In Jamaica Plain, residents push to rename sites to honor Latino heritage

The discarded newspapers dotting the sidewalk say, ``El Planeta." The bodegas down the street carry plantains and Soap Hispano. A travel agency has only one flight advertised in its window: a $429 trip to Santo Domingo. It is in this stretch of Jamaica Plain where Pedro Martinez still visits to pick up salsa and bachata CDs.

Once called Little Germany after the nationality of the many factory workers who lived there, it is now one of the most densely Latino sections of Boston. Already referred to by some as Boston's Latin Quarter, several groups are pushing for official recognition, asking the city to rename a local park to reflect the culture of the area and change a half-mile stretch of Centre Street to Avenue de las Americas.

The change is proposed as Latinos in Boston gain cultural and political clout, a change that some have likened to the experience of Irish immigrants who settled in South Boston a century ago. Latino community leaders say the name changes would show Boston has embraced a new culture.

``Through the years, there's been a huge change," said Fernando Mercedes , president of Hyde-Jackson Business Association, who estimated that 85 percent of businesses in the area are now owned by Latinos. ``To have that recognition for this community would mean a huge change. It would recognize all the hard work this community's been doing through the years."

City Councilor Felix Arroyo, backed by several Boston Latino groups, has proposed the name change on Centre Street, between Jackson and Hyde squares. Street corners would be festooned with flags representing each country in north, south, and central America, according to the proposal.

Some of the groups are also trying to rename Mozart Park near Jackson Square as Park de las Americas, where some residents have proposed erecting a statue of Simón Bolívar, a Latin American general hailed for liberating several countries from the Spanish.

The Jackson/Hyde Main Streets program, which is organized by the mayor's office, has started referring to the area as the Latin Quarter. Nearly 60 percent of the residents along the stretch between Jackson and Hyde squares are Hispanic or Latino, according to 2000 US Census data.

``You've got all of Latin America here," said Rafael Veras , 41, owner of Latino Restaurant, where patrons were munching on homemade moro (rice and beans) and patita de cerdo (pig's feet). ``You don't have to get on a plane to go anywhere. Get on the train and go to Jackson Square. You've got Mexican, Guatemalan, Dominican Republic. It's like living in the United States, without living in it."

One day earlier this week, car trunks buzzed with the deep bass of booming Latin music. Old men sat on the steps of a local cafe or paid $2 for a pastelito and a frio frio iced drink from Manuel Madego's pushcart. Young girls giggled on benches at Mozart Park, where signs are posted in English and Spanish and a mural depicts both salsa dancers and the mascot of the board game Monopoly.

``I think I'm the only Italian on this street," said Rocky LoGrasso , 66, a barber who has learned Spanish to communicate with the customers in his chair.

The area was once a bustling manufacturing district, where German immigrants worked at the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory, according to the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. But the factory was destroyed in 1976, and its rubble remained for nearly two decades until a shopping center was built in its place.

Slowly, the area has become more and more concentrated with Latino immigrants.

Boston's political leadership, which historically has been dominated by Irish-Americans, has also responded to the demographic shift. Arroyo, a native of Puerto Rico, became the city's first Hispanic councilor in 2003 and last year tallied the second most votes in the at-large race. He finished behind Council President Michael Flaherty, a probable mayoral candidate in 2009, despite spending a fraction of what Flaherty spent.

Others say it's much simpler in a town where only one thing can trump politics as the biggest game in town.

``You have all the baseball teams coming into town," said Rafael Benzan , president of the Jackson/Hyde Main Streets program. ``For us, it's a sense of being proud when we have Alex Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero coming in town and coming to visit our Boston Latin Quarter. . . . Yes, we do have something positive to show."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.