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Peruvian NYC

Peruvian NYC is a mix of Indigenous, Spanish, African and Asian cultures.

Peru is the land of the great Inca civilization. It was colonized by Spain from 1532 to 1824. It was a slaving nation until 1854. One of the largest Asian populations in South America began arriving in the mid 1850s as Chinese and Japanese indentured servants.

Peruvian Festivals NYC

New York City’s big Peruvian festivals include the Peruvian Parade, May Sumak Film Festival and the Peru to the World Expo food festival.

Peruvian New York City

There are Peruvian communities in Paterson, New Jersey and Jackson Heights, Queens.

The Peruvian Consulate is in Midtown East.

Metropolitan New York’s “Little Lima” is in Paterson, New Jersey. Paterson is the heart of the Peruvian diaspora in the United States.

The best Peruvian restaurant in New York City used to be our client Raymi, but it’s been closed for a while. Pio Pio grilled chicken restaurants are popular. There are Chinese-Peruvian Flor de Mayo Restaurants in the Upper West Side.

The Crown of the Andes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is Colombian, but the big emerald in the crown is said to be the legendary Atahualpa Emerald from the last Inca ruler. The crown is human sized. The emerald is enormous.

You can find Peruvian culture in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum and Queens Museum. You can find Peruvian jazz at Terraza 7 in Elmhurst, Queens; Barbès in Park Slope, Brooklyn; and SOB’s in Hudson Square, Manhattan.

Peruvian New Yorkers

Melvi Davilla produces the wonderful Peru to the World Expo food festival.

Gabriel Alegría is one of New York City’s leading Peruvian jazz musicians.

Efraín Rozas, the Peruvian musician and technologist, fronts psychedelic salsa rockers La Mecánica Popular and will be in residence at The Kitchen in 2021.

William Cordova is a major Peruvian artist. He is represented by Sikkema Jenkins.

Chicha Libre isn’t very active now, and they are not Peruvian, but they play cumbia based on Peruvian Chica music which is pretty cool. It’s sort of cumbia-surf-rock.

Many of the Andean flute players in New York City subways are Peruvian. Support the arts.

The Peruvian World

Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa is often in New York.

Peruvian-born Tony Succar is based in Miami. He won Latin Grammy Awards for Salsa Album and Producer of the Year in 2019.

Peruvian Culture

We are famous for ceviche and pisco. The two go together perfectly. We are also famous for our Andean flutes. There is a famous salsa sung by Celia Cruz in 1981 called “Toro Mata.” It’s actually a Peruvian folk song.

Peru

Peru is defined by the Andes mountains with a dry coastal plain on one side and Amazonian jungle on the other.

Cusco was the capital of the Inca, one of the great civilizations of South America. Spanish colonizers first controlled South America from Lima.

Peru still has a strong Indigenous culture with Afro-Peruvian culture along the coast. The descendents of the Inca remain in the Andes with different Indigenous peoples in the Amazonian highlands. The coastal capital, Lima, was once considered an African city.

While long suspected, DNA studies have recently proven that South Americans have an Oceanic heritage too. We also have vibrant Japanese Peruvian and Chinese Peruvian communities.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Peru

Peruvian folk dancers in Cusco (Martyn Unsworth/Dreamstime)
Peruvian folk dancers in Cusco (Martyn Unsworth/Dreamstime)

The ancient Inca sanctuary city of Machu Picchu is an icon of Peru, but we have many World Heritage Sites. These include:

  • Arequipa, a colonial city with Indigenous influences
  • Caral-Supe, an ancient sacred city of the Norte Chico civilization
  • Chan Chan, the ancient capital of the Chimú culture
  • Chavín de Huantar, an ancient Andean city
  • Cusco, the ancient Inca capital
  • Huascarán National Park, high Andean mountains around Peru’s tallest peak
  • Lima City Center, the colonial city center founded in 1535
  • Manú National Park, a biosphere preserve
  • Nazca Lines, the famous earth drawings (400-650) that can only be seen from the air
  • Qhapaq Ñan Andean Road System, these ancient Inca roads run from Colombia to Chile/Argentina.
  • Río Abiseo National Park, a rainforest park with many pre-Columbian sites

There is a lot to see and do in Peru.

Sulpayki
(Thank you in Quechua)

South American

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