Little Italy NYC

Poipu04 · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:15 pm Post subject: Little Italy NYC

A great article was in the NY Times. I e-mailed it to many of my gente friends but to all of those whose e-mails I don't have or may have missed, here is the link:
www.nytimes.com/2008/0...=permalink

nuccia · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:18 pm Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

I am so glad you posted this here! I got the email yesterday and am having visions of going to New York ASAP. Thanks and awesome article!

DaveFerro · Mem Joined: Jul 13, 2007 Posts: 131 Location: Auburn NY

Thanks for the article. I had read about the move a few months ago and am glad they are setting up.

I have a photography book New York Sunshine and Shadow A photographic record of the city and its people from 1850 to 1915. There is a section on immigrants, and photos of them on board and at Ellis. Some from Mulberry Street right down where I was staying, and farther to the 100 block. One photo by Jacob Riis in particular has me intrigued: A Vegetable stand in Mulberry Street circa 1895. He is directing some people on how to pose (yes, not all were candid) and the store behind him has on it's awning "Banco P Caponigri 55 1/2" and on the windows " Ufficio Postale Governativo No. 23 New York Post Office."

The store on the right has it's window partially obscured but says "Banca F.. 57 Goffa Edo B.. & Leonardo M..." Apparently another bank - the full photo may be available on line by searching for Jacob Riis.

A link to the contents of How the Other Half Lives by Riis.
Riis Index

The list of Illustrations has some of the photos in the book, but not the one above. Some are drawings rather than photos but all interesting.

I have a drawing from another book that shows the buildings of the area and the different regions and even villages that predominated in each; I will try to scan it.

Dave

nuccia · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 3:34 am Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

Dave,

I have been looking through the link you provided. Very interesting article(s). Never realized how really bad the living conditions for Italian immigrants was. The articles paint a pretty grim picture for sure.

Thanks for sharing it..it was enlightening.

charliemis · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:11 am Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

My Mom lived in Little Italy on Roosevelt Street (near Grand Avenue and Mulberry Street) as a young child in a tenement building. She always remembered playing on the swings on the roof of the building and walking through Chinatown. My Grandmother had it tough raising two small children and working nights scrubbing floors in large office buildings; she had arrived from Italy in 1904 and was married in 1906. She had three children, but I believe the middle child died as an infant (I can't find any record). My Grandfather had died when my Mom was about a year old ---- they moved to NYC (about 1912) from NW NY state. She did remarry a few years later, and then later they all moved to Philadelphia (about 1919).

Roosevelt Street is no longer there as it was eliminated during "urban renewal" projects in the 60s. I remember going through the area as a child back in the 60s, but nothing was left. I have a document from St. Joachim, 22-24-26 Roosevelt Street and another from the Chiesa Del Preziosissimo Sangue which was at 113 Baxter Street.

I would love to have some old pictures of the area.

lotus45tiye · Mem Joined: Mar 25, 2008 Posts: 114 Location: New Jersey

Hello everyone: I too have been very interested in pictures of Little Italy as it gives me a sense of my grandparents daily lives. Wanted to add pictures to my family book to make it more of a story than facts and figures. There are some great old pictures of Little Italy on Shorpy.com.

tjbrn · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:13 am Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

This is off topic. Charlie I noticed your mention of St Joachim. The Irish side of the family (my grandmother and her siblings) were baptized at St Joachim's in Philadelphia. The family stayed mostly in the Frankford area of Philadelphia. The Sicilian side of my family immigrated to Philadelphia as well, remaining in the areas around Christian St., South Seventh St., Kater St., Dufur St., etc.

Anyway it would be interesting to do a study of ethnic demographic patterns in major US cities which resulted from the flood of immigrants from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

charliemis · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:56 am Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

tjbrn wrote:

This is off topic. Charlie I noticed your mention of St Joachim. The Irish side of the family (my grandmother and her siblings) were baptized at St Joachim's in Philadelphia. The family stayed mostly in the Frankford area of Philadelphia. The Sicilian side of my family immigrated to Philadelphia as well, remaining in the areas around Christian St., South Seventh St., Kater St., Dufur St., etc.

Anyway it would be interesting to do a study of ethnic demographic patterns in major US cities which resulted from the flood of immigrants from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

Tom,

I was talking about St. Joachim in Little Italy, NYC; it was torn down in 1958 and merged with St. Joseph.......My Great Uncle lived at 2435 Christian Street in Philadelphia from 1916-1920......

tjbrn · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

I was just referring to the coincidence of names, St. Joachim, although in two different cities. I've noticed a number of passenger lists on which Italian immigrants specified Christian St and South Seventh St in Philadelphia as a destination.

charliemis · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:34 am Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

tjbrn wrote:

I was just referring to the coincidence of names, St. Joachim, although in two different cities. I've noticed a number of passenger lists on which Italian immigrants specified Christian St and South Seventh St in Philadelphia as a destination.

that is in the heart of Philadelphia's historical Italian area (actually South Philadelphia).......I just ordered a book "Italians of Philadelphia" By Donna J. Di Giacomo on Amazon for $15---- it has lots of old pictures ----- ; the Italian Market centers on 9th and Christian Streets, although it is not all Italian merchants and vendors anymore but a lot of the old stores are still in business

tjbrn · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:16 am Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

Quote::

that is in the heart of Philadelphia's historical Italian area (actually South Philadelphia).......I just ordered a book "Italians of Philadelphia" By Donna J. Di Giacomo on Amazon for $15---- it has lots of old pictures ----- ; the Italian Market centers on 9th and Christian Streets, although it is not all Italian merchants and vendors anymore but a lot of the old stores are still in business

Charlie, thanks for the tip. I just previewed the book you mentioned on Amazon; it looks as if it would be a good reference to have. By the way my grandparents were married in St Rita and my mom--and all but one of her siblings--was baptized at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church. The church was closed in 1932 and its records were moved but I finally was able to obtain copies of some family members baptismal records from the church which assumed responsibility to store the records from Our Lady of Good Counsel.

DaveFerro · Mem Joined: Jul 13, 2007 Posts: 131 Location: Auburn NY

Can't remember exactly, but I did post some photos of Little Italy from the 1980s with a procession up Mulberry, when I stayed at a friend's loft on that street between Houston and Prince (actually at Jersey Alley).

Well I searched and did not find them here, so again (I know they are at Amici and ItalianGen):

If you are in NYC you might check the Tenement Museum, established after I was there, so did not see it. They have a virtual tour.:
Tenement Museum NYC

The NY Pulic Library (NYPL) has a digital collection of millions of photos and other items. I think Biff posted this site and it is great. There are photos from the 1870s to 1970s and recent block by block pics. Looking down the list, I see 500 years of Italian Dance at the top and farther down collections from Ellis Island and of NYC.

NYPL Digital Gallery - Explore all Collections

There is another Italian area in East Harlem, also called Italian Harlem. The web site for Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church is down for now, but check later for good pictures and history. My foster mother's family on her father's side lived there and were baptized at the church. We have the certificates from the 1880s.

Here is one site about the church:
Our Lady of Mount Carmel East Harlem

I'll try to find more, and scan a page from a book that has a map of the area, with the buildings marked with the different areas and towns of Italy from which the people came. They stuck together and one building could have just the people from one village.

Dave

nuccia · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

Thank you for posting these pictures Dave. The are wonderful. I lived in New York for 5 years and am not even sure I ever visited Mulberry Street. Perhaps I did..but I was so young I don't remember.

charliemis · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:45 pm Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

Thanks Dave,

I found a few pictures from the area near where my Mom lived as a little girl......St. Joachim's church was nearby and there were pictures of the feast of San Rocco which was held there until the church was closed for urban renewal in the late 50's

Tiger965 · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:42 am Post subject: Re: Little Italy NYC

Thank you Dave for sharing your pictures. I had a Great Uncle/Aunt that got married in St. Joachim. I feel it's pretty sad to not be able to actually go and see these places now. I'd like to try to find pictures to place by my relatives names where they used to live in New York. kiss

~Rita