Draft:Teatro Experimental Yerbabruja Inc.

Teatro Experimental Yerbabruja Inc, commonly referred to as simply Teatro Yerbabruja, is a Puerto Rican theater, performing arts, and visual arts nonprofit organization, headquartered in the Bay Shore Hose Company No. 1, in Bay Shore, that is known for its activism on Long Island regarding Hispanic, Latino, Black, and other BIPOC artists.

History
Teatro Experimental Yerbabruja was founded in 1990 in Puerto Rico, by Puerto-Rican artist, educator, and activist Margarita Espada. After Espada's immigration to New York in 2004, Espada prompted Yerbabruja's expansion to Long Island, due to "the lack of spaces for Latinx artists to create, present and offer artistic programming to the community of color on Long Island." The company was named after Yerbabruja, a plant with healing remedies that thrives even in adverse conditions that primarily grows in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In 2009, Yerbabruja oversaw the play, "What Killed Marcelo Lucero," a play that explores the social and political reasons for the tragic killing of undocumented immigrant Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue, NY. by four teens. This play was part of a theater exhibition regarding hate crimes towards Hispanic and Latino immigrants on Long Island. Yerbabruja also manages and leads the Puerto Rican Hispanic Day Parade and has been since 2011.

Second Avenue firehouse and gallery
Yerbabruja's headquarters and main location is the 17 Second Avenue, Bay Shore, NY. which is the historic site of the Bay Shore Hose Company No. 1 Firehouse. Teatro moved into this location in 2018 and bought the property in September 2023 from the South Side Restoration Group.