Broad Street | Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard

Marta V. Martinez

Broad Street has historical significance for many people, ranging from the Narragansett Indians, who once called it “The Pequot Path,” to the Dominican Community, who currently call it “Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard.” Many Latino residents enunciate every syllable of the word “Broh-ah…” dropping the last letter in true Caribbean style. Broad Street begins in Warwick and takes you over a quaint bridge that overlooks a picturesque Pawtuxet Cove and past an idyllic White steeple church in Cranston. As you enter the City of Providence from the North you cross more than physical borders. Broad Street is where the first Dominican bodega was established by Tony and Josefina “Fefa” Rosario in the early 1960s. On this section of Broad Street, you are more apt to hear Spanish being spoken or see it written on posters lining local businesses and billboards looming high for all to see.