Listen to the Oral History of Olneyville

Xander Marro Artist and Co-Founder of the Dirt Palace Artista y Co-Fundadora del Dirt Palace LISTEN TO HER STORY “Because like I said in the beginning, I was talking about how there are kind of unlikely allies that are brought together by everyone’s shared sense of vulnerability, whether it is artists living illegally in warehouses, immigrants living without papers, realizing the commonality between different ways of living that all, at any moment, could be snatched away because you don’t have some documentation or something isn’t right…so I think having less of that precariousness for people would be... still being able to achieve the things you want to achieve and do things that you want to do, with a little less of feeling that fear...” “Porque como mencione en el principio, estaba hablando de como existen aliados inverosímiles que se han unido por el sentimiento común de vulnerabilidad, ya sean artistas viviendo ilegalmente en bodegas, inmigrantes viviendo sin papeles, la realización de los elementos comunes de diferentes maneras de vivir, que en cualquier momento, podrían ser arrebatado porque no tienes algún documento o algo no está bien... entonces pienso que tener menos de esa precariedad por la gente seria... aun así, ser capaces de lograr sus metas y hacer las cosas que se proponen, sin sentir ese miedo...”

Waleska Pinto (With her family) (Con su familia) Neighborhood Resident Residente del Vecindario LISTEN TO HER STORY “Como éramos todos dueños de casa decidimos ser Olneyville Homeowners Association cual, lo que nosotros hacíamos era hablar en nuestras casas, nos reunimos en diferentes casas, éramos alrededor de quince familias; teníamos de la Steere, de la Putnam, de la Julian, de la Appleton, de la Joslin, todos estaban en esta área aquí que es un poco de Olneyville la mayoría estos que están acá... y lo hicimos porque queríamos que la policía estuviera pendiente, que los políticos cuando llamaremos los políticos nos ayudará por la cuestión de inmigración y de trabajo. Hicimos bastantes cosas…cuando tenemos la reunión con nosotros los miembros, llamábamos y hacíamos reuniones con la policía y decíamos, mira, así aquí allá está pasando este problemita que podemos hacer, y ellos indicaron lo que tenemos que hacer.” “Since we were all home owners we decided to create the Olneyville Homeowners Associations, where we got together in different houses and talked. There were about 15 families; they came from the Steere, Putnam, Julian, Appleton, Joslin, we were all from this area of Olneyville... and we did it because we wanted for the police to be on the lookout, for the politicians to help us when we called them regarding immigration and work issues. We did a lot of things... when we had our meetings with the members, we’d call and schedule meetings with the police and we’d say ‘ look, this is what’s going on here or there, we have this small problem, what can we do and they would tell us what we had to do.”

Tom Lopotosky Neighborhood Resident & Owner of Lopco Contracting Residente & Dueño de Lopco Contracting LISTEN TO HIS STORY “One of them [the Atlantic Mills towers] is missing the top component, and the other one still has it. It was actually a bell tower; each of them were bell towers and when it was 5:30 in the morning and it was time to signify the shift change or call the workers to work, he said that they used to ring the bells there like it was a church bell and all the workers would come down to the mills at that point in time, 5:30 in the morning, you’d hear the bells from Atlantic mills were ringing every morning. There is a rich, rich heritage, from an industrial standpoint over here; it’s amazing, you can walk through the buildings, you can just feel the history here.” “A una de las torres [de Atlantic Mills] le falta la parte de arriba, pero la otra está completa, en realidad eran campanarios y todos los días a las 5:30 de la mañana, hora de empezar a trabajar o anunciar la hora de cambio de turno, él me dijo que solían tocar las campanas como si fuera una campana de misa y todos los trabajadores venían a los molinos a esa hora, a las 5:30 de la mañana se escuchaban las campanas del Atlantic Mills sonar. Desde el punto de vista industrial, hay una herencia bastante rica en este lugar, es magnífico; se puede caminar por los edificios y sentir la historia”.

Sabina Matos Ward 15 Councilwoman Concejal de Ward 15 LISTEN TO HER STORY “There’s a lot of people that care about the neighborhood, there’s a lot of people that want to improve the neighborhood, want to be able to enjoy life outside in the neighborhood so that’s one thing, another thing is, one thing that I always brag about Olneyville when I go to other areas is the way how, specifically the nonprofit organizations in the area, have been working together and building on what the other is doing, you don’t see this competition between the organizations, it seems more like a collaboration and that is very unique and special.” “Hay mucha gente que se interesa por el barrio, hay mucha gente que quiere mejorar el barrio, que quiere poder disfrutar la vida fuera de sus casas dentro del barrio, eso es una cosa, otra cosa, algo por lo que siempre alardeo de Olneyville cuando voy a reuniones en otras áreas es como, especialmente las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro, han estado trabajando y aportando las unas con las otras, no se ve competencia entre las organizaciones es más bien una colaboración, y yo creo que eso es único y especial”.

Rick Mancuso Neighborhood Resident Residente del Vecindario LISTEN TO HIS STORY “The river is kind of in my blood, it’s where I used to escape to be by myself. Mother would always be concerned about my leaving the neighborhood, but it was just on the other side of the park. The waterfalls there were very historic, built around the time of the Civil War and the industrial revolution... the kids would come and swim in the twilight of the evening, the teenage boys would go down there, and they’d call it, if you’ll excuse me, the Bare Ass Paradise because the kids would swim in the The Box, they called it, and the girls from up on the hill sometimes would sneak down, the more adventurous ladies, and swim with the guys as well, and I would kind of be peeking, because I was very much told upon pain of severe punishment that I should not go in the water.” “El río está en mi sangre, es donde solía escapar para estar solo. Mi madre siempre se preocupaba cuando yo salía del barrio, pero era al otro lado del parque. Las cascadas eran históricas, fueron construidas alrededor del tiempo de la Guerra Civil y la revolución industrial... los niños iban y nadaban en el crepúsculo de la tarde, los chicos adolescentes bajaban y lo llamaban, si me disculpas, el paraíso del nudismo porque los niños nadaban en lo que llamaban ‘La Caja’ y a veces las niñas, las señoritas más aventureras, bajaban de la colina y nadaban con los jóvenes, y yo iba a espiar, porque mi mamá me advirtió con amenazas de castigo doloroso que no debía entrar en el agua.”

Norman Roy Former Neighborhood Resident Residente Anterior del Vecindario LISTEN TO HIS STORY “They had 5 cent hamburgers, next to the Olympia theater, they were hamburgers for a nickel, they were dipped in a red sauce, they were very good, 5 cents, but if you went across the street towards the white tower, they were ten cents per hamburger, but they had a pickle in it, that was the big difference.” “Junto al teatro Olympia tenían hamburguesas de 5 centavos, hamburguesas por un ‘nickel’, las untaban en una salsa roja, eran muy buenas, 5 centavos, pero si ibas al otro lado de la calle en el ‘White Tower’ costaban 10 centavos, pero tenían un pepinillo, esa era la grande diferencia.”

Nancie Trasko (left) with her sister Angela Burgio (right) Nancie Trasko (izquierda) con su hermana Angela Burgio (derecha) Former Neighborhood Residents Residentes Anterior del Vecindario LISTEN TO THEIR STORY “Everything we did was always in Olneyville, whatever we had to do; whatever shopping we had to do was always in Olneyville. Every afternoon at 1 o’clock my mother and Mary’s mother across the street used to take a walk into Olneyville and they used to shop in Olneyville, they’d go to the markets and they’d go for that nice walk. And then one time I had a serious operation and I couldn’t go to work so then I started walking with my mother too, there and back again, that was always the walk, whenever you went for a walk, you took a walk into Olneyville.” “Todo lo que hacíamos era siempre en Olneyville, lo que necesitábamos, cualquier compra que necesitábamos siempre era en Olneyville. Todas las tardes a la 1 en punto, mi mama y la mamá de Mary, que vivía al frente, solían caminar a Olneyville y hacían las compras en Olneyville, iban a los mercados y su buena caminata. Y una vez yo tuve una operación y no podía ir a trabajar así que empecé a caminar con ellas, ida y vuelta, siempre era nuestro paseo, una caminata a Olneyville.”

Michael Solomon City Council President and Owner of Wes’ Rib House Presidente del Concejo de la Ciudad y Dueño de Wes’ Rib House LISTEN TO HIS STORY “My grandfather came to this country 100 years ago, with twenty-five cents in his pocket. He became a traveling salesman, and worked hard to achieve the American Dream to make things better for his family. It was a hard life, but no matter how hard he worked, our family always came together for Sunday dinner. It was over those dinners that I learned not only about work ethic, but also about the value of giving back to your community. My father continued this tradition when he opened the pharmacy, and I strive for that at Wes’. Community is everything.” "Mi abuelo llegó a este país hace 100 años, con veinticinco centavos en su bolsillo. Empezó una carrera de vendedor ambulante, y trabajó duro para lograr el sueño americano para mejorar cosas para su familia. Era una vida dura, pero no importa lo duro que trabajaba, nuestra familia siempre se reunía para la cena del domingo. Fue durante esas cenas que aprendía no sólo sobre la ética del trabajo, sino también sobre el valor de devolver a su comunidad. Mi padre continuó esta tradición cuando abrió la farmacia y siempre trato de hacer eso en Wes’. La comunidad es todo ".

Mark Sawtelle Local Historian Historiador del Vecindario LISTEN TO HIS STORY “It was sort of a satellite downtown to downtown Providence for many years, Olneyville Square was just as busy as downtown. It was actually so crowded that in the late 1940s, they built a highway bypass around it, which we now know as the sort of Route 10, Route 6 interchange, and that helped sap a lot of the lifeblood from Olneyville Square and from the neighborhood…But it was never a fancy place, it was a working neighborhood, where people could still make a nice, honest living and have nice meals on Sunday, and kids could play in the street, even after dinner. It was safe and neighborly… “Era una especie de satélite del centro al centro de Providence por muchos años, Olneyville Square era tan ajetreado como el centro de la ciudad. Había tanto movimiento que a finales de la década de 1940 se construyó una carretera de circunvalación, que ahora conocemos como la Ruta 10, la Ruta 6, lo cual ayudó a drenar mucha de la savia vital del Olneyville Square y del vecindario. Pero nunca era un barrio lujoso, era un barrio de gente trabajadora, donde la gente podía tener una vida agradable y tener una buena cena los Domingos, donde los niños podían jugar en la calles, hasta después de la hora de la cena. Era un lugar seguro y de buena vecindad…

Maria Mancuso (left) and Angela Burgio (right) Neighborhood Residents Residentes del Vecindario LISTEN TO THEIR STORY “The ice cream man would come by and we would go out and get the ice cream. Now as we were growing up, we didn’t have to go a lot of places, because the vegetable man would come with a truck and we’d buy from the vegetable man, the fish man would come and we’d buy from the fish man. A lot of us didn’t have refrigerators; we had ice boxes, so if you needed a 10 cent piece of ice, we’d put the sign in the window and he’d bring it up, climb the stairs and bring up that 10 piece…” “El hombre de los helados venía y nosotros salíamos a comprar helado. Cuando éramos jóvenes no teníamos que ir a muchos lugares porque el hombre de los vegetales venía con un camión y nosotros comprábamos del camión, el hombre del pez venía y le comprábamos al hombre del pez. Muchos de nosotros no teníamos refrigeradores, en vez teníamos una caja de hielo, cuando se necesitaba un pedazo de hielo de 10 centavos poníamos un letrero en la ventana y el hombre del hielo subía las escaleras y nos traía el pedazo de 10 centavos...”

Lucille Furia Former Principal of William D’Abate Elementary School Directora Anterior de la Escuela Primaria William D’Abate LISTEN TO HER STORY “I love to see the fact that there are houses that are owned, because as you very well know being here, when you own something you take pride and hopefully you’re taking better care of it because it’s yours, and I just hope that the children learn, between the Woonasquatucket River Greenway and the fact that maybe their parents are owning homes, they develop an understanding of what it means to be a steward of the earth, and to take care of it, and to understand that you have a voice and the only way things are ever going to move is when people are united for a purpose that increases their living standard, but also pride, that increases their pride, and shows why they should be proud of what’s going on, and ask for things within the neighborhood that is going to help the family grow psychologically, emotionally and spiritually.” “Me encanta el hecho de que hay casas que tienen propietarios porque como sabes estando acá, cuando uno es dueño de algo, se siente orgulloso y lo cuida mejor porque es de uno, y espero que los niños aprendan, entre el Woonasquatucket River Greenway y el hecho que sus padres son dueños de casas, que desarrollen un entendimiento de lo que significa ser un mayordomo de la tierra y saber cuidar de ella, y que entiendan que uno tiene una voz y la única manera que las cosas van a cambiar es cuando la gente se une por un propósito que mejore su nivel de vida, pero también orgullo; que aumente su orgullo y muestren porque ellos deben estar orgullosos de lo que está ocurriendo, y pidan cosas dentro del vecindario que van a ayudar a la familia a crecer psicológicamente, emocionalmente y espiritualmente.”

Lt. Dean Isabella Providence Police Department Departamento de Policía de Providence LISTEN TO HIS STORY “I’ve had a lot of contact with the immigrant population and done a lot of work to try to build trust with the immigrant population, especially issues involving illegal immigration. People are afraid to report crimes if they are undocumented workers; we try to do a lot of work to prevent that from happening. Over the last, I’d say, ten years, I’ve had a lot a lot of contact with the Central American population, the Hispanic population in Olneyville to try to make that a positive thing for people... because nobody should ever be a victim of crime or feel as if the law enforcement in their area is not working to help them, it’s a very important thing we try to do in Providence is try to make sure everybody feels that the law represents them, no matter what their circumstance.” “He tenido mucho contacto con la población inmigrante y he trabajado mucho en construir confianza con la población inmigrante, especialmente en cuestiones relacionadas con inmigración ilegal. Cuando son trabajadores indocumentados, la gente tiene miedo a denunciar crímenes, nosotros trabajamos mucho para evitar que eso suceda. En los últimos, yo diría, 10 años, he tenido bastante contacto con la población Centroamericana, la población Hispana de Olneyville para tratar de crear un espacio positivo para la gente... porque nadie debe ser víctima de un delito o sentir que el sistema judicial del área no está trabajando para ayudarlos, es algo muy importante lo que tratamos de hacer en Providence; lograr que la gente sienta que la ley los representa, sin importar cuál sea su circunstancia.”

Leo Tracey Owner of Cathedral Art Metal Dueño de Cathedral Art Metal LISTEN TO HIS STORY “[On changes to Olneyville] I think that in the course of time you’ve seen a lot of changes. There used to be a lot of little jewelry companies around, that was a big part of Olneyville at the time, and you see a lot less of that now. But you see different things coming in…places like the Salvadorian bakery over there, which continue to reflect the type of Central American and Spanish influences that are certainly happening in Olneyville and all over the country. “(En cuanto a cambios en Olneyville) Creo que con el transcurso del tiempo hemos visto muchos cambios…ahora se ve mucho menos trabajo en el área de joyería, antes había muchas compañías de joyas, lo cual era una gran parte de Olneyville. Pero se ven cambios en el tipo de impresa, como la panadería Salvadoreña, cuales continúan a reflejar la influencia hispánica de America central, que está ocurriendo en Olneyville y en todo el país.

Jenine Bressner Artist and Resident Artista y Residente LISTEN TO HER STORY “In a few decades Providence became the jewelry capital of the world and to look at the floorboards here, to look at the spaces, if you look in between the floorboards there are fake pearls and rhinestones and fake gold beads, and just more evidence of the layers, of the rich history that’s happened in these spaces, so for me to contemporarily be making jewelry and working with textiles in these spaces but in new ways, makes me feel like another link in a chain, and that’s another thing that makes me feel like I belong here.” “En pocas décadas Providence se convirtió en la capital de joyas del mundo y el poder mirar estos espacios, si miras entre las tablas del piso se pueden ver perlas postizas y diamantes y más evidencia de las diferentes etapas, de la historia rica que ha ocurrido en estos espacios, entonces para mi estar creando joyas y trabajando con tela contemporáneamente en estos mismos espacios pero de maneras modernas, me hace sentir que soy un enlace en la cadena, y eso es otra cosa que me hace sentir que pertenezco en este lugar”.

Jane Sherman Founder of Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council Fundadora del Concejo del Woonasquatucket River Watershed LISTEN TO HER STORY “The parks are the barometers of the health of our neighborhoods and right now if you look at the care the community is giving to the parks and they are using the parks, it’s a really good barometer of where Olneyville is at the moment…My least favorite aspect of Olneyville is the continued negative impression that people have of Olneyville. It’s not fair, it’s not right, and hopefully it will change because Olneyville has done a good job.” “Los parques son el barómetro de la salud de nuestros vecindarios y en este momento si miran al uso y al cuidado que la comunidad le está dando a sus parques, es un muy buen barómetro de donde se encuentra Olneyville…Mi aspecto menos preferido de Olnevyvillle es la continua impresión negativa que la gente tiene de Olneyville. No es justo, no es correcto y espero que cambie porque Olneyville ha hecho un buen trabajo.”

Jaime Blancas Owner of La Lupita Dueño de La Lupita LISTEN TO HIS STORY “Los cambios que ha habido; el crecimiento, es más limpio, la organización que hay aqui en Olneyville que está llevando a cabo la limpieza en las calles, es algo que pues yo les agradezco porque si nos ayudan bastante…Cuando recién llegamos aquí, Olneyville estaba en unas condiciones no muy agradables; era muy sucio aquí y no había tanto negocio como ahora. Hemos visto en los últimos 10 años cambios para bien.” “The changes that have occurred; the growth, it’s cleaner, the organization that is taking care of cleaning in Olneyville is something I am very grateful because it helps us a lot…When we first got here, Olneyville was in not the best conditions; it was very dirty and there weren’t as many businesses as now. We have seen a lot of changes for good in the last 10 years.”

Greg Stevens Fourth Generation Owner of Olneyville New York System Dueño de Olneyville New York System (Cuarta Generación) LISTEN TO HIS STORY “Well another great slice of Olneyville, who would think Olneyville has a bike path? No one would think of that. Olneyville, you mention to the average person and they would think, crime, drugs, prostitution, they wouldn’t think bike path, but certainly a project like that has a new dimension to those who first of all are aware of it, secondly, want to use it and third, it’s a good image builder that an engaged neighborhood can advertise in fact, ‘You know, we have nice restaurants, we have a bike path in Olneyville.’ It’s a huge positive.” “Bueno es otro pedazo de Olneyville, quien pensaría que Olneyville tiene una ruta de bicicleta? Nadie pensaría eso. Cuando uno menciona Olneyville, lo que la gente piensa es crimen, drogas, prostitución, no pensarían ruta de bicicleta, pero un proyecto así tiene una nueva dimensión para ellos que primero que todo saben de su existencia, segundo quieren usarlo y tercero, ha creado una buena imagen que el vecindario puede promocionar, ‘Es más, tenemos buenos restaurantes y una ruta para bicicletas en Olneyville.’ Es un gran positivo.”

Frank Shea Executive Director of Olneyville Housing Corporation Director Ejecutivo de Olneyville Housing Corporation LISTEN TO HIS STORY “The things that struck you were the kind of strong institutions in the neighborhood: the D’Abate School and Nickerson House and the Watershed Council were all kind of active and positive in the neighborhood. Now, there’s so much more of that kind of activity. The collaborative that we work with in the neighborhood now has twenty-four or twenty-five members and back then there were two or three or four institutions playing a positive role, so that’s been great. The ones that were here then are all still here and still playing a role but there are so many more, from service agencies to training agencies to arts organizations. The breadth that’s been happening and the way that it is all connected is really kind of astounding.” “Las cosas que impactaban eran el tipo de organizaciones presentes en el vecindario: la escuela D’Abate, el Nickerson House y el Watershed council siempre fueron instituciones activas y positivas para la comunidad. Ahora, hay mucha más de ese tipo de actividad. La colaborativa con la que trabajamos en el vecindario ahora tiene 24-25 miembros y en ese tiempo solo tenía 2-3 instituciones involucradas, eso ha sido maravilloso. Las que estaban presentes en esa época y todavía están presentes, continúan a impactar positivamente, además tenemos agencias de servicios, agencias de capacitación y organizaciones de arte. La amplitud con la que ha sucedido y la manera en que todo está conectado es verdaderamente sorprendente”.

Father Raymond Tetreault Resident and Retired Pastor at St. Teresa’s Church Residente y Sacerdote Jubilado de la Iglesia de Sta Teresa LISTEN TO HIS STORY “I’ve been their [Latinos in Olneyville] priest for many, many years, for forty years, so I know children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, I see life and I see death, all the turmoil that goes into it, struggle, I’ve participated with people in their sorrows and in their joys: their weddings, their baptisms, trials, all kinds of problems that happen in any immigrant family that is unsettled, moving from one place to another, having children, a different culture invading them, and so... I feel very close, in fact, many of the people think I’m from Dominican Republic or Mexico or something like that, so that’s a sense of identity I have with them.” “Yo he sido su (Latinos en Olneyville) sacerdote por muchos, muchos años, por cuarenta años, así que conozco hijos, nietos, bisnietos, veo vida y veo muerte, todos los disturbios que vienen, los esfuerzos; he compartido con gente en sus angustias y sus dichas: sus matrimonios, sus bautizos, procesos judiciales, todo tipo de problemas que ocurren en cualquier familia de inmigrantes que está inestable, mudándose de un lado para otro, teniendo niños, con otra cultura invadiéndolos, y por eso... Yo me siento muy cercano a ellos, es más, mucha gente piensa que soy de la República Dominicana o México o algo así, eso es un tipo de identidad que tengo con ellos.”

Daniel Schliefer Resident and Member of What Cheer Brigade? Residente y Miembro del What Cheer Brigade? LISTEN TO HIS STORY “[Why do artists come to Olneyville?] It’s a combination of the cheap space and the fact that there is already a community here… We’ve just strived to create a space where there is freedom but where nobody’s freedom is going to impinge on somebody else’s sense of personhood and their freedom.” “[¿Porque vienen los artistas a Olneyville?]Se trata de una combinación del espacio barato y el hecho de que ya existe una comunidad aquí… Nos hemos esforzado por crear un espacio donde hay libertad, pero donde la libertad no afecta el sentido de ser humano ni la libertad de los demás.”

Cathy Bonetti Olneyville Post Office Employee Empleada de la oficina de correo de Olneyville LISTEN TO HER STORY “There’s so many different nationalities, and they’re all basically living together. Olneyville’s not really that big of a place if you look at the map and I mean, I have seen every type of Spanish: Guatemala, people from El Salvador... I have seen Nigerians, Liberians, my god, people from Ghana... and they come in and they wait in line, and sometimes they wait longer than others, and there’s not a lot of grumbling going on, and it just amazes me how there’s so many different nationalities because when I grew up it was pretty much a white neighborhood where I lived, everybody was white, and from what I see now, all the different nationalities are living together, and I think that’s really great.” “Hay tantas nacionalidades diferentes que prácticamente están viviendo juntas. Si miras el mapa, en realidad, Olneyville no es un lugar tan grande, yo he visto todo tipo de gente Latina: de Guatemala, gente de El Salvador... He visto Nigerianos, Liberianos, Dios mío, gente de Ghana... y vienen y esperan en fila, y a veces unos esperan más que otros y no hay mucha quejadera, y me sorprende cuántas nacionalidades diferentes hay porque cuando yo era joven, todos éramos blancos, y lo que veo ahora, todas las nacionalidades diferentes conviviendo y pienso que eso es muy bueno.”

Carlos Fierros Dueño de Chilangos Taqueria Owner of Chilangos Taqueria LISTEN TO HIS STORY “[Tenemos] Pintores, escultores, escritores, fotógrafos, y es muy bonito porque realmente es lo que la comunidad necesita. Ahora me doy cuenta que hay bastantes, hace tiempo descubrí que está Studio 4 aquí en seguida y veo muchísimos artistas subiendo y bajando toda Manton entonces quiere decir que hay movimiento, los veo caminar, además los veo en bicicleta y eso es bueno, por un lado demuestra que hay seguridad y por el otro demuestra la diversificación que hay. Gente artística es la que queremos, personas talentosas.” “[We have] Painters, sculptors, writers, photographers, and it is very nice, because that is really what the community needs. Now, I realize there are many. A while back I found out that Studio 4 is right next door, hence I see a lot of artists going up and down Manton, which means there is movement. I see them walk, and I also see them riding bicycles, which is good because on one side it shows that there is safety and on the other it shows the diversity we have. Artists are what we want, people with talent.”

Anthony Solomon Owner of Anthony’s Pharmacy Dueño de Anthony’s Pharmacy LISTEN TO HIS STORY “I think my favorite aspect is that we are starting to see a mixing of the old and the new. The old is still the old-timers in the neighborhood and the new is the immigrants who are coming in. A lot of them are from overseas, they've never had this kind of freedom, they are coming here, they are all excited. For them this is new and it's nice to see that look on their face; I'm very pleased to see that.” “Mi aspecto favorito es que estamos empezando a ver una mezcla entre lo viejo y lo nuevo. Lo viejo siendo los que llevamos viviendo acá toda la vida y lo nuevo son los inmigrantes que están llegando. Muchos de ellos vienen del exterior, nunca han tenido este tipo de libertad, están llegando, están emocionados. Para ellos esto es nuevo y es agradable ver sus caras de entusiasmo; me agrada mucho ver eso.”

Alvaro Morales (With his family) (Con su familia) Neighborhood Resident Residente del Vecindario LISTEN TO HIS STORY "Yo pienso que lo mejor es que cuando uno pide ayuda la gente siempre está ahí para decir sí y todos colaboran, yo pienso que esa es la respuesta más común. No se niegan, dicen 'O sí, vamos a hacerlo, todos juntos'”. “I think that the best thing about the community is when you ask for help and people are always there to cooperate, I think that’s the most common answer. People don’t refuse, they say 'Oh yes, let’s do it together'”.

Abelardo Hernandez (With his wife) (Con su esposa) Neighborhood Resident Residente del Vecindario LISTEN TO HIS STORY “Los cambios que he visto desde la época que estoy activamente involucrados, son que hay un poco más de lugares para los niños, como playgrounds, hay diversidad de comida; restaurantes, anteriormente no se veía mucho comida Centroamericana, ahora ya hay comida Centroamericana, Dominicana, Puertorriqueña, tenemos todavía el icono de Olneyville que es el wieners del NY System, eso no ha cambiado.” “The changes I have seen since the time I have been actively involved have been that there are more spaces for children to play, like playgrounds; there is food diversity, restaurants. Before you couldn’t find a lot of Central American food; now there is Central American food, Dominican, Puerto Rican…we still have the Olneyville icon which is the NY System wieners, that hasn’t changed.”

Riverside Park LISTEN TO AUDIO

Olneyville Boys Club LISTEN TO AUDIO

Olneyville Square LISTEN TO AUDIO