Little Italy — Italian Harlem

In 1878, Italians from Salerno first arrived and made their homes on East 115th Street. Over the next twenty years, Italians from Southern Italy and Sicily moved into the area between 96th Street and 116th Street east of Lexington Ave., and between 116th Street and 125th Street east of Madison Ave. Originally it was known as Italian Harlem and later referred to as the first “Little Italy” in New York City.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 115th Street and Pleasant Ave. was was and still is an important part of the neighborhood. The feast in honor of the Virgin Mary has been celebrated for over 100 years and during the 1930’s over 500,000 people would attend.

Rao’s Restaurant on 114th St. has been serving customers since 1896 with authentic Neapolitan cooking. Patsy’s Pizza is another famous place and was an influence in the “Godfather.

From Harlem’s Hidden History

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The Italian’s that settled in Harlem came from many areas of Southern Italy including Bari, Sarno, Santiago Sicily and Calabria. The 1930 census showed that 81% of the area were Italians. Living conditions were poor and even into the late 1930’s many homes lacked a shower or private toilet. Overcrowding was the norm and in the 1920’s one block had over 5,000 residents. The exception was around 116th street where there were some one and two family residences and was known as “Doctor’s Row”. By the 1940’s the Italian’s owned most of the bakeries, fish, flower, fruit and vegetable stores. They also ran most of the grocery, music shoe stores garages and restaurants. Not surprisingly they had the lock on the funeral homes, coal and ice, tile and marble and barber shops. Between the Italians and the Jews, they cornered the candy and drug stores.

There was a multitude of Italian organizations in the 1930’s. In fact, at one point there was one organization for every 225 adult men. Fiorello LaGuardia ran for Congress from that district in 1922 and at one point was the only Italian American in Congress. He lived there until 1943 when Gracie Mansion opened as the official home for the mayor of New York City. Vito Marcantonio served as the districts Congressman from 1934 to 1950. Over 50,000 Italian Americans still lived in East Harlem in 1950. The area began to change in 1947 when many of the old homes were raised to make room for large housing projects.

From Italian Harlem

Another great site for information and photos is italianharlem.com

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