Kristen Drybread

In the late 20th century, immigrants from the Dominican Republic transformed Washington Heights into a boisterous, close-knit community with a distinctive Latin vibe. Now, new generations are making the neighborhood their own, injecting a bit of downtown cool into the uptown flavor that has long made the Heights a nightlife destination. In the late 20th century, immigrants from the Dominican Republic transformed Washington Heights into a boisterous, close-knit community with a distinctive Latin vibe. Now, new generations are making the neighborhood their own, injecting a bit of downtown cool into the uptown flavor that has long made the Heights a nightlife destination. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to Washington Heights, NYC Junot Daz, author, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao "I like [to go dancing at] classic spots like Arka—I'm an old man, what can I say? The DJ throws it all on, from [bands like] Palo to Man. But Serie 56 is also hype. I went there with a tux one night—don't ask—and I danced my cuffs off. Every night it's like a national celebration in there, like we've just won a huge war or have all been set free or something. And then I finish everything off with a trip to one of the chimi trucks. If I got it in me, I'll trek over to the Patacn Pisao [truck] and stand in that fucking line."Arka Lounge, 4488 Broadway at 192nd St (212-567-9425, arkalounge.com) * Serie 56, 4448 Broadway at 190th St (212-304-4394) * El Patacn Pisao, 202nd St between Ninth and Tenth Aves (718-

Music tends to fill the streets of Spanish Harlem: the blare of mariachi trumpets playing at a quinceaera, the clack of a salsa band's clave animating Saturday dance parties at La Marqueta, and the beats of drummers, dressed in white, offering praise to the orishas at street-corner celebrations. With its rich mix of immigrants from different Latin American and Caribbean cultures, and the remaining traces of the vibrant Italian community that once called this part of Manhattan home, Spanish Harlem is a picture of an older, grittier New York, where mom-and-pop shops outnumber chain retailers, children play stickball on the sidewalks and community life spills out into the streets. Ernesto Quionez, author, Bodega Dreams; assistant professor of English, Cornell University "People who are still here in Spanish Harlem think it is a place worth taking care of. It stands for what New York City is all about: It's not a homogeneous pint of milk, but a beautiful, multiethnic swirl of peoples and cultures." "Only in Spanish Harlem can you be surrounded by the sounds of salsa, timbales, congas, listening to people talk in the sometimes harsh but always beautiful cadences of the Nuyorican dialect." "Women do the cooking and serve the food at La Fonda Boricua. Sometimes there's no menu, so you walk in and feel like you are getting a real home-cooked meal, literally. Their rice and beans and codfish remind me of my mom's, too."La Fonda Boricua, 169 E 106th St between Lexington and Third Aves