littleitaly

[jrobert]

is there still amob presence there?

[Newyorkempire]

There's many Little Italy neighborhoods left. No one knows where you're talking about

[The Greek]

in Manhattan in what's left of Little Italy there is but no idea how much. There's Baby John and and the geriatric Genovese guys who got arrested a couple years ago for selling pills(can't remember their names). I would say for sure on Arthur Ave in the Bronx based on arrests in the last decade. Patsy Parello comes to mind

[johnny_scootch]

in Manhattan in what's left of Little Italy there is but no idea how much. There's Baby John and and the geriatric Genovese guys who got arrested a couple years ago for selling pills(can't remember their names).

Elio Albanese and Carmine Russo.

John Brescio still has Lombardi's in the neighborhood.

[The Greek]

in Manhattan in what's left of Little Italy there is but no idea how much. There's Baby John and and the geriatric Genovese guys who got arrested a couple years ago for selling pills(can't remember their names).

Elio Albanese and Carmine Russo.

John Brescio still has Lombardi's in the neighborhood.

yes thanks!

[Pmac2]

is it true bostons little Italy was actually bigger then nyc? I should say, north end.. but it's more of a neighborhood

[PolackTony]

is it true bostons little Italy was actually bigger then nyc? I should say, north end.. but it's more of a neighborhood

In population or geography? Hard to say as a general statement, as an apples to apples comparison because it depends on time period and how one defines the neighborhood boundaries. I’m assuming that you mean Lower Manhattan’s “Little Italy”, though that kind of bled over into adjacent neighborhoods like the Village, East Village/LES, etc. If we’re just talking about the core area around Mulberry, circa 1930 (peak of the Italian immigrant population in the US), then the North End did have a significantly larger population than the Mulberry St neighborhood.

But neither of these came close to rivaling East Harlem, which in its heyday had an Italian population ~100k and was by far the single largest Italian community in the US. After East Harlem, the North End was one of the larger ones though. North End, South Philly, and Taylor St on the Near Westside of Chicago all had somewhere around 50-60k Italians around 1930, based on what I know, and these were all top contenders for “biggest” after East Harlem (though South Philly and Taylor St might have been just a bit bigger in population than the North End). After these, you had important but somewhat smaller communities like Mulberry, South Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Federal Hill in Providence, The Hill in STL.

In terms of *total* Italian population in a single city, I think most figures would have — after NYC, of course — Philly and Chicago followed by Boston. Dynamics were a bit different across these cities too, as NYC and Chicago had multiple distinct “Little Italies” while the Italian population in the City of Philadelphia was more strongly concentrated in South Philly (in all these cases, you also had Italian communities in neighboring satellite cities and suburbs, as well rural hinterlands, with close ties to the central nodal communities in the metropolis). NYC and Chicago had larger total populations, however, so in terms of Italian proportion of the total city population, Philly and Boston were on top (Italian proportion circa 1930 roughly ~10-12%) with NYC and Chicago having somewhat smaller relative numbers (~7-8%).

Now, if you’re talking about a later time period like the 60s, 70s, 80s, that’s a totally different question. Though the North End (like parts of South Philly), as I understand it, remained more intact than many other inner city core Italian “old neighborhoods” in other cities (eg, by the 80s, the East Harlem and Taylor St Italian communities were a shell of what they had been historically, having been heavily impacted by demographic changes and “urban renewal” initiatives like the construction of large housing projects).

[Kash]

I’ll be in nyc first time in a few months and am debating dinner in Bronx little Italy vs mulberry. Is it safe to assume mulberry is more touristy & Bronx is more authentic these days? Don’t give a shit about trying to spot wiseguys, just a good night out. The restaurants in the Bronx look good (Roberto’s, Antonio’s, Enzo’s, etc…)

[PolackTony]

I’ll be in nyc first time in a few months and am debating dinner in Bronx little Italy vs mulberry. Is it safe to assume mulberry is more touristy & Bronx is more authentic these days? Don’t give a shit about trying to spot wiseguys, just a good night out. The restaurants in the Bronx look good (Roberto’s, Antonio’s, Enzo’s, etc…)

Yes and another great spot on Arthur Ave is Zero Otto Nove, which is my personal favorite there.

[johnny_scootch]

I’ll be in nyc first time in a few months and am debating dinner in Bronx little Italy vs mulberry. Is it safe to assume mulberry is more touristy & Bronx is more authentic these days? Don’t give a shit about trying to spot wiseguys, just a good night out. The restaurants in the Bronx look good (Roberto’s, Antonio’s, Enzo’s, etc…)

Like Tony said Zero Otto Nove is the best place on Arthur Ave. I’ve been there on his recommendation and it was top notch. Thing about the Bronx is, it’s the fucking Bronx so if you’re trying to go out after dinner for drinks go to a restaurant in Manhattan (Don Angie, Emilios Balato, Malatesta) even Brooklyn has better nightlife than the Bronx.

In other news one of Brooklyns oldest spots Ferdinando’s Focacceria recently closed for good after a 121 year run, a damn shame.

[Kash]

I’ll be in nyc first time in a few months and am debating dinner in Bronx little Italy vs mulberry. Is it safe to assume mulberry is more touristy & Bronx is more authentic these days? Don’t give a shit about trying to spot wiseguys, just a good night out. The restaurants in the Bronx look good (Roberto’s, Antonio’s, Enzo’s, etc…)

Like Tony said Zero Otto Nove is the best place on Arthur Ave. I’ve been there on his recommendation and it was top notch. Thing about the Bronx is, it’s the fucking Bronx so if you’re trying to go out after dinner for drinks go to a restaurant in Manhattan (Don Angie, Emilios Balato, Malatesta) even Brooklyn has better nightlife than the Bronx.

In other news one of Brooklyns oldest spots Ferdinando’s Focacceria recently closed for good after a 121 year run, a damn shame.

Nothing a quick cab back to manhatten can’t take care of… We’re staying in midtown so I’m sure we’ll check out Chinatown & Little Italy during the day. Is Arthur Ave worth getting dropped off before dinner to check out on foot shops & whatnot?

[PolackTony]

I’ll be in nyc first time in a few months and am debating dinner in Bronx little Italy vs mulberry. Is it safe to assume mulberry is more touristy & Bronx is more authentic these days? Don’t give a shit about trying to spot wiseguys, just a good night out. The restaurants in the Bronx look good (Roberto’s, Antonio’s, Enzo’s, etc…)

Like Tony said Zero Otto Nove is the best place on Arthur Ave. I’ve been there on his recommendation and it was top notch. Thing about the Bronx is, it’s the fucking Bronx so if you’re trying to go out after dinner for drinks go to a restaurant in Manhattan (Don Angie, Emilios Balato, Malatesta) even Brooklyn has better nightlife than the Bronx.

In other news one of Brooklyns oldest spots Ferdinando’s Focacceria recently closed for good after a 121 year run, a damn shame.

Nothing a quick cab back to manhatten can’t take care of… We’re staying in midtown so I’m sure we’ll check out Chinatown & Little Italy during the day. Is Arthur Ave worth getting dropped off before dinner to check out on foot shops & whatnot?

IMO, yes. If you’re going up that way, the Arthur Ave market is a great little visit. Also, you have places like Addeo & Sons Bakery, Artuso’s Bakery, La Casa Della Mozzarella, Teitel Bros. Not flashy or hokey/touristy stuff, but longstanding small businesses that continue to preserve a glimpse of what communities like this were like in yesteryear. If you’re really into Italian food, you should have a real blast.

As Johnny said, there’s isn’t really any nightlife there (unless you belong to some shady Albanian social club). And at night, the little Arthur Ave section is only a few blocks and some of the surrounding areas are… not great. So you might want to be mindful of that (this depends too on who you are and where you’re from; it could be a shock to wind up in the hood or NBD). Either way, if you just stick to the core area you’ll be fine.

[PolackTony]

I’ll be in nyc first time in a few months and am debating dinner in Bronx little Italy vs mulberry. Is it safe to assume mulberry is more touristy & Bronx is more authentic these days? Don’t give a shit about trying to spot wiseguys, just a good night out. The restaurants in the Bronx look good (Roberto’s, Antonio’s, Enzo’s, etc…)

Like Tony said Zero Otto Nove is the best place on Arthur Ave. I’ve been there on his recommendation and it was top notch.

My man. Very glad to hear this. The owners are direct from Salerno and the quality of the food and ambiance reflects this. The location up in Tuckahoe is great too, just no pizza oven there, if Arthur Ave isn’t far enough from BK/SI for you.

Thing about the Bronx is, it’s the fucking Bronx

In other news one of Brooklyns oldest spots Ferdinando’s Focacceria recently closed for good after a 121 year run, a damn shame.

Very much not glad to hear about this. It’s the way all these places are going today, though, and another sad reminder to support the places still left while they’re here. For anyone reading who doesn’t know, Ferdinando’s was one of the remaining longtime institutions from the old “South Brooklyn” Italian community that I mentioned in my post above.

[johnny_scootch]

My man. Very glad to hear this. The owners are direct from Salerno and the quality of the food and ambiance reflects this. The location up in Tuckahoe is great too, just no pizza oven there, if Arthur Ave isn’t far enough from BK/SI for you.

Yeah I meant to send you a PM thanking you for the recommendation but I went up to the Poconos the next morning and totally forgot. It was an extremely rare trip to the BX for me but well worth it, went with some friends and had a bunch of dishes but the short ribs alla peroni and the hanger steak salerno style were the stand outs.

Tuckahoe! No chance...hahaha.

More than likely I'll give their location in the city near Madison Square Park a shot before I ever consider Tuckahoe or even the BX again.

Grazie mille!

[PolackTony]

My man. Very glad to hear this. The owners are direct from Salerno and the quality of the food and ambiance reflects this. The location up in Tuckahoe is great too, just no pizza oven there, if Arthur Ave isn’t far enough from BK/SI for you.

Yeah I meant to send you a PM thanking you for the recommendation but I went up to the Poconos the next morning and totally forgot. It was an extremely rare trip to the BX for me but well worth it, went with some friends and had a bunch of dishes but the short ribs alla peroni and the hanger steak salerno style were the stand outs.

Tuckahoe! No chance...hahaha.

More than likely I'll give their location in the city near Madison Square Park a shot before I ever consider Tuckahoe or even the BX again.

Grazie mille!

Ma figurati, frate.

Forgot they had one down in the city. 26 St is *downtown* for me, rare that I make it that far down these days lol (I prefer to avoid the city altogether unless I have a pressing reason, nowadays).