Wash Heights Street Gets Co-Named After Famed Dominican Musician

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A street in Washington Heights was co-named on Friday to pay respect to an influential Dominican musician's life, work, and legacy.

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez joined with the Dominican Commission of Culture in the United States to oversee the ceremony to add the name Rafael "Bullumba" Landestoy to the west corner of Saint Nicholas Avenue and West 166th Street.

Bullumba was a famous pianist and composer known around the world for his skills with a guitar and piano.

His music has been performed by various famous Latin American artists, including Celia Cruz, Tona la Negra, Alberto Beltran, and Vicentico Valdes

Join us virtually today @12PM, in coordination with @codocul1 will be holding a street co-naming ceremony in honor of the work and legacy of the great Dominican musician Rafael "Bullumba" Landestoy!

Live on Twitter pic.twitter.com/cWBrBspQXb
— Ydanis Rodriguez (@ydanis) December 4, 2020

Bullumba was born in 1925 in La Romana, Dominican Republic, and died in 2018 in Santo Domingo.

The musician was no stranger to New York City, though.

Bullumba visited the Big Apple during the late 1950s and then returned to the city in 1977, where he would go on to live the majority of his remaining years.