Humans of the Heights: A Conversation with Yaniris Antonia Urbaez
In the second installment of my series sharing the stories of the people of the Heights with the YU community, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Yaniris Antonia Urbaez.
I first met Yaniris underneath the imposing gothic structure of the Holyrood Episcopal Church at the corner of 179th and Fort Washington. Unassuming at first, Yaniris exhibits a rare strength and conviction in the face of life’s challenges and is filled with seemingly boundless grace and compassion. She has lived an extraordinary life and continues to impact many others as a warden of the church.
This is her story:
Avraham Frohlich: Okay, so let’s start with your background. Tell me a little bit about yourself, where you’re from.
Yaniris Antonia Urbaez: Well, my name is Yaniris Antonia Urbaez and I was born in a small village called Restauracion in the Dominican Republic 79-plus years ago. I’ll be 80 in September. There, everybody knew everything about everybody. I was raised very Catholic and left my village to go to boarding school to study with nuns. And when I was about 15, I joined a convent and eventually became a nun. I left the convent in 1964 and got married in 1965 to a seminarian, rest in peace.
I lived in the Dominican Republic until I was 21 years old, and I immigrated to the United States, specifically New York, on December 16, 1966.
AF: It seems that faith played an important role in your upbringing. Can you describe what life was like in the convent and what drove you to go there?
YAU: My family’s home was actually next to the church, and as a child, I went to church every day — in the morning for the mass and in the evening for the rosary. So, at some point, I felt that entering the convent was a natural thing for me to do. But it was mostly because I wanted to help people, to help others.
In the convent, we had to wake up at 5 a.m. and be at the chapel by 6. Throughout the week, we spent time praying, visiting hospitals, jails, institutions and helping the poor. I also taught children there and took classes in the evening in Latin and theology. And twice a week we played volleyball.
And that was the routine. And then, in 1965, we had a civil war.
AF: Wow. What was it like to live through something like that?
YAU: Well, our convent was located on a Navy base, and one day, I heard rumors that something was going to happen. We saw that the Marines were locked up sometimes and couldn’t leave, so we knew that something was going to happen. And it happened.
At the time, we were occupied by American troops and there was a lot of repression. That resulted in a lot of young people leaving the country at the time, including myself. I moved here because of the political unrest in DR. I got involved.
AF: In the unrest?
YAU: Yes. Like many, many young people at the time, I got involved. Everything happened because the country had elected the first democratic president after Trujillo, and the military did a coup and took him out. The man was elected democratically, and we were defending the Constitution. While I was in my village, I was arrested, put in the back of a truck, and thrown in jail, even though I was the most devoted Catholic on earth. At the time, the military arrested most of the young people. My father, at the time, was a general in the military, and thanks to that, they freed me. And then I moved here.
AF: How was that move, that shift between living in DR and New York?
YAU: I came here in the middle of winter, 1966, and the snow was up to here. I think it was 12 inches. And I said, oh my goodness, what did I get myself into? We had a two-room apartment in the Bronx, and I stood at the window, and all I could see was snow falling. I said this is kind of nice. It’s beautiful. But it was, overall, very unsettling. Coming to a new country with a new language, with a new everything, in the middle of the winter.
Until 1973, I worked at different factories in the garment district. But the conditions were horrible. In winter, it was really cold. In summer, I looked around and saw people almost dying because it was so hot. We worked long days, and the pay was very, very little. And one day, I was sitting in front of the machine, and I just said no, I’m not going to do this anymore. So, in 1974, I applied and was accepted to City College and earned a B.A. and master’s degree there. Afterward, I actually went to Yeshiva’s doctoral program in social work. When I finished the program, I went into teaching and began working as a supervisor and director of nonprofits, and I ended up in Washington Heights.
AF: Can you describe your position in the church you’re currently part of?
YAU: In 2020, I was elected as the warden of the church, which is the equivalent of being the president of the board of the church. I work closely with the priest, supervise the people who work here, and oversee the community support system. I also represent the church in the community and at the diocese. Everything that I have done most of my life has been oriented by my religious beliefs, Catholic and Episcopal. I have been an Episcopalian for 45 years now.
AF: What function does this church play in the Heights community?
YAU: Well, this church has a history of being very active and has been involved in so many community struggles. For the past couple of years, we’ve been dealing with the migrants. You probably remember when they bussed them from Texas to New York. We were the ones who received them at the bus terminal, and we had hundreds of people here who needed us. People without homes, without shoes. We enlisted all the people from the community; the local synagogue was very involved, and we still work very closely.
AF: Why do you think people come to the church?
YAU: They come here because they know that someone is going to listen to them. Someone is going to give them the time to sit with them and listen to their concerns. We always try to do whatever we can to help them. Every Friday, we have a distribution of food to more than 200 people, and we also have Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meet here.
AF: You mentioned that you have a partnership with the synagogue here. What is the church’s relationship with the Jewish community?
YAU: On Oct. 7, we had a vigil here in support of the people of Israel, the Jewish people, and the community attended. And after Oct. 7, during the whole month of October and in part of November, we sang Hava Nagila here. It’s a beautiful song.
AF: Thank you, that means a lot to us.
YAU: But I wish we could be closer. We live in the same community. We all have different religious traditions, but we’re still human beings. And one of the things that we’re planning to do for next year is to invite people to do things together. Like having a dinner together. Something special. There was a time when we had two beautiful menorahs on the altar.
AF: Really? You know, Hanukkah’s coming up.
YAU: Yes. Well, in our church, we light the Christmas tree in blue and white in honor of Hanukkah.
AF: That’s incredible. Why do you do that?
YAU: Because of our neighbors. We know that blue and white are their colors.
AF: That’s very sweet. We appreciate the thoughtful gesture. In that spirit, what can we do to bring your community and the Jewish communities closer together?
YAU: Invite each other to break bread together. At least some community leaders or church leaders have something, at least once a year, a celebration of community, so we can learn from them, and they can learn from us. I think that’s the best way to do it because you have Yeshiva over there, and Yeshiva is practically isolated. I feel that the administration can do something about that. Yeshiva is such a beautiful place. And one of my visions is that perhaps we can undertake a project together in which we work together on something specific of value for everybody.
Also, perhaps the children from the church can come to Yeshiva and sing one day. The children can sing anything you teach them, any song in any language. I’m sure that all human beings have something in common. Our own humanity is a commonality.
AF: What binds us together?
YAU: The Creator. To me, the Creator is the Creator of everybody, regardless of who they are. That’s what binds us. Actually, we have a beautiful hymn that says, “Bind us together, bind us together in love.”
AF: What advice can you give to Yeshiva University students?
YAU: Come and have dinner with us. We can have it kosher. We can dance together. We can exchange the dancing and food, and I think it would be nice.
AF: Last question: do you have a favorite story from the Bible? Preferably the Old Testament because that’s all I know.
YAU: Oh, I have a bunch of them. One of my favorites is Ruth and Naomi. “Wherever you go, I’ll go.”
AF: What speaks to you about that story?
YAU: It’s a story of immigration and acceptance. How Naomi accepted Ruth, who was not from the same place, and how Ruth decided to stay with Naomi. It’s a beautiful story. I love that story.
AF: Thank you. It’s been wonderful to meet you and get to know you.
Photo Caption: Yaniris Antonia Urbaez
Photo Credit: Yaniris Antonia Urbaez
