Mott Street all fancied up for a religious festival in 1908. It's May 16, so perhaps Ascension Day? (Cleaned up picture courtesy Shorpy)
PODCASTLittle Italy is the pocket-neighborhood reminder of the great wave of Italian immigration which came through New York City starting in the late 1870s.  This was the home of a densely packed, lively neighborhood of pushcarts, cheese shops, barber shops and organ grinders, populated by thousands of new immigrants in dilapidated old tenements.
The area has some of New York’s oldest still-operating shops, from Ferrara Bakery to Di Palo’s. Â But there’s also a dark side to this neighborhood, memories of extortion plots by the Black Hand and a perpetual presence of organized crime.
The present-day Little Italy is completely charming but constantly shrinking. How long can the neighborhood survive in the face of a growing Chinatown and the threats of gentrification?
PLUS: Our love/hate relationship with Nolita — REVEALED!
An Italian boy on his way to school in New York, taken between 1910 and 1915.A street musician and a cop on Mulberry Street, 1897. Notice the banks in the background. Â Mulberry Street was known as ‘the Italian Wall Street’ for all the banks which assisted in Italians saving and sending home their earnings. Â (Courtesy Museum of City of New York)Children dancing on Mulberry Street as a man plays a barrel organ. (No monkey in sight!) 1897 (Courtesy Museum of the City of New York)Playing on the street in Mulberry Bend, 1897. This was the year Mulberry Bend Park opened (see below) so hopefully they got out of that filthy street! (Museum of City of New York)Mulberry Bend Park in 1900, replacing a set of the worst tenements in this area of Five PointsElizabeth and Broome Streets — June 18, 1904Street vendors on Mulberry Street, 1898 (Museum of City of New York)Elizabeth Street near Houston Street 1912 (Cleaned up image courtesy Shorpy)Mott Street all fancied up for a religious festival in 1908. It’s May 16, so perhaps Ascension Day? (Cleaned up picture courtesy Shorpy)
An Italian bank at Lafayette and Spring Streets, damaged in a Black Hand dynamite attack, 1915 Nov. 6 (Courtesy Library of Congress)Another view of the damaged bank (Courtesy Library of Congress)A sample extortion letter from the Black Hand. ““You dog, spy, informer. If you do not do what we say, we have a shot gun prepared for you. What a fine feast for the rats your fat carcass will make. Do what we say, it will be better for your skin.†(Courtesy the National Law Enforcement Museum)
149 Mulberry Street, near Grand Street. 1932. Banco Stabile which is off-picture to the right is the home of the Italian American Museum today. (Courtesy Museum of the City of New York)San Gennaro Festival, 1948, taken by Sid GrossmanBella Napoli (taken from a great Facebook feed called ‘Mulberry Street 1900s)Umberto’s Clam House, site of the infamous mob hit on gangster Joe Gallo in 1972 (Courtesy New York Daily News)Oddly enough, presidential candidate Ronald Reagan appeared at the San Gennaro Festival in 1980. (New York Daily News)
8 replies on “The big history of Little Italy”
Another great podcast. It was exhilerating to connect the dots from your much earler podcasts about collect pond, canal street and the five points, with Mulberry Bend. You are doing more than reporting history, you are teaching it (effectively and enjoyably).
fascinating. one note – there wouldn’t have been that much of a language issue attending a catholic church because the mass was in latin (until the 1960s.) great podcasts – keep ’em coming!!
Great pictures and descriptions. We look forward, as always, to listening to this podcast. Now, my son who is 18, is applying for an internship in Manhattan. He is listening to your podcasts over & over again as part of his extensive research on NYC. I will be purchasing all the walking tours y’all publish to add to his collection of audio resources while in the city. I know they will be excellent and how many times does one get to live in NY NY at 18 for a summer? These will be essential tools for him to maximize his once in a lifetime experience!!! Thank you Bowery Boys for doing your thang and doing it so well. You two are a whole lotta fun. We feel very connected to a spot actually very far away from our home because of your passion for NYC’s history & its overall important spot in the history of all of our lives (as Americans).
Bravo and Godspeed to the BB. Love this show and your vision for even more venues to connect with your adoring audience…. Oh, we will be visiting him, for sure. So we are listening to your podcasts again, happily. Would you daper sounding young men recommend any other resources for us to peruse? We know they will never measure up to your podcast magic, but just thought I might ask. Best, SUZ in Olympia, WA
Our family lived and owned the building at 242 Mott st in 1812 and later. We were trying to research information about that address. When it was built and when our family sold it.
That was the wrong address, I searched it for you but couldn’t find any resale records.
Mott Street all fancied up for a religious festival in 1908. It’s May 16, so perhaps Ascension Day? Ascension day was Thursday May 28 1908
So May 16th would not have been Ascension Thursday, since May 16th was a Saturday. Cant find any holidays around that date.
Great photos! I was wondering if I could have permission to use one or two of them in a blog post? I am a book reviewer and I am writing a review of a book set in Little Italy in the 1920s.
8 replies on “The big history of Little Italy”
Another great podcast. It was exhilerating to connect the dots from your much earler podcasts about collect pond, canal street and the five points, with Mulberry Bend. You are doing more than reporting history, you are teaching it (effectively and enjoyably).
fascinating. one note – there wouldn’t have been that much of a language issue attending a catholic church because the mass was in latin (until the 1960s.) great podcasts – keep ’em coming!!
Great pictures and descriptions. We look forward, as always, to listening to this podcast. Now, my son who is 18, is applying for an internship in Manhattan. He is listening to your podcasts over & over again as part of his extensive research on NYC. I will be purchasing all the walking tours y’all publish to add to his collection of audio resources while in the city. I know they will be excellent and how many times does one get to live in NY NY at 18 for a summer? These will be essential tools for him to maximize his once in a lifetime experience!!! Thank you Bowery Boys for doing your thang and doing it so well. You two are a whole lotta fun. We feel very connected to a spot actually very far away from our home because of your passion for NYC’s history & its overall important spot in the history of all of our lives (as Americans).
Bravo and Godspeed to the BB. Love this show and your vision for even more venues to connect with your adoring audience…. Oh, we will be visiting him, for sure. So we are listening to your podcasts again, happily. Would you daper sounding young men recommend any other resources for us to peruse? We know they will never measure up to your podcast magic, but just thought I might ask. Best, SUZ in Olympia, WA
Our family lived and owned the building at 242 Mott st in 1812 and later. We were trying to research information about that address. When it was built and when our family sold it.
http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/6003/219-Mott-St-New-York-NY-10012/
That was the wrong address, I searched it for you but couldn’t find any resale records.
Mott Street all fancied up for a religious festival in 1908. It’s May 16, so perhaps Ascension Day? Ascension day was Thursday May 28 1908
So May 16th would not have been Ascension Thursday, since May 16th was a Saturday. Cant find any holidays around that date.
Great photos! I was wondering if I could have permission to use one or two of them in a blog post? I am a book reviewer and I am writing a review of a book set in Little Italy in the 1920s.