NEW YORK – If anything symbolized the powerful connections between Dominican immigrants in New York and their homeland, Flight 587 was it. The well-known American Airlines route, from Kennedy Airport here to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, even merited a line in a merengue song.

“How joyful it could be to go on Flight 587,” said Juan Carlos Nunez, translating the lyric from Spanish, who has often booked people for the flight at his travel agency in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, the heart of New York’s Dominican community. He arranged tickets for at least seven of the people who were on the flight that crashed minutes after takeoff Nov. 12.

“It’s really depressing,” Nunez said. “They always come here with a smile because they’re excited about something they’re going to do.”

Nunez clutched a list of the more than 260 victims killed in the crash, most of them Dominican. He also held the travel itinerary for one passenger – Roberto Despradel, who was traveling with his father, Lorenzo, and an infant.

Many of New York’s approximately 407,000 Dominicans make the journey back to their homeland a few times a year, laden with gifts of clothing and food for relatives. Nunez sells about 150 tickets a week for trips to the Dominican Republic on American and other airlines.

On Nov. 13, victims’ families converged at Alianza Dominicana, a Washington Heights social service agency. A police bus then shuttled them to a family-assistance center at the Javits Center. Wilson Martinez wanted to find a way to send the body of his cousin, Felix Gervacio, to his family in the Dominican Republic.

Gervacio, a 36-year-old taxi driver, went back two or three times a year to visit his father and sister. “He was a little hesitant after Sept. 11,” Martinez said. “He didn’t really want to travel.”

Jason Reyes and Daisy de la Cruz built a memorial of flickering candles in this close-knit community. Arranged in the red, white and blue pattern of the Dominican flag, they filled the air with the scents of cherry and lemon.

“I came down here to pay my respects,” Reyes said. “To a community that’s so united in so many ways, it really hurts.”