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Playlist: HEIGHTS

Compiled By: Eva Breneman

Caption: PRX default Playlist image
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Forgotten Foods of NYC: "Me Nacieron Mi Diente Cocinando; I Was Born Cooking"

From Anne Noyes Saini | Part of the Forgotten Foods of NYC series | 01:28

Nurys Ortiz, 58, of Washington Heights, left the Dominican Republic ("DR") to work in a NYC factory when she was 17 years old.

Ortiz started cooking at a young age -- when her grandmother forced her to cook for laborers on a plantain farm in DR. But that bitter experience didn't dampen Ortiz's love of cooking and food.

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Nurys Ortiz, 58, of Washington Heights, left the Dominican Republic ("DR") to work in a NYC factory when she was 17 years old.

Ortiz started cooking at a young age -- when her grandmother forced her to cook for laborers on a plantain farm in DR.

"Where my family was living in DR there was a farm and the people [who] were working in the farm -- my grandmother was cooking for all of them," she recalls. "But I was the one doing the cooking. I was cooking for so many people -- lunch and dinner."

But that bitter experience didn't dampen Ortiz's love of cooking and food.

"I love to cook," she says. "We say in Spanish: Me nacieron mi diente cocinando -- I was born cooking."

Dominican Republic

From Radio Rookies | 08:10

Angely Tavares considers her parents choice to immigrate to New York city for a better life from her beloved Domincan Republic.

Angely_small Angely has family in the Dominican Republic, and she goes there every year for vacation. She adores the Dominican Republic and often wishes she lived there, instead of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. But many Dominicans, like Angely's father and grandfather, immigrate to New York for a "better life." Angely's not sure they're making the right choice.

Cuban Immigrants

From Next Generation Radio | Part of the NPR's Next Generation Radio series | 06:00

Generations of Cuban immigrants have been coming to the United States seeking freedom since Castro took power. Sarah Bush takes a look at Cuban immigrants today.

Sarah125_small Generations of Cuban immigrants have been coming to the United States seeking freedom since Castro took power. The newest generation of immigrants doesn't always come for political freedom. Their motivations are often economic. Remittances and dollars sent to Cuba through the years have spawned a consumer culture in Cuba that causes new immigrants to have often unrealistic expectations.

Forgotten Foods of NYC: Cooking Puerto Rican Comida on the Lower East Side

From Anne Noyes Saini | Part of the Forgotten Foods of NYC series | 02:08

Olga Colon, 86, of Manhattan's Lower East Side, arrived in New York City -- from Puerto Rico -- when she was 18 years old.

Over the years Colon managed to keep cooking the foods she loved growing up in Puerto Rico: pasteles (a steamed packet stuffed with mashed green plantains and stewed meat), rice pudding, sofrito (a blended mix of seasonings and spices used to flavor a dish), even roasted pork. But it wasn't easy.

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Olga Colon, 86, of Manhattan's Lower East Side, arrived in New York City -- from Puerto Rico -- when she was 18 years old.

Over the years Colon managed to keep cooking the foods she loved growing up in Puerto Rico: pasteles (a steamed packet stuffed with mashed green plantains and stewed meat), rice pudding, sofrito (a blended mix of seasonings and spices used to flavor a dish), even roasted pork. But it wasn't easy.

"You cannot find bananas, no plantains, no nothing. But then they start [a grocery store] in Orchard Street...Spanish people bring a place and they have everything," Colon says. "On Orchard Street everything is bars now. Maybe one place is still there."

Fresh Talk: Papo Colo

From Cathy Byrd | Part of the Fresh Art International series | 12:44

Cathy Byrd meets Puerto Rican-born artist Papo Colo, co-founder of Exit Art, to talk about the global significance of the NYC nonprofit contemporary art space.

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Cathy Byrd meets Puerto Rican-born artist Papo Colo , co-founder of Exit Art , a dynamic nonprofit contemporary art center, with his partner, the late Jeanette Ingberman. Their work as artists and activists has made a tremendous impact on the art scene in New York City since 1982. In May 2012, an exhibition and events in the space mark the closing of Exit Art, as Papo prepares to launch a new venture, a unique finishing school for young Creatives in the Puerto Rican rainforest.

Sound Editor: Leo Madriz

Music: Papo Colo, Clara Luna

Woven Voices: Gloria Vando & Anika Paris

From New Letters on the Air | 29:00

Mother-daughter poets, Gloria Vando and Anika Paris, read from their book, WOVEN VOICES, which includes the poem that inspired the musical drama, TEMPLE OF THE SOULS, winner of four 2012 Hola Awards.

Vando_small Award-winning poet Gloria Vando--daughter of poet, playwright, and actress Anita Velez-Mitchell and mother to poet and musician Anika Paris--grew up both a part of and apart from the two worlds of New York and Puerto Rico. The trio published WOVEN VOICES: 3 GENERATIONS OF PUERTORIQUENA POETS LOOK AT THEIR AMERICAN LIVES. Vando and Paris talk about the poetry collection, history, and longing, and the family's creative contributions in the production of the musical drama TEMPLE OF THE SOULS, which won four Hola Awards in 2012. on four Hola Awards in 2012.