Gang of brutes viciously assault father, daughter inside NYC bodega

Shocking video shows a father and his daughter getting a vicious beatdown inside a Harlem bodega, police say. The violent encounter unfolded around 11:15 p.m. July 7 inside 2090 Amsterdam Ave. in Washington Heights, cops said.

In the Old Country Spanish, ‘bodega’ is a ‘small or cozy wine room’. Its use in NYC is associated with ‘small cozy’ neighborhood stores, specifically in Hispanic areas, selling Hispanic foods and other household use items. The term likely originates back to at least the late ‘50’s & early ‘60’s (West Side Story anyone?) following the first large migration of Hispanics to NYC; Puertoricans. Why Puertoricans the first Hispanic migration to NYC? Well as an old friend of mine recounts, after WWII many returning Puertoricans from the war could not find work on the island. Having learned some English and gotten a taste for adventure and self-reliance, many Veterans moved their families to NYC seeking better economic fortunes. Others followed suit years later despite having no wartime experience yet learning of their counterparts success in NYC. Why NYC. Well at the time Pan Am was the only thing flying out of San Juan and only then to NYC. To summarize, Puertoricans likely coined the term in the late ‘50’s after their large migration to NYC began to refer to the small outlets entrepreneurs opened in neighborhood buildings & their basements which reminded them of the old crowded wine ‘bodegas’ in Spain (it appears next American culture, Spain is the next cultural influence in PR). As I am told, after most island Puertoricans left NYC, subsequent Hispanic groups adopted the term once they arrived to NYC (i.e Dominicans).

Regards.

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