Little Manila Avenue in New York City now officially recognized

NEW YORK - A street corner in Woodside, Queens in New York City has been officially recognized as Little Manila Avenue.

Members of the Filipino community trooped to the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 70th Street on Sunday for the street sign installation ceremony.

Roosevelt Avenue from the corner of 70th Street to 69th Street has been co-named as Little Manila Avenue after city authorities approved the NYC Council committee on parks and recreation's move to co-name 199 thoroughfares and public places including that of "Little Manila Avenue."

The said area is a place where many Filipinos reside or have businesses.

Among the businesses located in the area are the first Jollibee restaurant in New York City, a Red Ribbon restaurant, a Max's restaurant, a branch of the Philippine National Bank, some Filipino grocery stores, and cash remittance centers.

Starting with an online petition, Filipino community leaders lobbied for the City Council over the years to have the area recognized as Little Manila.

In 2021, with a vote of 15-0, the New York City Council Parks and Recreation Committee approved the proposal of former City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer to co-name 199 thoroughfares and public places.

The approval serves as recognition by the City Council of the sacrifice and service of Filipino medical workers who served as frontliners during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many Filipino medical workers reside in Woodside, Queens which has become an epicenter of COVID-19 cases in the city.

Based on the census of New York City, 54% of Filipinos reside in the Queens Borough.

Atty. Lara Gregory, a member of the Filipino community, lauded the hard work of Filipino community leaders in lobbying for the co-naming of Little Manila Avenue.

"You know, visibility and representation, palaging importante 'yan. You know, to be able to say 'Okay, let's go and eat at Little Manila' and then to have an actual street that’s named like that, wow it's a milestone. It's historic," she said. —Dave Llavanes Jr/KG, GMA News