Script of Just a Small Taste of Uptown
HOST INTRO: Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the northern portion of New York City and a predominately Hispanic neighborhood. Starting October 7th until October 17th, 40 restaurants will be participating in Uptown Restaurant Week hosted by Washington Heights Business Improvement District. Giselle Medina went to Washington Heights to investigate.
AMBI: Street sounds of 181st – can hear some buses, cars, and people singing
TRACK: This is Giselle Medina and I am walking on 181st Street. There are multiple vendors trying to sell fruit and Spanish music is coming from just about everywhere. Washington Heights is a pretty bustling neighborhood with buses constantly driving by, but that’s not all, they also have a large Restaurant and Lounge industry. The Washington Heights Business Improvement District also known as the BID is hosting their very first Uptown Restaurant Week, starting on October 7th.
AMBI: Yuby picks up the phone, “Good Afternoon this is Yuby at the Washington Heights BID”
TRACK: Yuby Hernandez is the program manager at the BID. She wants Washington Heights to be seen in a different light and show off how vibrant of a community it is as well as what it has to offer.
ACT [YUBY HERNANDEZ]: A lot of our restaurants people don’t think about them as being ”high quality” or being really exciting by offering restaurant week we hope to get people to come in and really think about “Oh this restaurant is actually really great” “Oh this is really, they have really great services, it’s a really great experience” “ Oh yea I do love this neighborhood.”
TRACK: The BID did a study of all the industries in Washington Heights and Inwood where they noticed that the biggest industry is the Restaurant and Lounge industry.
ACT [HERNANDEZ]: We had a brainstorming meeting and we came up with a list of around 60 restaurants that we wanted to invite and so a lot of the list started with of course the 22 that participated in the Taste of Uptown.
TRACK: Taste of Uptown was a free food festival that took place this past June. 22 restaurants participated at the festival that had over 500 people attend including all of the local elected officials.
ACT [HERNANDEZ]: That was a really great celebration of what the community is and then so this way is a great way to engage Restaurant Week to have those people who participated in that event to continue to taste our restaurants, to continue to have opportunities for them to do things with their families so it’s just a fun way to get people to reinvest in their community and to you know try something new.
TRACK: After coming up with their list of restaurants, the BID went tried to recruit them; however, not all of them could participate.
ACT [HERNANDEZ]: Some restaurants couldn’t participate because their offerings are less, a couple other restaurants said they weren’t interested they said “oh that’s our busy season, we can’t offer discounts because that’s when we make all of our money”
TRACK: Not all the participants are restaurants, there are few cafes that are doing their own spin on Uptown Restaurant Week to show that not everything has to be a “sit down dinner”.
ACT [HERNANDEZ]: Bizcocho De Colores, they are a cake supply store and bakery and they also are doing specials for the week of Restaurant Week and they are going to offer discounts on their cakes, discounts on their coffee, and desserts and things like that.
AMBI: Atmosphere of Bizcocho De Colores
TRACK: Stacey Lebron is the manager of the family-owned cake supply store, Bizcocho De Colores, and hopes that by being a part of Uptown Restaurant Week they can become more known and gain more clients.
ACT [STACEY LEBRON]: So every order over $100 receives 12 free cupcakes or a tres leche and we just like to support anything that’s related to the community really like uptown and for people to just taste our tres leche and cupcakes and for them to know that we offer other things besides cakes.
TRACK: Uptown Restaurant Week is one of the ways the BID is promoting the community.
ACT [HERNANDEZ]: And so the BID is collaborating with Small Business Services and with the Inwood Merchant Association because Inwood has a ton of different businesses that are not just restaurants and so they are all helping us promote the series of events because you know it’s not one day through by putting up posters, by giving out postcards, and it’s really a community event people are excited for it people want to engage and so we think that we are going to be really successful.
AMBI: Street sounds of 181st – can hear some buses, cars, and people singing
TRACK: Washington Heights is a very lively community which Yuby Hernandez wants to showcase during this week. She wants to change the reputation of the neighborhood and knows that this event will help do just that. For Baruch College, this Giselle Medina in Washington Heights, New York.
Just a Small Taste of Uptown
By Giselle Medina
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NEW YORK – The Washington Heights Business Improvement District also known as the BID is hosting their very first Uptown Restaurant Week, starting from October 7th until October 17th, around 40 restaurants will be participating.
A predominately Hispanic neighborhood, Washington Heights is located in the northern portion of New York City. It is a bustling neighborhood with buses constantly driving by as well as multiple vendors trying to sell fruit and Spanish music is coming from just about everywhere. Washington Heights also has a large Restaurant and Lounge industry.
Yuby Hernandez is the program manager at the BID. She wants Washington Heights to be seen in a different light and show off how vibrant of a community it is as well as what it has to offer. She says, “A lot of our restaurants people don’t think about them as being ”high quality” or being really exciting by offering restaurant week we hope to get people to come in and really think about “Oh this restaurant is actually really great” “Oh this is really, they have really great services, it’s a really great experience” “ Oh yea I do love this neighborhood.””
The BID did a study of all the industries in Washington Heights and Inwood where they noticed that the biggest industry is the Restaurant and Lounge industry. Uptown Restaurant Week is not the first time the BID has promoted this industry.
Taste of Uptown was a free food festival that took place this past June. Twenty-two restaurants participated at the festival that had over 500 people attend including all of the local elected officials. “That was a really great celebration of what the community is and then so this way is a great way to engage Restaurant Week to have those people who participated in that event to continue to taste our restaurants, to continue to have opportunities for them to do things with their families so it’s just a fun way to get people to reinvest in their community and to you know try something new,” says Hernandez.
After coming up with their list of restaurants, the BID went and tried to recruit them; however, not all of them could participate. Hernandez says, “Some restaurants couldn’t participate because their offerings are less, a couple other restaurants said they weren’t interested they said “oh that’s our busy season, we can’t offer discounts because that’s when we make all of our money.””
Not all the participants are restaurants, there are few cafes that are doing their own spin on Uptown Restaurant Week to show that not everything has to be a “sit down dinner.” One example is Bizcocho De Colores, a cake supply store and bakery that will be offering specials throughout the week. “So every order over $100 receives 12 free cupcakes or a tres leche. We just like to support anything that’s related to the community really like uptown and for people to just taste our tres leche and cupcakes and for them to know that we offer other things besides cakes,” says Stacey Lebron, the manager of the family-owned cake supply store.
Uptown Restaurant Week is one of the ways the BID is promoting the community. Hernandez says, “The BID is collaborating with Small Business Services and with the Inwood Merchant Association because Inwood has a ton of different businesses that are not just restaurants and so they are all helping us promote the series of events because you know it’s not one day through by putting up posters, by giving out postcards, and it’s really a community event people are excited for it people want to engage and so we think that we are going to be really successful.”
Washington Heights is a very lively community that Yuby Hernandez wants to showcase during this week. She wants to change the reputation of the neighborhood and knows that this event will help do just that.