Morningside Heights in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Oscar J. Hijuelos

August 24, 1951 – October 12, 2013

— 419 West 118 Street, Manhattan —

Oscar J. Hijuelos Marker image. Click for more information.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, October 4, 2016

1. Oscar J. Hijuelos Marker

Historic Landmark Preservation Center website entry
Click for more information.

Inscription. The son of Cuban immigrants, Oscar Hijuelos lived here from 1951 to 1971, where he first began to write and play guitar and piano. Literature and music would be his life-long passions. A student at Bronx Community College, Manhattan Community College, and Lehman College before entering the City College of New York where he received his B.A. and M.F.A., he was the recipient of The Rome Prize for his first novel, Our House in the Last World (1983). Hijuelos became the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1990 for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1989). He explored the immigrant experience and celebrated the Morningside Heights neighborhood in The Mambo Kings, which was adapted as a film in 1992 and a musical in 2005. In 1998, he married writer and editor Lori Marie Carlson.

Erected 2014 by Historic Landmarks Preservation Center.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Hispanic Americans. In addition, it is included in the New York, New York City Historic Landmarks Preservation Center Cultural Medallions series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1951.

Location. 40° 48.474′ N, 73° 57.562′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New

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York County. It is in Morningside Heights. It is on West 118th Street east of Amsterdam Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 419 West 118th Street, New York NY 10027, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in New York City.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: New York City Defenses During the War of 1812 (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Carl Schurz Monument (about 700 feet away); Low Memorial Library (about 800 feet away); Battle of Harlem Heights (approx. 0.2 miles away); Columbia University Midshipmen's Training (approx. 0.2 miles away); Seligman Fountain (approx. ¼ mile away); Site of St. Luke's Hospital (approx. ¼ mile away); Morningside Park (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.

Also see . . . Oscar Hijuelos, Who Won Pulitzer... Dies at 62. New York Times obituary, 10/13/2013 (Submitted on October 7, 2016.)

Oscar J. Hijuelos Marker - Wide View image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, October 4, 2016

2. Oscar J. Hijuelos Marker - Wide View

The marker is visible here to the right of the entryway.

Oscar J. Hijuelos image. Click for full size.

from The Los Angeles Times, unknown

3. Oscar J. Hijuelos

Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 7, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 667 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 7, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. 3. submitted on April 11, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.