Little Italy, Manhattan

 

This article is about the neighborhood currently known as Little Italy in Lower Manhattan. For the neighborhood once known as Little Italy in Upper Manhattan, see Italian Harlem.

Little Italy
—  Neighborhood  —
Little Italy
Coordinates: 40°43′09″N 73°59′50″W
Country	United States
State	New York
County	New York County
City	New York City
Borough	Manhattan

Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.

Historical area

Historically, Little Italy on Mulberry Street, extends as far south as Canal Street, as far north as Bleecker, as far west as Lafayette and as far east as the Bowery. It borders Chinatown at Bowery.

The festival of San Gennaro

Main article: Feast of San Gennaro

The Feast of San Gennaro originally was once only a one-day religious commemoration. It began in September, 1926 with the new arrival of immigrants from Naples. The Italian immigrants congregated along Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy to celebrate San Gennaro as the Patron Saint of Naples. The Feast of San Gennaro is a large street fair, lasting 11 days, that takes place every September along Mulberry Street between Houston and Canal Streets. The festival is as an annual celebration of Italian culture and the Italian-American community.

Current status

Little Italy in Manhattan one hour after the Italian national football team won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Much of the neighborhood has been absorbed and engulfed by Chinatown, as immigrants from China moved to the area. What was once Little Italy has essentially shrunk into a single street which serves as a restaurant area but which has few Italian residents. The northern reaches of Little Italy, near Houston Street, ceased to be recognizably Italian, and eventually became the neighborhood known today as NoLIta, an abbreviation for North of Little Italy. Today, the section of Mulberry Street between Broome and Canal Streets is all that is left of the old Italian neighborhood. The street is lined with some two-dozen Italian restaurants popular with tourists and locals. Unlike Chinatown, which continues to expand in all directions with newer Chinese immigrants, little remains of the original Little Italy.

Italian culture and heritage website ItalianAware called the dominance of Italians in the area, "relatively short lived." It attributes this to the quick financial prosperity many Italians achieved, which afforded them the opportunity to leave the cramped neighborhood for areas in Brooklyn and Queens. The site also goes on to state that the area is currently referred to as Little Italy more out of respect and nostalgia than as a reflection of true ethnic population.

In 2010, Little Italy and Chinatown were listed in a single historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

Other Italian American neighborhoods

Main article: List of Italian American neighborhoods

The other Italian American neighborhoods in New York City include:

• Manhattan's - East Harlem (with Italian Harlem)
• The Bronx's - Little Italy of the Bronx (on Arthur Avenue, in the Fordham section of the Bronx), Morris Park and Pelham Bay
• Brooklyn's - Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and other various neighborhoods in Brooklyn
• Queens - Howard Beach, Ozone Park, Middle Village and other various neighborhoods in Queens
• Staten Island - the borough has the highest proportion of Italian Americans of any county in the United States. Over 200,000 residents claim Italian heritage (over 40%). With Rosebank being the first Italian enclave.

Organized crime and the Mafia

Little Italy residents have seen organized crime from the early 1900s. Powerful members of the Italian Mafia operated in Little Italy.

• Ignazio "The Wolf" Lupo (a Morello crime family boss operated in Little Italy from late 1890s-1920s)
• Michele "Big Mike" Miranda (a Capo in the Genovese crime family operated in the neighborhood from the 1950s into the late 1960s)
• Peter DeFeo (a Genovese crime family capo who operated an illegal Italian lottery in the 1960s into 1970s)
• Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello (a Genovese crime family capo operated from his restaurant Umberto's Clam House in the 1970s)
• John Gotti (boss of the Gambino crime family operated from the Ravenite Social Club in the late 1980s into the early 1990s)

Images of Little Italy

• 

  Mulberry Street circa 1900

• 

  The St. Patrick's Old Cathedral image taken on Mulberry Street side of the Cathedral.

• 

  Canal Street and Mulberry Street.

• 

  The Most Precious Blood Church, during the San Gennaro Festival, featuring a shrine to San Gennaro on the left.

• 

  A San Gennaro shrine in the courtyard of the Most Precious Blood Church

• 

  Ray's Pizza at 27 Prince Street on the northern edge of Little Italy.

• 

  Lombardi's Pizza at 32 Spring Street in Little Italy

• 

  Street Vendors selling cheesesteak sandwiches, sausages and other foods lines the streets

See also

• Feast of San Gennaro
• Italian Harlem
• List of Italian American neighborhoods
• List of Little Italys around the World
• Lower Manhattan

External links

• Little Italy Neighbors Association