Little Italy, Manhattan : NYC Tourist Guide

Little Italy

Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians.

Historically, Little Italy extended as far south as Bayard St, as far north as Bleecker, as far west as Lafayette, and as far east as the Bowery. As Italian-Americans left Manhattan for other boroughs and neighborhoods, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, the neighborhood recognizable as Little Italy gradually shrank.

Large portions of the neighborhood were absorbed by Chinatown, as immigrants from China and other East Asian countries moved to the area. The northern reaches of Little Italy, near Houston Street, ceased to be recognizably Italian, and eventually became the neighborhood known today as NoLIta, an abbreviation for North of Little Italy. Today, the section of Mulberry Street between Broome and Canal Streets, lined with Italian restaurants popular with tourists, remains distinctly recognizable as Little Italy.

The Feast of San Gennaro is a large street fair, lasting 11 days, that takes place every September along Mulberry Street between Houston Street and Canal Street.

Other Italian American neighborhoods in New York City include Little Italy of the Bronx (on Arthur Avenue, in the Fordham section of The Bronx), Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Howard Beach, Queens, Ozone Park, Queens, Morris Park, Bronx, and the whole borough of Staten Island, where 44.5% of the population is of Italian ancestry.