City Council OKs ‘Latin Quarter’ title for Jamaica Plain neighborhood

Boston took one step closer to dubbing a corner of Jamaica Plain the city’s “Latin Quarter.”

The City Council voted in favor of the designation on Wednesday for the Hyde-Jackson Square area.

In addition to recognizing the neighborhood’s cultural flair and ties to Latin America, the move would let the area organize to apply for certain grants and, advocates hope, could make it a draw for tourism dollars.

“It’s recognizing and allowing for a designation of, really, a celebration” of the Latin community in Boston, said Councilor Matt O’Malley, the lead sponsor of the change, citing the area’s many small businesses that have been family owned for generations.

Long a destination for new arrivals to the city, thousands of migrants from Central America, South America and the Caribbean began arriving at the stretch of JP in the mid-1900s, according to the resolution O’Malley presented Wednesday, and the community has continued to grow over the last 20 years.

Youth with the Hyde Square Task Force have been advocating for the designationfor months.

The proposal now needs Mayor Marty Walsh’s signature.