Italian-American Towns in New Jersey (Paterson: homes, park, kids)

[STrapani1105]

Originally Posted by NewJerseyMemories

I was hysterical when you wrote the part about East Hanover's Godfather's Pizza. Let me explain.

I grew up in East Hanover. I think that E.H. back then had far more heavily Italian back then. It's supposed to be 35% now, but when I was in school it must have been 90%. I'm not kidding! I was one of the few people in my school that didn't have a vowel at the end of my name. I was one of the few non-Italians.

Anyway, about the Godfather's Pizza. Some of my friends used to say that they'd see men in black shirts there. You know what I mean. Also, the Godfather's Pizza delivery van had the slogan: The Pizza You Can't Refuse with a drawing of a machine gun! The website still has the slogan but no machine gun:The Godfather Pizzeria - the best pizza in NJ

yeah, I had an old girlfriend from East Hanover. My family is real old school, we only date other Italians and where I grew up we didn't have too many old school families like us here. so I would always end up dating girls from all over the place. she always said I was a displaced guinea in a hick town (I spent my high school years in Mendham). I used wished i lived there so I could be closer to her nad so I would be around people who had a similar background to me. I realize now of course that it was stupid, but it's really a great town.

Did you know that at one point the North Ward of Newark was 95% Italian? That was back in the early 1900's though. In what era did East Hanover have that large of a percentage?

[homenj]

What I can't believe is nobody mentions about the "old Italian neighborhoods" in cities like Newark and Paterson. I'm not going to lie, the Italian presence in these cities has dropped dramatically. But Italian presence in these places still exists.

In Paterson I still see older Italians who still speak Italian to the grocery shop owners when they get their Italian foods. You can still find gelato, polenta, linguine, Pellegrino, mortadella, cheese and much more here. Some bodegas still sell Italian newspapers (like one in particular called Oggi something). Old men in medallions speak to each other in front of "caffes" (again in Italian). There was a massive celebration in 2006 on Cianci Street (the old Italian neighborhood) when Italy won the world cup. Bloomfield Avenue (west of Branch Brook Park) still has some Italian restaurants, bakeries, and clubs. I passed by once there were Italian flags hanging from the phone lines (possibly some sort of celebration.)

Newark's North Ward may no longer be 90% Italian but we should not overlook the small but noticeable Italian populations in these communities.


I may be wrong but it seems that our urban cities may not have the highest percentage of Italians but they seem to be the most "authentic Italian." Towns like Nutley may be heavily Italian but they seem more "Italian American". While cities like Paterson seem to be more "Fresh off the boat Italian." Am I wrong?

[STrapani1105]

Originally Posted by homenj

What I can't believe is nobody mentions about the "old Italian neighborhoods" in cities like Newark and Paterson. I'm not going to lie, the Italian presence in these cities has dropped dramatically. But Italian presence in these places still exists.

In Paterson I still see older Italians who still speak Italian to the grocery shop owners when they get their Italian foods. You can still find gelato, polenta, linguine, Pellegrino, mortadella, cheese and much more here. Some bodegas still sell Italian newspapers (like one in particular called Oggi something). Old men in medallions speak to each other in front of "caffes" (again in Italian). There was a massive celebration in 2006 on Cianci Street (the old Italian neighborhood) when Italy won the world cup. Bloomfield Avenue (west of Branch Brook Park) still has some Italian restaurants, bakeries, and clubs. I passed by once there were Italian flags hanging from the phone lines (possibly some sort of celebration.)

Newark's North Ward may no longer be 90% Italian but we should not overlook the small but noticeable Italian populations in these communities.


I may be wrong but it seems that our urban cities may not have the highest percentage of Italians but they seem to be the most "authentic Italian." Towns like Nutley may be heavily Italian but they seem more "Italian American". While cities like Paterson seem to be more "Fresh off the boat Italian." Am I wrong?

You're correct. I understand what you're trying to say, you're saying that the real authentic old school Italians live in small numbers in the more urban areas of New Jersey. that's true, but how many "fresh off the boat Italians" do we get each year? not many, and the ones that do come over from the otherside usually don't carry the same old world traditions that the ones who came over years ago do.

and these days people don't want to live in the cities like Newark and Paterson anymore. they'd much rather chose a place like Nutley over those places these days. i think the town with the highest percentage of people born in Italy is West Paterson. so I guess nowadays that's the top choice for people immigrating from Italy. they don't go to the urban areas, they go one or two towns over like West Paterson or Nutley.

[johnfrisco]

Originally Posted by STrapani1105

You're correct. I understand what you're trying to say, you're saying that the real authentic old school Italians live in small numbers in the more urban areas of New Jersey. that's true, but how many "fresh off the boat Italians" do we get each year? not many, and the ones that do come over from the otherside usually don't carry the same old world traditions that the ones who came over years ago do.

and these days people don't want to live in the cities like Newark and Paterson anymore. they'd much rather chose a place like Nutley over those places these days. i think the town with the highest percentage of people born in Italy is West Paterson. so I guess nowadays that's the top choice for people immigrating from Italy. they don't go to the urban areas, they go one or two towns over like West Paterson or Nutley.

You make some good points, but damn I miss some of those old school Italian Delis, Restaurants and Bakeries in Newark.

[HeckOutOfNJ]

Originally Posted by STrapani1105

oh hey, somebody brought up my old thread. yeah, I'm still searching for that strong Italian community. I was hoping to find some old Italian roots here in Brooklyn... let's just say there aren't many, but I've got another 4 years to check out the whole borough. it's hard because I've been really busy.

If you are still looking, (I'm not Italian, but I enjoy eating Italian... ) Nutley would be great for you. Paisanos are still going strong and you're right by so many places, like the Clifton Commons, Hoboken, NYC, the Newark Airport (or...various other venues in Newark). Very safe neighborhood and not quite as pricey as Roseland, but pricey enough to keep "the element" out (for the time being).

Plus, nothing wrong with being a proud-(ethnicity here), but if you chose to, you could find good people of other backgrounds as well to get along with. I am sure you are anyway, but me born and raised in Essex County, I have always found Nutley to be "just right" in terms of middle-class neighborhoods. Nothing "ghetto" about that place at all. Cops just won't allow it.

[HeckOutOfNJ]

Originally Posted by johnfrisco

You make some good points, but damn I miss some of those old school Italian Delis, Restaurants and Bakeries in Newark.

Take a trip to Calandra's, brother. Not like you're far away.

[HeckOutOfNJ]

Originally Posted by STrapani1105

and these days people don't want to live in the cities like Newark and Paterson anymore. they'd much rather chose a place like Nutley over those places these days. i think the town with the highest percentage of people born in Italy is West Paterson. so I guess nowadays that's the top choice for people immigrating from Italy. they don't go to the urban areas, they go one or two towns over like West Paterson or Nutley.

Didn't West Paterson pull an Elmwood Park and change its name?

[findinghope]

Originally Posted by HeckOutOfNJ

Didn't West Paterson pull an Elmwood Park and change its name?

yep---woodland park now. will always be west paterson to me though--lol
i think you are right....west paterson, totowa and elmwood park is where everyone who came over and started out in Paterson eventually ended up....

[tceffo]

Garfield
Lodi
Fairfield

Ive lived in all of those towns- -renting in the first 2
Faifield is all one family- -due to the economy and the lay off- it looks like it might be back to Gar-field

[lilmisssouthjersey112]

Hammonton