More like presence today than real neighborhoods but I would say (in term of population, not stores or whatever):

- Dyker Heights, Brooklyn (13th Ave, Fort Hamilton /Bay Ridge Pkwy, 86th St, 14th Ave, 7th Ave...)

- Staten Island (Charleston, Great Kills, Arthur Kill, Tottenville)

- Queens (Howard Beach)

- Morris Park / Middletown Pelham Bay, Bronx (Williamsbridge Rd, E Tremont Ave, Morris Park Ave, Pelham Pkwy, Middletown Rd, Crosby Ave...)

- Throggs Neck, Bronx (Harding Ave, Pennyfield Ave...)

Too weak nowadays for the rest (Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Ozone Park..)

You're way off with Morris Park. The populace is mostly Albanian and mixed Latino these days. And as far as Throggs Neck, well, I've been in the Bronx for fifty five years, and in Throggs Neck for almost thirty. And it was never an Italian stronghold, in that it's been a mix of Italian, German and Irish forever. And if you look towards the southwest part of Throggs Neck, where the new golf course is, that section more closely resembles Castle Hill today.

Italians want to live in the suburbs today. We don't leave because we have too much business in the City. But there's no denying that there isn't a single Italian "stronghold" left in the Bronx.

What's Bensonhurst like today? That's basically the Gambino's powerbase..

Multi-ethnic. Lots of Chinese and Pakistanis, some Albanians, pockets of leftover Italians.

If you consider Country Club area an autonomous neighborhood you could say that it is the last truly predominantly Italian pocket of the Bronx, Pelham Bay also has an Italian presence as does the Indian Village section of Morris Park but there both on the downslide

What about 18th ave, they have the feast there right> So what areas of NY are actually mainly 'Italian' PB?

There's still a good amount of Italians right off the boat in Bensonhurst, including Mannino's, Inzerillo's, Spatola's, among the rest.

Thanks for the infos PB, very instructive as always.

An Italian pocket and an Italian stronghold are two entirely different things, Tony Kid. You know I take no pleasure in posting that. But I don't deny it either. Ten more years and the Bronx will be less than ten percent Italian. And it's not much higher than that right now.

My kids and I recently went to one of the feasts in Little Italy NYC. They asked me why is there a Chinese man with a drum in the parade playing alongside all the Italians. I told them I have no idea to enjoy your time on these few blocks because when you get older and come here to visit who knows if the Italians will still be here.

I can't argue with any of that pal, I was just trying to point out the handful of areas still around with a notable Italian presence, shits changed unfortunately and I recognize that as much as anybody

They're all HUGE families, am I right Carmela? Santo Zito's fam as well.

I've passed through the 'Little Italy' of London before in Clerkenwell, Italian my arse...

They are. And every summer they all go back to Sicily (at least the kids do).
As far as Santo...honestly I don't know much about him. My husband calls him a riceball with feet (arancina ki piedi); other than that, I don't know about him.

I know that, kid. It just makes me laugh sometimes that the Italians who moved to the suburbs---and who can blame them?---seem to be the first people to lament the fact that the neighborhoods are gone. If it bothers them that much, then they should have stayed.

And you know I don't mean you or your family, or any of our friends here. You and I have discussed this ad nauseam in pms over the years. But if I didn't have so much business in Queens and the Bronx, we'd be long gone too.

I mean, who in their right mind would want to raise their kids in a five story cold-water walk up when they can afford to live in a nice suburban setting in Northern Westchester or Eastern Long Island or North Jersey?

Exactly no one, except for a few thickheaded holdouts like myself. And if I can accept the fact that the Bronx isn't remotely Italian anymore---and I still live here---it shouldn't be so difficult for the former residents to let go .

The smiley is for Carmela. She knows .

You coddle these boys and smile too much. Yes, I know. Ugh.

Bay Ridge still has an Italian strong hold, Bensonhurst as well but in a couple of decades that will change. I don't think there are any Italian neighborhoods left in the Bronx or Queens. Little Italy in Manhattan is just that "Little".

You seen the picture of Cali, Pete Inzerillo and Lupoi they're all skinny then Santo at the end about 5 ft tall, 250 pounds

Yeah well Cali' is chubby now, not like that pic. I heard.

In 08 he looked slim, but chubby? Maybe but have you seen Santo Zito? He's a heart attack in waiting..

But you do realize that the Italians that you pointed out to your kids don't actually still live there, right?

2010 Census: Not a SINGLE Italian born resident left in the 10012 zip code. And the populace itself was less than ten percent Italian American. And that was almost five years ago.

You know I make my living in New York City real estate these days, so I pay very close attention to demographics. Now some people might thing that's being bigoted, but any intelligent landlord does the same thing.

Anyway, a studio on Mulberry and Grand will run you about $2500 a month today. A fucking studio. If you doubt that, take a gander at Craigslist or one of the big real estate sites like Elliman or Corcoran. What immigrant can afford that? And when you couple that with the fact that there aren't really Italians moving to the United States anymore, is it any wonder that things have changed?


Smaller every day. Even restaurant row has shrunk to Mulberry between Canal and Kenmare. And Kenmare is honestly stretching things.

Dyker heights and bensonhurst To a smaller extent, bath beach In brooklyn.
Lots of chinese in benson and some russians as well, the chinese are very dirty.

They don't wash?

But they own all the dry cleaners.

That's fucking ridiculous, how many bedrooms? I pay £300 a month for a 4 bedroom house

HHAHHAHAHA!
LMAO

Oh Delicious irony.

My Pop's doing great. I'm back on my game .

Forget downtown NYC and Italian, unless you count kids who grew up in the suburbs and moved here that have Italian last names. But those kind of people don't consider them Italian in the sense you're thinking. And they definitely don't think they are trying to make it an italin demographic. They're just American kids.

PB, isn't Bensonhust still 30% Italian or so? And actual Italians, in the sense this topic is addressing.

Regarding PB's point about the suburbs, why not live there? Safe, nice, and smells good, haha.