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Re: Last "italian neighborhoods" in NYC
[Re: mightyhealthy]
#800679
09/05/14 06:20 PM
09/05/14 06:20 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296 Throggs Neck
pizzaboy
The Fuckin Doctor
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The Fuckin Doctor

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296
Throggs Neck
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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. Exactly. I remember when Sofia Coppola bought a high end condo off Spring Street. She went on and on in one of the real estate magazines about "keeping the culture alive" and all the usual Hollywood crap. Like she didn't grow up Hollywood fucking royalty in California. It didn't even occur to her that people like her were the ones driving Italian Americans out of the neighborhood who lived there for fifty years. Oh, and she's sold it since then. At a tremendous profit.
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
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Re: Last "italian neighborhoods" in NYC
[Re: pizzaboy]
#800682
09/05/14 06:26 PM
09/05/14 06:26 PM
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Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 1,434 CT
mightyhealthy
Underboss
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Underboss
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 1,434
CT
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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. Exactly. I remember when Sofia Coppola bought a high end condo off Spring Street. She went on and on in one of the real estate magazines about "keeping the culture alive" and all the usual Hollywood crap. Like she didn't grow up Hollywood fucking royalty in California. It didn't even occur to her that people like her were the ones driving Italian Americans out of the neighborhood who lived there for fifty years. Oh, and she's sold it since then. At a tremendous profit. What a joke... You're exactly right. She's the problem (as am I) not the solution... 
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Re: Last "italian neighborhoods" in NYC
[Re: pizzaboy]
#800688
09/05/14 06:55 PM
09/05/14 06:55 PM
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,950 NJ/CA
Alfanosgirl
Underboss
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Underboss
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,950
NJ/CA
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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. 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? Little Italy in Manhattan is just that "Little". Smaller every day. Even restaurant row has shrunk to Mulberry between Canal and Kenmare. And Kenmare is honestly stretching things. It sickens me to know that not a SINGLE Italian born resident is living in Little Italy. Who could afford it at those prices. Things have sure changed. Honestly, my kids really appreciated being in Little Italy even though it wasn't what it used to be. They wanted to go into the dairy market, take pictures of where my great grandpa lived on Mulberry St, listen to the young kid sing Sinatra songs, and eat at a different restaurant for each meal just so they can experience the neighborhood. They got really into it for young kids. When we were in Queens, I showed them the bocce courts and the old Italian men who gathered in the park to play cards and shoot the breeze. I was so excited to show them what little is left of our culture.
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Re: Last "italian neighborhoods" in NYC
[Re: mightyhealthy]
#800700
09/05/14 07:45 PM
09/05/14 07:45 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296 Throggs Neck
pizzaboy
The Fuckin Doctor
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The Fuckin Doctor

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296
Throggs Neck
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Before everyone gets all indignant, assimilation isn't the worst thing in the world. Living in nice houses is a cool thing. Of course. I say it all the time. If you grew up in a walk-up apartment, where half the time your Mother had to boil water for you to take a bath, or you slept on the fire escape in the Summer, there's no way in Hell you'd want the same for your children. People who have romantic notions about the old tenement neighborhoods never had to live in one. It's on par with "money can't buy happiness." Because I promise you, the first person to use that one was dirt poor.
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
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Re: Last "italian neighborhoods" in NYC
[Re: mightyhealthy]
#800717
09/05/14 08:33 PM
09/05/14 08:33 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296 Throggs Neck
pizzaboy
The Fuckin Doctor
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The Fuckin Doctor

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296
Throggs Neck
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I'm just taking an educated guess, but I'd assume it has gotten noticeably more Asian and less Italian in the last six years. But I'll wait for PB for a definitive answer. I'm not a Brooklyn guy. And the truth is, I haven't been out to Bensonhurst in at least a year. Although I still get out to Midwood every so often. Anyway, there are still pockets of Italians in Bensonhurst. And those pockets have lots of big Italian families living there. But as a whole, the Italian population in Bensonhurst isn't predominant anymore. And it's just going to continue to shrink. It can't grow. It's not possible at this point. Between assimilation and the changes to the immigration laws, it's just not going to happen.
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
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Re: Last "italian neighborhoods" in NYC
[Re: SonnyBlackstein]
#800750
09/05/14 09:29 PM
09/05/14 09:29 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296 Throggs Neck
pizzaboy
The Fuckin Doctor
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The Fuckin Doctor

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296
Throggs Neck
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Lol, you're kidding right? Ya got me Really, you guys are BOTH bleeding heart liberals  .
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
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Re: Last "italian neighborhoods" in NYC
[Re: IvyLeague]
#800776
09/05/14 10:55 PM
09/05/14 10:55 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296 Throggs Neck
pizzaboy
The Fuckin Doctor
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The Fuckin Doctor

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,296
Throggs Neck
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Though one could certainly make an argument about the quality of those new recruits. Bingo! I've said it here a hundred times: You can not develop a true gangster mentality if you grow up wanting for nothing in Suburbia. There are anomalies, of course. But for every Tore LoCascio, there are a dozen Craig DePalmas.
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
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