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I'm from Italy and I'm an italian-american culture lover.
I read that now Little Italy is only a bunch of restaurant and other shops recently closed. Could anybody tell me if is it true?? I last went to New York in 2008 and I remember that Little Italy was only in a piece of Mulberry Street, but there still was Umberto's, Pasticceria Roma and so on. And you could breathe italian-american feel.. And now how is it? Is it true that in Mulberry Street there is italian-american people nomore living there? It would be very sad...
How many italian-american people live there today?
A question for the experts: Italian Harlem still exists? Wikipedia says that around 1,000 Italian-Americans still living in this area, is it true? More italian-american people live here than in Little Italy??
Considering all this, which neighbourhood do you think would be the new and real Little Italy in New York today? Bensonhurst, Belmont or what?
I would say there is no "real" little Italy now. The generations are too far removed from their original ancestors who originally came here. To boot there are not enough new Italians immigrating from Italy. Now if you are looking for the biggest concentration of ITALIAN AMERICANS try Staten Island.
The best Little Italy in the US isn't even in NY anymore,it's in Boston.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_End,_Boston
Sophia Loren agrees.She says it's the most Italian place she has ever been outside of Italy !
I love Italian culture,travel to Italy every year and have many close Italian friends.The only real "little Italy " left in NYC is in The Bronx(Arthur Ave area) and all of my friends who come from Italy agree.It is definitely fading but they are stubbornly hanging on.I shop there all the time so I cab babble in Italian to the shop and restaurant owners.
There are some relatively new-Italians in my neighborhood, Astoria, along with the Greeks. But a lot of the formerly Queens Italians have moved to Long Island (technically not NYC).
Staten Island is the only part within the 5 boroughs that is *heavily* Italian American.
No Italian Americans live on or near Mulberry Street (well, for sure there are some, but not families, or any sort of community). Very few Italian Americans live in Belmont and Bensonhurst, 2 other classicly Italian neighborhoods. There is still an Italian American presence in places like Howard Beach, Whitestone, and Astoria.
In the 60s and 70s, most of the Italian American families fled the inner city when their neighborhoods became more "culturally diverse". They moved to the suburbs, which is why most NY-area Italian Americans now live in Long Island and New Jersey.
Now, Chinatown has taken over all of what used to be Little Italy except for a two block area on Mulberry Street between Kenmare and Grand streets, with about 5,000 Italian Americans.
Yes on Howard Beach, and of course Staten Island:
Quote:
Italians are the largest ethnic group in Staten Island (Richmond County), making it the most Italian county in the United States, with 37.7% of the population reporting Italian American ancestry.[72][73]
I think Bensonhurst is heavily Chinese these days.
True. When an Italian family moves out, a Chinese family takes over. It seems only the Chinese can get loans. They usually pay a large down payment, 40% is not rare, 50%+ is NOT unheard of.
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