Some local artists are hoping to ease racial tensions that have flared up in northern Manhattan after a video appeared to show Dominicans chasing black men on Dyckman Street.

Susana Osorio, the owner of five restaurants in Inwood, tells NY1 she was nearly moved to tears after seeing the eye-catching murals that local artists had painted by each of her restaurants.

 

What You Need To Know


  • A mural can be found along Dyckman Street, using boarded-up wood panels that were put up to protect businesses from looters.

  • The murals went up after video on social media appeared to show Dominicans chasing a group of black men on Dyckman Street.

  • Local artists sought permission from businesses.

  • When businesses fully reopen and the murals come down, the artists are seeking MTA approval to have them incorporated into nearby subway stations.

 

"This is the message that we want to give everyone," says Osorio. "Peace and love, and for us to keep our community united."

Last week, the artists approached Osorio and other businesses owners in Inwood seeking permission to transform their newly boarded-up storefronts into giant canvases for message-driven art to heal racial divisions in the community.

 

 

“We came up with this mural called Latinos Tambien Somos Negros," said artist Henry Dominguez of Inwood. "It stands for Latinos are Black People Too.”

Dominguez is one of the artists who created a striking mural that attracted lots of attention on social  media.The effort began after a video went viral on social media that appeared to show Dominicans chasing a group of African-Americans from the neighborhood amid the protests over George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police. 

 

 

Dominguez says he and his fellow artists wanted to create murals that could spread a message of unity behind the Black Lives Matter movement and the push for social justice.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing something good for my community," said Dominguez. "Especially coming from this community, Inwood, where there are racial tensions.”

While the death of George Floyd has led to mostly peaceful protests, Lincoln Phifer, who lives in Inwood, hopes these murals will send a strong message to anyone who looted local stores after the demonstrations.

 

 

“It may just kinda give space for wisdom and reason and for them to not further tear down a community that is already dilapidated because of social injustice," Phifer says.

Moving forward, NY1 has learned several politicians are in talks with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation to get permission to display the murals outside Lt. WM Tighe Triangle park along Dyckman Street. Those elected officials are also working to secure permission from the MTA to allow the murals to placed in nearby subway stations.