Dominican baseball fans flock to restaurants in Washington Heights on game nights to watch their sports heroes play. La Caridad, shown, is located at 2184 Amsterdam Ave. (Photo by Shane Snow)
Consider the places in Manhattan where contentious foreigners can set aside their differences and sit down together for a common cause. One is 3 United Nations Plaza, where the pursuits include diplomacy and human rights. A lesser known spot is La Caridad Restaurant at 168th and Amsterdam, where the common causes are beer and baseball, at least every time the Dominican heroes of the Yankees or the Red Sox are on the field.
Two camareras (waitresses) in gold embroidered red shirts of two baristas serve Coronas to the 20 men staring at the flat screens in the corners. Golden brews share table space with bowls of peanuts and tall glasses of morir soñando, a Dominican drink made from orange juice cut with milk. Pink fluorescent lights cast a rosy hue on the brick facade above the bar; mirrored walls make a full-capacity La Caridad appear twice as large as it is.
It’s a Friday night, and the Yankees, just a few days after securing a playoff berth, are squaring off against hated Boston at Yankee Stadium. La Caridad’s patrons sit glued to the game.
Trilling bachata plays in the background, interrupted by jubilant screams of “Ai!” and equally fanatical shouts of “No!” A-Rod has just hit a two-run homer in the third inning, breaking the Yankee’s stadium record of 126 home runs, according to STATS LLC.
Fans come almost every time their teams are playing, says Joanny de Jesus, a La Caridad employee.
“In they day they don’t come, not so much,” de Jesus says in mingled Spanish and English. But at night, especially during the playoffs, regulars swarm in to watch Dominican heroes like Alex Rodriguez and Pedro Martinez break bats and steal bases.
“We’re born and raised with baseball,” Fabio Hernandez explains in Spanish, slouching in a wooden chair in the corner, sipping his Corona. “From childhood all we Dominicans participate.”
Washington Heights, home to a large Dominican immigrant population, has produced a number of famous major and minor league baseball players, including Dodgers star Manny Rodriguez and Yankees power hitter Alex Rodriguez. But the spectators at La Caridad aren’t just interested in neighborhood sons; they love Robinson Cano, Vladimir Carrero, David Ortiz and anyone else with roots from the Dominican Republic, says Angel Colon.
Colon, fresh from his finance job downtown, sports a pinstripe suit and sits next to Ramon Neri, a former boxer who says his favorite is Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, another acclaimed player from the DR.
Being paisanos (countrymen) doesn’t make everyone in the neighborhood friends, but the games seem to bring people together, Colon says.
“There’s a lot of people here that don’t like each other,” says Colon. “They don’t get along, but they sit at the same table. And the minute the game is over it’s like whoosh – everybody just leaves.”
With David “Big Papi” Ortiz slugging for the Red Sox and A-Rod crushing homers for the Yankees, it’s not hard to see the division in this crowd, which mostly watches the game in silence until a big play. During commercials, the men talk and jeer at each other, but settle back into rapt attention when play resumes.
The Yankees win 9-5. The crowd gets up with one last exultation or mumble of chagrin, and leaves. They’ll be back again Friday to see the Yankees versus the Angels in game one of the American League Championship Series.
