IMPORTING THE SUPERIOR CULTURE:

Where Football Takes a Back Seat, Even in Winter (NOAH ROSENBERG, 1/24/11, NY Times)

On Sunday night the big game was on nearly all the wall-mounted televisions at one Manhattan restaurant, and the eyes of many beer-drinking patrons never left them.

Athletes in green were running across the screens, but not a single chant of “J-E-T-S” could be heard.

That is because the restaurant, El Nuevo Caridad in Washington Heights, lies in the heart of Dominican baseball country, and the big game was to decide which team would advance to the Caribbean World Series.

The green jerseys bore the logo of the Estrellas, the underdog in the Dominican Winter Baseball League championship series. But the Toros won the game, 4-2, taking the best-of-nine series in five games.

El Nuevo Caridad, on St. Nicholas Avenue at the corner of West 191st Street, is a haven for Latin baseball aficionados, players and fans alike. Photographs of Latino stars, like Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, line the walls.

“Three-quarters of the people in here are here to watch baseball,” the restaurant’s manager, Cesar Rondón, said, gesturing across a cozy room where about 15 customers — half of the patrons on Sunday night — kept a close watch on the Dominican baseball classic.