; Whereas the legacy of upper Manhattan is being upheld by Dominican artists and artists born to immigrant Dominican parents in Washington Heights, who personify the blending of dynamic cultures that make up the neighborhood’s identity; Whereas Dominican-American artists Lucia Hierro and M. Tony Peralta have both been recognized internationally for their thought-provoking work exploring the Dominican-American experience in intersecting areas of class, culture, identity, and gender; Whereas Dominican theater artist Mino Lora cofounded the People’s Theater Project, which provides creative youth development programs for children growing up in the immigrant communities of upper Manhattan; Whereas the story of Alexander Hamilton, founding father of Hamilton Heights, was highlighted by Washington Heights native and second-generation Puerto Rican Lin-Manuel Miranda in the critically acclaimed Broadway show Hamilton ; Whereas Lin-Manuel Miranda conceived In the Heights , the Tony award-winning musical set in Washington Heights, which incorporated salsa and merengue with rap and hip-hop, blending them with more conventional Broadway tropes, to successfully portray the multicultural and Dominican influence in the neighborhood; Whereas Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center serves as a hub for local artists who enrich northern Manhattan through art and the celebration of Dominican and Latin American culture, and this organization promotes literary, performing, and visual arts programs in Washington Heights and Inwood that foster the artistic development of the neighborhood’s youth; Whereas Cayena Publications is a publishing firm based in Washington Heights and founded by Mary Ely Peña-Gratereaux that shines a light on the immigrant experience by supporting literary works that project a positive representation of Dominicans and other Latinos in the United States