbia University journalism archives.
Back in April, when I walked the entire Avenue and found that only 14 countries are still represented, I made a list of all the medallions I thought were missing. Not knowing which countries were represented there before, I came up with a very inclusive list of 34 additional nation medallions. My list included all the territories of the Americas, whether or not they are colonies or independent nations. So, in total, I thought medallions representing 48 countries and/or colonies were needed. After all, they are all part of the Americas, right?​

​
Yet Rodriguez came up with a list of only 35. Apparently, the DOT created a list of which doesn't include colonies, only independent nations. And so Rodriguez left out 13 medallions I expected to see, including Puerto Rico's. I could not believe my eyes! 

Would he dare argue that Puerto Rico never had a medallion? Or is there another, perhaps more insidious reason for excluding the Puerto Rican community at his Oct. 13 press conference? And if this was a stupid oversight, why has it taken him so long to correct it?

​​If he had seen the photo of Koch with a Puerto Rico medallion, would he have ignored the Puerto Rican community as shamelessly as he ignored the "Save the Medallions" campaign?

​
​How do you recognize the city's communities from the Americas and not recognize the community that built a blood-sweat-and-tears foundation for all the others to thrive? Of all the communities that deserve a medallion, Puerto Ricans deserve it most!
Picture
​That's why I felt somewhat confident in including Puerto Rico on my list of missing medallions. "It had to be there," I told myself. "They wouldn't dare leave Puerto Rico out."

I felt even better when journalist Javier E. Gomez, called me, following my interview on his TV program in May, to tell me he had the proof to confirm that Puerto Rico medallions actually existed. "Wait until you see the photo I'm going to send you!" he said.

​​And there it was, in my email, a photo that really spoke louder than a thousand words! It was the image of former Mayor Koch, up on a bucket lift, celebrating the installment a Puerto 
Rico medallion, and doing what the current mayor has apparently not even considered!

How could he? His own DOT came up with a list that doesn't include Puerto Rico!
Picture
Proposed new medallions — list created by the DOT.
Further research into the origin of Puerto Rico medallions revealed that it was not among the originals installed by former Mayor Robert Wagner in 1959. They were added by Wagner on June 4, 1965, following some pressure from Puerto Rican community leaders and merchants, who had created scrolls with the Puerto Rican coats of arms and hung them on the Avenue since 1961. See NY Times clippings on this page.

​Also responding to pressure, because his DOT added "Sixth Avenue" to the Avenue of the Americas street signs and diluted the significance of the Avenue, Koch "rededicated" the Avenue of the Americas on Dec. 20, 1984. On that day, Koch introduced six additional nation medallions and climbed on a bucket lift to "unveil" a new Puerto Rico medallion — on W. 42nd Street! See the Daily News and NY Times clippings on this page.

But with those additional six — Antigua, Belize, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent — it is still unclear how many medallions there were in 1984, and how the current DOT came up with 35, without Puerto Rico!

Yet some things are very clear: 
Mayor Wagner installed the first Puerto Rico medallions in 1965, Mayor Koch reinstalled them in 1984 and Mayor Eric Adams ignored them in 2022. It turns out that Wagner had to be pressured by the Puerto Rican community. So what do we have to do now, Mayor Adams, come up with new scrolls?​
Picture
And what about the Puerto Ricans in the Adams administration? Are they not ashamed of what they are seeing? Have they questioned why Puerto Rico is missing? Do they know about their ancestors in the "Puerto Rican Seal Day Committee" and the scrolls they had to make to get a medallion?

​​Perhaps the mayor should consider a moratorium on "botella-hiring." In English: He needs to stop repaying political favors by hiring incompetent city officials. And does he really think that using the Puerto Rican Day Parade as a self-serving political rally is a good idea, especially while ignoring the medallions elephant in the room?
​To enlarge these images, click on them!
Picture
Picture
NY Daily News, Dec. 21, 1984
Picture
Picture
Part I: Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez
​accepts praise for an idea he knows he stole!
And what about Rep. Adriano Espaillat? When he stood with Rodriguez at the DOT press conference, next to a list of medallions that excludes Puerto Rico, was he thinking of his many Puerto Rican constituents?

It has been many years since I was a New York Daily News columnist, assigned to cover the city's Hispanic community. Perhaps I expected a much stronger reaction from Puerto Rican community leaders because I remember that, in the 1980s, this would not have been tolerated.

By now, three weeks after Rodriguez' pathetic press conference excluding Puerto Rico, there would have been community meetings and even demonstrations to respond to such discrimination.
I keep thinking about Puerto Rican community leaders who are no longer with us. What would they do if they were here? I say the late Pedro Pietri would be writing protest poems, Angelo Falcon would be sending out press releases, Marta Garcia would be organizing demonstrations, Hector LaVoe, Tito Puente and Ray Barretto would be talking about it between every song, and the late Sen. Olga Mendez would be giving fiery speeches to anyone willing to listen! And that's just a few of them! I keep thinking of my late friend Apolinar Trinidad, a Dominican like Rodriguez, who worked so closely with Puerto Ricans and would be offended by what is happening now.

"Things have changed," a Puerto Rican friend told me. "Our leaders are not what they used to be."
But there are new ones emerging, young Puerto Ricans like Cynthia Rios, one of my former students who has been diligently collecting signatures for the “Save the Medallions” petition. To her, Rodriguez’s attention-grabbing maneuver was a double slap in the face. She was already alarmed because the Puerto Rico medallion is already missing. But when she saw that Puerto Rico would not be included in the new medallions, she began to consider new petitions.

“Now I feel that we need two petitions,” Rios says. ”One demanding that the Puerto Rico medallion must be included and one asking Mayor Adams to fire Commissioner Rodriguez. He should not appoint people of color to positions of power if they are going to practice the very discrimination we are trying to eliminate in politics.”
 
So, stay tuned. This doesn’t end here.

​btw
, If you see commissioner Rodriguez announcing that Puerto Rico will be included (AS HE SHOULD) and taking all the credit, please tell him you read it here first.

NEW PETITION:
Restore the Puerto Rico Medallions
​On the Avenue of the Americas

Click and sign:
Picture
So what do you think? / ™Entonces, qué piensas?
Please join our dialogue on Facebook / Por favor únete a nuestro diálogo en Facebook
Hidden Hispanic Heritage

​And to share, please click on these buttons:

Y para compartir, por favor haga clic sobre estos botones:

                   CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS

1. Our Pre-Mayflower Thanksgivings
Nuestros Días de Acción de Gracias Pre-Mayflower
               
2. A Tale of Two Cities
                 
3. Our Pre-Hispanic Heritage
              

4. The Black Legend Returns

4. La Leyenda Negra Regresa
                
5. Even on HBO, The Black Legend Lives
                   
6. Our Spanish Heritage
                     
7. Exalted or Offended?
                    
8. We are all 'Americanos'
                  
9. Latinos are Failing
                  
10. Hispanic, Columbus or Indigenous Day?
10. 
™Dia Hispano, De Colon o Indigena?
                   
11. Two Good Places to Rest
11. Dos buenos lugares para descansar
                  
12. Whitman's Prophetic Letter
12. La Carta Profética de Whitman
                  
13. America’s Cradle
13. La Cuna de America
                 
14. Our Quincentennial is Coming!

14. ´Nuestro Quinto Centenario Se Avecina!
                   
15. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29
                
16. A Time To Welcome the Spirits
                  
17. A Hispanic Christmas
17. Una Navidad Hispana
                  
18. JOSE MARTI:
     His Legacy Lives Here
     Su Legado Vive Aquí 
                
19. Hyphenated and Proud!
                   
20. Politicizing Education

21. Speak Any Spanish Lately?
              
22. Happy Three Kings Day!
22. ​
´Feliz Día de Reyes!
               
23. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29

24. A Long-Overdue Museum
                 
25. America's First Christmas was celebrated in Spanish
25. La Primera Navidad Americana fue celebrada en español

26. The Grand Canyon
and the Bucket List
 Of Hispanic Heritage
26. El Gran Canyon
y la Lista de Lugares de la Herencia Hispana

                  
27. Now That Fiesta Month Is Here,
Can We Talk About Heritage?

27. Ahora que el mes de fiesta hispana esta aquí,

​™Podemos hablar de nuestra herencia?
                  
28. Our Hispanic Heritage: On Exhibit and Yet Hidden
28. Nuestra Herencia Hispana: En Exhibición y Sin Embargo Oculta

29. Florida's Birthday Should Be a National Holiday

             
30. A Local Celebration that Should be National               

31. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 30               
​

32. The Conveniently 'Forgotten War'
32. La Guerra Convenientemente Olvidada

33. Guantanamo Has a History  June 4, 2013

34. Exposing the Social Media Bigots  June 18, 2013
34. Exponiendo a los Intolerantes
     de los Medios Sociales June 18, 2013

35. Thinking of Cusi On the Fourth of July
35. Pensando en Cusi en el Cuatro de Julio

36. The Discovery of White Hispanics
36.  El Descubrimiento de los Hispanos Blancos

37. Let's Build a Timeline Of Hispanic-American History
37. Vamos a Construir una Cronología
     De la Historia Hispanoamericana

38. In the Name of Heritage
38. En el Nombre de la Herencia

39. Hispanics or Latinos?
39. ™Hispanos o Latinos?

40.  Hollywood's Hidden Hispanic Heritage
40. La Herencia Hispana Oculta en Hollywood

41. Obliviously Living in ‘The Land of Estevan Gomez’
41. Viviendo Inconscientemente
       En la ‘Tierra de Estevan Gómez’

42. Marking America's Birthplace
42. Marcando el Lugar de Nacimiento De Estados Unidos

43. Hispanics in Denial Should Be Infamous
43. Los Hispanos en Rechazo Deben Ser Infames

44. 
Gay Marriage's Hidden American History
      Started in Spanish
 CABEZA DE VACA'S JOURNEY
44. La Historia Oculta del Matrimonio Gay
      En América Comenzó en Español
        EL VIAJE DE CABEZA DE VACA​

45. Super Bowl Coke Commercial
       Draws Out Ugly Americans

45. Comercial de Coke en Super Bowl
     Hace Relucir a los Americanos Feos


46. 
The 'Discovery' of Self-Loathing Hispanics
46. El ‘Descubrimiento' de los
     Hispanos que se Auto Desprecian


THE GREAT HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TOUR 
June 2014 - January 2015


47. My Pilgrimage to San Xavier
47. Mi Peregrinaje a San Xavier

48. The Great Hispanic American History Tour
48. La Gran Gira por la Historia Hispanoamericana

49. On the Trail of Conquistadors
49. En el Camino de los Conquistadores

50. Beyond St. Augustine
50. Más Allá de San Agustín

51. A Hidden Hispanic Role Model
51. Un Modelo Hispano Oculto

52. The Hispanic Flank of the American Revolution
52. El Flanco Hispano de la Revolucion Americana
​

53. New Orleans Has a Spanish ‘Ne Sais Quoi’
53. Nueva Orleans Tiene Un ‘Ne Sais Quoi’ Español

54. Galveston: Still the Isle of Misfortune?

55. Extracting Compacted History
     Unveils Hidden Hispanic Heritage

56. 'Remember The Alamo' Was a Spanish Mission

57. San Antonio: The Showcase Of Our Hispanic Heritage

58. There Was Compassion On the Spanish Mission Trail

59. A Hidden Latina Role Model

60. Time Portals on the Road

61. The First Thanksgiving
     In the (Southwest) United States

62. The World's Biggest Statue
of a Nameless Horseback Rider


63. A River Runs Through Our Hispanic Heritage

64. A Beacon of Hope On a Border Mountaintop

65. A Mexican-American Town
65. Un Pueblo Mexico-Americano

66. The Crossroads of Conquistadors

67. Hiking In Search of Coronado's Trail

68. The Real American Pioneers

69. Keeping My Pledge to San Xavier

70. If They Knew Arizona's History,
     They Wouldn't Be So Xenophobic

71. 'Tucson' is a Spanish Adaptation

72. Under a Utah Lake, Hispanic Heritage Lives

73. A Hilltop View Of Hispanic Heritage

74. Searching for Coronado's Quivira

75. The Spanish Savior of St. Louis

76. 
Jefferson's Spanish Library

WASHINGTON, D.C.
February-June 2015

77. When Galvez Came to Congress
77. Cuando Gálvez Vino al Congreso


78. A Tour of Our Extraordinarily Hispanic U.S. Capitol

79. Searching for Not-S0-Hidden
Hispanic Heritage in Washington, DC


80. Smithsonian Omits Hispanics In U.S. History Exhibit
80. Smithsonian Omite a los Hispanos
     en Exhibición de Historia de EE.UU.
MIAMI - August 2015
​
81. Finding Dad in a Museum
81. Encontre a Mi Padre en un Museo


​CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP - 2018
82. International Friendship Park ​at U.S.-Mexico Border
​- A Jagged Corner of the World


83. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
​
84. Cabrillo National Monument

85. ​It took more than 2 centuries

86. Presidio Park: The Birthplace
of the Spanish Colonization of California


87. Junípero Serra Museum Transcends the Story of a Great Man

88. Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá:
California's First Spanish Mission


89. Old Mission (Padre) Dam: California's First Aqueduct

90. Even at the beach in San Diego, you can't avoid Spanish history

91. Chicano Park: Mexican-American ​painted under highway ramps

92. Balboa Park: Candy for your eyes amid a painful controversy!

93. San Diego: An American Town
Named After the Saint from Alcalá

93. San Diego: Un Pueblo Americano
Lleva el Nombre del Santo de Alcalá


94. San Luis Rey de Francia: The King of the California Missions
94. San Luis Rey de Francia: ​El Rey de las Misiones de California

95. San Antonio de Pala:
A Sub-Mission to Reach
 the Natives of the Interior
95. San Antonio de Pala:
Una Asistencia para Alcanzar los Nativos del Interior

96. San Juan Capistrano:
The Home of the Mission Swallows
 from Argentina
96. San Juan Capistrano:
El Hogar de las Golondrinas Desaparecidas ​de Argentina

97. San Gabriel Arcángel: A Mission that Launched Cities
97. San Gabriel Arcángel: Una Misión Que Lanzó Ciudades

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanics had to be imported

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanos tuvieron que sen importados


99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
A Walk through Mexican-American History

99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
Un Paseo por la historia 
​mexicoamericana


100. Strolling the Hispanic Walk of Fame
​100. Caminando por el Paseo Hispano de la Fama

101. San Fernando Rey de España Teaches
California's Colonial History

101. ​​San Fernando Rey de España Enseña
la historia colonial de California


​102. Mission San Buenaventura Survived Earthquakes and Pirates
102. Misión San Buenaventura Sobrevivió Terremotos y Piratas

​103. Father Serra Cross: On a hill,
​overlooking ​the land he shepherded

​103. La Cruz del Padre Serra: En una colina,
​con vistas a la tierra que pastoreaba


104. The Birthplace of Santa Barbara
104. El Lugar de Nacimiento de Santa Barbara

105. The Queen of the Spanish Missions
105. La Reina de las Misiones Españolas

106. Mission Santa Ines: Built to relieve other overcrowded missions
106. Misión Santa Inés: Construida para aliviar otras misiones superpobladas

107. Mission La Purísima Concepcion:
​Going back in time ​to Spanish California

107. Mision La Purísima Concepción:
Retrocediendo en ​el tiempo a la California española


XXX. Saluting an exile: ​Father Félix Varela
XXX. The Meaning of 'Sotomayor'
SPECIAL SECTIONS
• Great (pro-Hispanic) Americans
​
• 16th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 17th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 18th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
​
• Spanish-American expeditions before Jamestown
• NYC ​Hispanic Landmarks
• NYC Hispanic Art
• Do You Know/Sabes?
• Garita Art
​
• Do You Speak Spanglish?
HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TIMELINE
​1513 Ponce de Leon Discovers North America, Names Her 'Florida'

April 22, 1513 ​Alaminos discovers the Gulf Stream

1517 De Cordoba, wounded in Yucatan, stops in Florida

1518 Grijalva Reaches Galveston Island

1519 De Pineda confirms Florida ​is not an island​

1521 Ponce de Leon Returns to Florida, Falls Mortally Wounded

1524-25 Estevan Gomez Explores North America's East Coast

1526 Ayllón lands in S.C., settles in Georgia


1528 Narváez expedition succumbs to storms and natives

1528-36 Cabeza de Vaca treks across North America

1537-42 Cabeza de Vaca Returns to Spain, Writes 'La Relación'

1539 De Niza Searches for Golden Cities of Cibola
​

1539-42 De Soto celebrates first American Christmas

1540 Hernando de Alarcon Reaches California

1540-42 Coronado Explores the Southwest,
Cardenas Discovers ​the Grand Canyon


1542-43  ​Cabrillo explores California coast​

1559 De Luna Builds Santa Maria de Ochuse​


1565 Pedro Menendez de Avilés Establishes San Agustin

1566 Santa Elena Built in South Carolina

1598 ​Juan de Oñate Explores New Mexico

1602 Sebastian Vizcaino ​explores the West Coast

1610 Pedro de Peralta establishes Santa Fe

1610-26 The Birth of San Miguel, oldest church in the U.S.A.

1613 Juan Rodriguez becomes the first Manhattan immigrant

1633 Misión San Luis de Apalachee is born in Tallahassee

​1682 San Antonio de la Ysleta becomes first mission in Texas

1691 Father Eusebio Kino builds Tumacácori and Guevavi

1692 ​Father Kino builds San Xavier del Bac 

1692 Diego de Vargas leads ​'Bloodless Reconquest" of Santa Fe

1695 Castillo de San Marcos ​Completed in St. Augustine

1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero is born
​- long before it became The Alamo
​

1738 Runaway slaves establish Fort Mose,
​the first free African-American community​


​1738 Francisco Menendez Leads Fort Mose

1742 Spanish Soldiers ​Open Fort Matanzas

1752 Spanish Soldiers Build Presidio de Tubac

1763 Spanish Florida Goes to England

1765 Juan Antonio Maria de Rivera ​explores ​Colorado and Utah
​
1769 
Father Serra opens ​San Diego de Alcalá,
California's first ​Spanish mission


1771 Father Serra establishes San Gabriel Arcángel

1772 Good hunting determines site
​of ​Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa


1775 Captain Hugh O’Connor
​builds Presidio San Agustin del Tucson


​1776-83 Hispanics in the American Revolution

1776 The Birth of San Francisco

1781 Spanish troops defeat the British, capture Pensacola

1781 Pobladores of Los Angeles are imported

1791 ​Alessandro Malaspina Alaska Reaches Alaska

1797 Fermín Francisco de Lasuén
Establishes Misión San Fernando Rey de España


1797 The Birth of Villa de Branciforte

Herencia Hispana Oculta de America:
La Lista de Lugares, Ideas, y Evidencia Historica para Reconectár a los Americanos con sus Raíces Hispanas

Picture
America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage:
The Bucket List of Places, Ideas and Historical Evidence to Reconnect Americans with their  Hispanic Roots
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US/QUIENES SOMOS
  • CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • ON FACEBOOK
  • IN THE NEWS/NOTICIAS
  • ACCOLADES/ELOGIOS
  • VIDEO LECTURES/CHARLAS
  • MIGUELPEREZ.COM
    • MY STUDENTS
  • ABOUT/SOBRE MIGUEL
  • VIDEOS WE LIKE
  • CONTACT US/CONTÁCTENOS
  • TIMELINE/CRONOLOGIA
  • THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM
  • THE GREAT TOUR/LA GRAN GIRA
  • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA