Description
Little Italy is the old Italian quarter of Lower Manhattan, today a stretch of about five blocks of Mulberry Street north of Canal Street. Restaurants with checkered tablecloths line the street, a souvenir of the immigrant neighborhood that once filled many blocks around it.
At its peak, in 1910, nearly 10,000 Italians lived here. After World War II many moved to Brooklyn, Staten Island and the suburbs, and Chinatown spread north: few Italians live here now, and the quarter's Italian face is mostly memory and nostalgia.
Each September Mulberry Street fills for the Feast of San Gennaro, an 11-day street fair that began in 1926 as a one-day celebration by immigrants from Naples. The neighborhood is the home of the Corleones in The Godfather and the setting of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets.
At its peak, in 1910, nearly 10,000 Italians lived here. After World War II many moved to Brooklyn, Staten Island and the suburbs, and Chinatown spread north: few Italians live here now, and the quarter's Italian face is mostly memory and nostalgia.
Each September Mulberry Street fills for the Feast of San Gennaro, an 11-day street fair that began in 1926 as a one-day celebration by immigrants from Naples. The neighborhood is the home of the Corleones in The Godfather and the setting of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets.