OUTREACH TO HISPANICS? WE HATE IT, BUT KARL TOLD US WE HAVE TO DO IT

It seems that everyone on this gritty city block along Dyckman Street in Washington Heights has at least seen the shop with the bright blue awning, sparkling clean store front, and Bush-Cheney posters in the window.

What they don't know is why the office is there.

"I don't know what they do,'' said Bernice Hernandez, who works next door at Dyckman Wholesale Outlet.

The conspicuous storefront, in a neighborhood bordering on Inwood, is an office for the State Republican Committee and was set up in 2002, when Gov. George E. Pataki was running for re-election and reaching out for votes in Hispanic neighborhoods. The office opened then with a grand ceremony, 100 people out on the street, visiting dignitaries and even protesters. But not long after the election, residents and businesspeople along Dyckman Street said, the lights in that office pretty much went out.

Now the Republicans are back in Washington Heights. With a presidential election looming, they are again looking to reach out to Hispanics....

But why the need for a kickoff when the office had a kickoff in 2002? This was supposed to be a sustained effort....

"To tell you the truth, I don't even really know where it is," said Anna Rosario, a city schoolteacher, as she shopped in a nearby bodega. She had heard that Mr. Pataki had visited her neighborhood, and she had heard of the office, but she had never felt its presence....

"If they had a hand in the community, if they had someone doing for the community, people might vote Republican," said Angela Torres, who has worked at Dyckman Electronics for 15 years. "They really have to set foot in the community. They can't just set up an office here - open one day, close the next. That's not going to get anyone to do anything."...

--New York Times