Our house is in the middle of the street, 175th Street, Washington Heights, New York, New York 10033

West 175th Street

Our house is in Washington Heights, which became a prominent Hispanic neighborhood in the 1960s. But it was also a mix of Hispanics and Irish, especially around my father’s time. He was born and raised in that same neighborhood, in the same apartment, and lived there until the day he died. He moved away from our house when he joined the Navy during World War 2, married, had four children, divorced, and moved back into the same apartment.

Abuela Catalina and my father

Neighborhood Jurado family

Our house has four apartments on the 3rd floor, three occupied by the Jurado family. My grandfather raised his six children in one apartment; my Aunt Mary and Julia had another condo. Then Aunt Francis moved next door from her father till she got married and passed the apartment down to Aunt Yolanda, her younger sister.

In those days, you inherited apartments, and they were fully rent-controlled. Nobody raised the rent, so you can imagine why people did not move out.

I lived in my Aunt Mary’s apartment from 11 until I was 13. It was my neighborhood now, and it was an excellent neighborhood. The next block was my Incarnation parochial school and the church—a beautiful church that looked like a mini cathedral. It was awesome when a snow day was declared, and I could run out with my friends and play on the school’s playground without school!

Summertime was a blast in the city, with mechanical rides on trucks, ice cones sold, and fire hydrants spurting out cooling water geysers for the kids to play in. There was stickball, hopscotch, and long lines of jump rope where we girls enjoyed double Dutch games.

Double Dutch on the block

I remember collecting glass soda bottles and exchanging them for coins to buy penny candies at the local candy store.

The neighborhood was packed with people, but mostly, we knew each other, and everyone looked out for the kids. This was family; these were friends. This was my house in the middle of the street.