Change

What is change? To the Italian immigrants who came to America a hundred years ago, it meant making a sacrifice and starting a new life, however difficult, to make a better future for themselves and their children. To the young people in the musical Memphis, who lived in the segregated south, it meant softening American’s hearts and opening minds to bring racial equality to our country. On the other hand, change can also be a bad thing. For instance, evidence suggests that crime, illiteracy, out of wedlock births, and depression have all gotten worse in some places because of the breakdown of the nuclear family over the past half century, which resulted from changes that were intended to have positive effects, such as feminism and special rights for minorities. Our own president has made a farce of the word “change” over the past year.

Personally, I think that change naturally happens each second of a person’s life. I know that for me, being here in the city for so long has made me into a different type of individual. I am more street smart, I am better at using public transportation, and I am much more conscious now of my spending habits, seeing as how an average priced meal in Manhattan can run as high as $20. However, I think that these are all fairly small things, and most change is small. We constantly grow and evolve throughout our lives, and add our new experiences and human interactions to the equation every single day. I have actually changed the most this summer by coming to realize that I do not want to live in New York City long term. Surprising?

Don’t get me wrong, the past 8 weeks have been great. So has living in one of the most populated regions of the world, where there is always something to see and do. Cities are not alien to me by any means. I was born in Hartford and grew up outside of Boston. I have been to Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Sydney, and many other places throughout my short life. But you what I have learned about myself by being in the ultimate urban setting? I like seeing trees and lakes and squirrels everywhere I go. I deeply enjoy cruising down the freeway in my car with friends, even if we aren’t going anyplace in particular. I can’t help but smile at the friendliness and openness of most people in small towns, and even suburbs when compared to big cities. I miss North Carolina, where you don’t see the moral decay that exists in big cities.

Hickory, NC

New York is a great place, but this is a huge country we live in, and there is so much more out there. This one city only has 8 million people out of 300 million Americans. So, while I still have no idea what I want to do or where I want to live when I do finish out my days at Elon, I am confident that I will end up somewhere that makes me happy. I am glad that I was able to learn these things about myself during this program, and I am sure that I will benefit in the future because of it. My views on life and on myself have changed a little bit, but they are good changes.

Key Findings

This assignment was the first time in my life that I had ever carried out ethnographic research intentionally. By that, I mean that I have never undergone an attempt to produce any kind of ethnographic study. However, every day we are ethnographers in some way. When we travel at all, or meet new people, we are participating in this field, because we are learning about different cultures and ways of life. Even a walk through the center of my hometown can provide me with observations that teach me things about the area and its people.

Little Italy today is primarily a tourist destination. This makes sense, as the number of Italian immigrants to America plummeted after World War II and is virtually non-existent today. While once a bustling residential area, today the crowds are from places like Wisconsin and Ohio. Say hello to all the tourists!

I guess you could consider  tourists from Wisconsin to be getting a great cultural experience here, regardless. After all, how many Italians live in Wisconsin? Not many as far as I know. My studies of Italian immigration patterns actually taught me a great deal about immigration in general, and where various groups tended to settle. Wisconsin, like most of the midwest, is full of Germans, Swedes, Dutch, and other similar groups of people. The map below is a great resource for seeing which nationalities picked which parts of the country to settle in.

Italians, you can see, are the number one ethnicity only in parts of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, likely because descendants of immigrants in New York City made their way out to the surrounding suburbs in years following the large boom of Italian Immigration. Interestingly, many southerners simply checked off “American” as their ancestry. This is likely because few immigrants settled in the south for many years, and most people who live their now can trace their roots all the way back to colonial times. Many southerners probably have no idea what their heritage is, because it has been so long.

Ethnographic research can get much more complex, too, and inferences can be made about certain areas based on data surrounding specific topics. For instance, the map above shows us the top religion in each county in the USA. The main reason why the northeast is so Catholic, of course, is because of the large numbers of Italian and Irish immigrants who came here in the 19th and 20th centuries. The large number of Lutherans in the upper midwest is due to the regions strong German heritage. The religion, language, and overall culture of any place can teach us a lot about the people who live there.

All of this information is relevant because it is part of what ethnographic research is: looking at all of the various demographic information that makes up a given area. Even though my neighborhood is Little Italy, the people who came to this neighborhood and lived there for many years also left eventually, as did their children and grandchildren. Italians fanned out across the country, spreading their culture as well. This happens with every immigrant group, and will continue to happen with other groups in the future.

You don’t have to be Italian at all to enjoy Little Italy. I saw many people in the neighborhood who were not Italian, and it is usually easy to tell. One thing I did notice, however, is that the neighborhood is primarily white. Most of the visitors are also white. I think this may be because the people who visit are Americans of primarily European descent, who feel as though they can relate to the history and legacy of Italian immigrants  as a result of this. Even if one is not Italian, their ancestors may have come to America from Germany or Ireland, and so the background and story is similar.

Back when Italians were immigrating here in full force, most of them were not even seen as white. Today, I don’t think white people make much of a distinction between various nationalities. You are either white or you’re not. Similarly to how Hispanics are not a race, but an ethnicity, I think that many of them will blend in with the overall population over time and will be seen as white. Not that it should matter, of course, what race someone is. But I do find it interesting how the definition of what our society considers to be what “white” has changed over the years. Little Italy is full of different nationalities, but because they are all European, most Americans would not consider it to be very diverse. A visitor from Europe, however, would be shocked at the amount of diversity, because they are used to being around people of all the same nationality back home.

Linguistically speaking, there were some old people in the neighborhood who still sit out and speak Italian. A lot of the signage is in Italian because it adds to the flavor of the neighborhood. However, few Americans speak Italian, and pretty much everyone there spoke English. Little Italy has become a tourist destination in the middle of lower Manhattan, and little more than that. It is a great cultural experience, but it is shrinking and not really attracting any new immigrants to keep it alive. I do hope, however, that preservation efforts are able to keep it intact for future generations to see.

Interview #3

This interview came about in the most unique way of the three. Back in June, I was going out one night with two other Elon students. As we went into the subway, my card swiped but I didn’t go through the machine fast enough, so it cut me off. Since I have the monthly pass, it wouldn’t let me swipe again for something like twenty minutes. So, another girl who was going through let me go with her. Unfortunately, the police saw us and we had to explain everything.

This situation turned into a big headache, and I ended up having to sign a notarized statement as well as sending a letter to the city regarding the incident. The good news out of all this, though, is that the girl, Amber, lives and works around Little Italy. I took this as an opportunity to get another interview for my project when we met up mid-way through last week.

Amber was born in Southern California, where her parents still live. She attended college in Boston, and has now lived in New York for several years. She works as a waitress at two different restaurants, trying to save up money for graduate school. One of these restaurants is located on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. Her apartment is right by broadway, very close to the neighborhood in SoHo.

Unlike many other people who reside and work in Little Italy, Amber is not Italian, and the job kind of just fell into her lap. “My friend from school had an uncle who worked down here, and he was able to be my connection to getting a job in a way,” she said. Still, Amber loves the area for many of the same reasons that other people do: safety, excellent food and cultural life, and close proximity to other exciting parts of the city.

While I always knew through the my research of the area that Chinatown has been encroaching on Little Italy’s borders for years, I did not realize how fast it was occurring. Amber told me that even she had seen a decline in Italian-owned businesses in the past two years that she has lived in the area. The change is happening very quickly and has accelerated in recent years.

Looking Back

Over the past several weeks, I have to say that life in New York has turned out relatively the way I had expected it too. My internship was a success, and I learned a lot about myself and the media industry. As for the city itself, I have gotten to experience and enjoy it in all its glory, even in the oftentimes stifling heat.

Broadway Project: An 80’s Flashback

Basic Plot –

At one point or another, we have all reminisced about the past, either in our own lives or possibly long before then. Who hasn’t dreamt about what it might be like to live in another time period? I know that for me personally, the present always seems so stale and boring. This has always been the case, even when I was younger. Now, I look back on those days and miss them a lot. So, I guess we don’t realize how good times are until they pass us by.

Still, most people would jump at the opportunity to travel back in time. For me personally, the 1980’s was always the period I wanted to go back to most. This may seem silly to anyone who lived through that time, but I was born at the tail end and always felt like I missed out. The music was good, the movies were fantastic, and culturally speaking, our society had enough of the technology that is around today (aka cable television and microwaves) to keep me sane, while also not being as complicated and fast-paced as the world is now. Sure, not having the Internet may take an adjustment, but I think it would ultimately be a good thing.

This musical is set in a modern-day suburb outside of Columbus, Ohio, called Hill Valley, taken from Back to the Future. I should note that this musical is not about Back to the Future, rather, it incorporates themes from many different 80’s movies and television shows, as well as the culture in general, to create the ultimate experience. Everything in the town is representative of modern-day American culture. We see McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and ads for shows like Jersey Shore and American Idol. One group of high school friends, seniors, is lazily sitting around a living room, bored and grumbling about the drabness of the world that we live in.

One of the kids makes a wish that they could all “just go back in time.” Suddenly and without warning, the room begins to spin, and the five of them realize that something has happened. They are in the same living room, but the decorations and furnishings are different. They have been transported back to 1985. They are thrilled and shocked at what has taken place, and have great adventures. In the end, though, they receive a big lesson on living for the future, and not latching onto the past. They realize that every generation has its hardships and that the past is not all fun and games. They find a way to travel back to 2010, and focus on making the most out of life today, without dreaming about the past, which we can never truly have back.

Clothing –

Clothing in the modern day is actually not significantly different from 25 years ago, generally speaking. Girls would probably not be wearing the skimpy clothing that they oftentimes do today, however, so that would be different. Guys could be wearing the traditional polo and jeans, which were just as common back then as today. Girls would have a lot of leggings and vibrant colors. Many outfits from that era were simply thrown together and made no sense, so a lot of their classmates at school would be dressed this way. There is a great diversity in style and method of dress.

Hair/Makeup –

Girls in the 80’s wore a lot of makeup and had big, crazy hairstyles, so many of the girls in this musical will as well. It won’t be overdone, though, because most people probably did not look this way and had an appearance comparable to someone from today. For guys especially, there would not be much of a difference in hair or makeup from today, except maybe for some punk kids that live in the town.

Location/s –

Shows and movies from the 80’s tend to take place in one of two places: California, probably because mostly everything takes place in California, and the Midwest. All of John Hughes’ films, for example, are set in suburban Chicago, because that was where he grew up. I chose Ohio for the setting of this film because I think it is the state that can be considered the most “All-American,” and the point of the musical is to focus on teenagers who are fed up with the standard modern-day American life that they live and want to be transported to another time. The new place they are sent to is also the exact same town 25 years earlier, but the culture is different. The five friends enjoy their new lives for a time, but begin to grow bored of it and realize that any time period is better to look back on than to actually live.

Aside from the town of Hill Valley being the primary setting for the show, we have many different scenes where the friends are in different places. The living room, the town square, their high school, parties, and various hangout spots throughout town are all featured in this musical. We see them both in 1985 and in the present, and can make comparisons on our own.

Type of Musical –

Most of the musical is a comedy, and is meant to be a lot of fun to watch. However, there is also a serious message present, which is that it is important to live for today and look towards the future, because the past is in the past, and we always over-romanticize it in our heads anyway. So, the musical will be funny, but also have serious overtones. The end may be more sad/hopeful than funny. Of course, people will perceive things in different ways, and that is part of what makes any musical great – seeing how individuals interpret and relate to it.

Special Effects –

This type of musical really wouldn’t need many special effects. We would need things like lights and smoke for some of the transformation scenes, and maybe some of the others, but large-scale expensive effects will probably not be used. The simplicity of the past that is being conveyed here just doesn’t require it. Also, I have always believed that a strong storyline and good acting is what really makes a musical or film, for that matter, and that special effects can be great if used properly, but can never make up for poor acting or a bad plot.

Soundtrack –

The music used in the production will be a mix of songs from today and from the 1980’s. Some examples are listed below:

Der Kommissar – After the Fire

Take on Me – Ah Ha

Heat of the Moment – Asia

Flesh for Fantasy – Billy Idol

Living on a Prayer – Bon Jovi

Video Killed the Radio Star – Buggles

Drive – The Cars

Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure

You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates

Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners

We Got the Beat – The Go-Go’s

Stop This Train – John Mayer

Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

All Night Long – Lionel Richie

Material Girl – Madonna

Thriller – Michael Jackson

This Afternoon – Nickelback

Sister Christian – Night Ranger

Secrets – OneRepublic

Your Love – The Outfield

In Love With the 80’s – Relient k

Should’ve Known Better – Richard Marx

True – Spandau Ballet

18 and Life – Skid Row

Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears

She Blinded Me With Science – Thomas Dolby

If It’s Love – Train

Billionaire – Travie McCoy

Jamie’s Crying – Van Halen

Dance Hall Days – Wang Chung

Also reflected in this musical will be the conservative social and political atmosphere of the 1980’s and how it compares to today. We will see how American culture and societal norms affect the lives of individuals living 25 years ago, as well as in the present.

Second Interview

My second interview was the weekend after the first one. This time, I felt much more comfortable about it, seeing as how the first one had gone so well and it felt much less awkward than I had anticipated.

Mr. and Mrs. Wong own a small gift shop towards the end of Mulberry Street, where Little Italy begins to mix with Chinatown. I chose to interview them because I thought it would be an interesting change from the mostly Italian residents of Little Italy. Even though the Wongs are Chinese, they still live and work in and around Mulberry Street.  They have owned the current store since 1997, and Mr. Wong has lived in the area since coming to New York from Beijing in 1995.

It is common in many cultures for the men to immigrate first. They work here and either make money and send it back to their home country for their family to come over as well, or they stay for a while and then return home. In this case, Mr. Wong’s wife followed him over the year after he arrived himself. They now have two children, Thomas and Annie, who live in the area with them and attend school nearby. They also go to Chinese school on sundays, where they learn to speak Chinese and learn about native customs.

The Wong’s knew from the start that they were moving into a historically Italian neighborhood, but never saw any issue with it or considered moving elsewhere. “The Chinese population here has been exploding,” commented Mr. Wong. “I have many friends who came to this area from back home.” Mrs. Wong liked how safe the neighborhood was, and said that “my children are happy here and have American friends now, so we cannot go back.”

Most of the products that are sold at the Wong’s store are New York themed, rather than specific to Little Italy or Chinatown. According to Mr. Wong, the store does well because they order from a different supplier than most of the generic gift shops that you can see all over the city, so their inventory is more unique. The shop had existed before they bought it, and was previously Italian themed. At that time, Little Italy really extended all the way up past the end of Mulberry and way out to the sides, so the location was clearly in the neighborhood.

Mr. and Mrs. Wong told me that they had no plans to leave anytime soon, and that the presence of so many Chinese in the area really made it a great place for them to live in. As is the case with any immigrant group I suppose, having the company of close friends who share your background and experiences really makes living in America an easier thing to do. For the children, they will likely assimilate over time.

Mulberry Street Walking Tour

Manhattan is full of so many different areas that it is difficult for people to learn about all of them, even if they visit. What are the best attractions to visit or places to eat? This walking tour is designed to give you a vivid image of what a walk down Mulberry Street, which is primarily home to Little Italy, would be like in person.

As can be seen from the map above, Mulberry Street is located between Soho and Chinatown in Lower Manhattan. The part that contains Little Italy is mainly sandwiched between Canal Street and Houston Street. While there are many ways to get to this area, I usually went over in the same way. From our residence in Chelsea, you can take the E or C train to the 4th street station, where you can than transfer to the B train and get off at the station by Broadway and Lafayette.

The official entrance to Mulberry’s Little Italy is where the street intersects with Canal. The best way to get there is to walk down Broadway a bit, taking in the sights and sounds of one of the busiest streets in the world. This part of broadway is filled with shops of all different types, and is bustling with New York residents and tourists alike. Eventually, you will reach Canal Street, where you turn left. You will begin to see the outskirts of Chinatown as you walk up towards Mulberry Street.

If you pay attention here, you will be able to tell that you are close to Little Italy, because the colors and designs of the buildings are still largely the same as they were when Little Italy reached this far west. As immigration from Europe slowed, there were less Italians in the area to sustain the neighborhoods huge size, and many Chinese immigrants began buying out property. The results are obvious today: Chinatown is massive and covers several blocks, while the Italian section is really just confined to Mulberry Street. Most of the businesses in this part of Chinatown were once Italian owned and themed.

Fortunately, preservation efforts have managed to keep Little Italy alive. the countless number of individuals who visit the area and spend their money each year is a massive boon to the city’s economy, not to mention the cultural and historical significance that the neighborhood adds to New York. Manhattan, and America, would not be the same without it. The walk up Canal should be pretty short, before one runs into the very first signs that they are in Little Italy: quaint, red and green painted restaurants pop out at the corner, where guests sit out on little cafe tables enjoying the sunshine, and, of course, a baked ziti or chicken parmesan.

Additionally, the entire street has red, white and green banners hanging above the road, clearly specifying that this is an Italian neighborhood. At night, they light up, and the crowds on Mulberry thin out a bit. It makes for quite a sight, and is a good time to visit if one wants to avoid the crowds and summer heat. Of course, you can also always purchase an authentic Italian Ice from one of the many street vendors to cool off. The food selection here is spectacular, and is hardly limited to the restaurants and cafes that seem to line the entire block. Choosing a place to dine is incredibly difficult, but the good news is that you will be hard pressed to come across a place that doesn’t have delicious food. My favorite was La Mela, which didn’t look the nicest at first glance, but has provided me with many an excellent meal in the past.

When walking down Mulberry Street, it is important to take note of the architecture in the neighborhood. While they may look similar to buildings in many other parts of Manhattan, they were used for a very different purpose: cramming as many immigrant families as possible into as small of a space as possible, so that labor was plentiful and wages could be kept low, helping the businesses and workshops that employed them to grow and prosper. Labor laws, including provisions that deal with child labor, were virtually non-existent during the largest wave of Italian immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In fact, Little Italy itself and the areas around it, such as NoLita, which stands for North of Little Italy, were once full of dirty, dangerous tenements. Many of them were demolished or converted into more suitable living spaces in later years, so it can be hard to picture what life was like for these new Americans when so little of what they lived in is left. Still, some of it remains, and if you look up at these apartments lining the street, imagine each level occupied with four or five separate families.

As is the case in most parts of New York, visitors can purchase all kinds of trinkets at gift shops and souvenir stands. As you would probably expect, Little Italy has tons of them, and they carry mostly Italian-themed products. In addition to the typical t-shirts, shot glasses, and mini flags, there are also some unique and interesting places that I myself never expected to see in the neighborhood, such as a famous cigar shop about halfway up. No, Italy is not known for its cigars, but you can find pretty much anything here as long as you look hard enough.

Of course, if smoking isn’t your thing, you can always just settle for the standard and inexpensive postcard as a reminder of your visit. Various types of gifts and products, for people of all ages and interests, are available here so long as one appreciates all things Italian.

In all honesty, for the most part, all of Mulberry street sort of looks the same. While this would make most any other place boring and repetitive, it works here, because the whole point of Little Italy today is to immerse one in the culture, sights and sounds of the boot-shaped Mediterranean country that Mulberry is meant to represent. You will notice this while journeying through it. The colors echo those of the Italian Flag, the older Italian gentlemen proudly converse in their native language in the street and on the sidewalk, and the smells of ripe tomatoes and bubbling alfredo fills the air. Of course, tourists from Iowa clog the road and take away slightly from the experience, but that is part of what comes with being a popular destination for visitors. In fact, the neighborhood gets so crowded that most of Mulberry Street is actually blocked off to traffic, meaning that a quick drive-through in your car is usually impossible.

In the past few years, the Italian American Museum was moved from its former home on 44th street to the end of Mulberry Street in Little Italy, where your tour ends. This is a great place for those who are interested in the history, background, plight, and successes of the millions of Italian immigrants who came to America so many years ago. Thanks to the move, Little Italy now provides visitors with an academic incentive to visit as well. I hope that you enjoy this neighborhood as much as I have for the past two months, and make the most out of your visit.

The Guggenheim and Franz Marc

Last Monday, our group had planned on visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located uptown somewhat near Central Park. After a little mishap with my group, where we got on a subway that was going in the wrong direction and ended up in Queens, we finally made it there only to realize that it was closed. I thought that this was odd for a Monday, but it was okay because we went to the Guggenheim Museum instead, located just a few blocks away.

I had never been to either of these museums, so the change in plans worked out fine for me. As you can see above, The Guggenheim is an architectural marvel. Even on the inside, there was a single ramp-like that spiraled upward several stories and allowed visitors to walk along and enjoy the exhibits.

The above painting is by Franz Marc, a German-French artist who I believe painted this in 1913. There are a few reasons why I believe that it represents my neighborhood of Little Italy. First and foremost, it is important to think about how I would feel if I lived in the neighborhood as an immigrant at the turn of the century. I wrote a blog post about this very topic back in June.

When Marc painted The Unfortunate Land of Tyrol, it was meant to represent war, poverty, and dispair. However, there are signs of hope in the painting, such as the bird with its wings outstretched and the rainbow in the upper right corner. As an immigrant in Little Italy, I would feel all of those things, but would be happy to be in America, where I at least have an opportunity to make a better future.

September 11 Volunteerism

We all remember where we were on 9/11, when we first heard of what had happened. I was in sixth grade, new to middle school, when it all took place. In the following months, I would visit ground zero, look out at the destruction, and feel, along with sorrow and anger, regret that I had not gotten the chance to visit the World Trade Center before.

This fall marks the 9th anniversary of 9/11. I will actually be in France studying abroad, so my focus will be on strengthening relations between Americans and Europeans for the entire semester. Global understanding is crucial for peace in the future, even though Europe obviously had nothing to do with 9/11. I already know of memorial services that are being held in Paris, and I plan on attending at least one of the major ones to help add an American presence to the mix.

Descriptive Essay

July 24, 2010

A Monday Stroll

I have spent many hours in my neighborhood of Little Italy, but until last Monday, I had not yet interviewed anyone in the area at all. I was nervous about it, as most people were, because it can be intimidating to just go up to people and solicit them for an interview. Fortunately, it all turned out to be much easier than I had expected when I went over there. Since we had a group activity in the morning, many of us stayed together with the intention of helping one another out with their interviews in each of the different neighborhoods. This proved to be more complicated than necessary and we eventually broke off on our own.

I was feeling a little under the weather that day, and had all morning. When I arrived at the opening of Mulberry Street, however, I forgot all about that and just took in the sights. As always, there were ornate decorations hanging from the buildings along with red, white, and green imagery everywhere, and tourists flooding the road. I think if I could change one thing about Little Italy, it would be to get rid of all the tourists, but then again, I guess I kind of am one too. I suppose that my goal is to change that somewhat through my engaging of the locals. Once you know someone’s story, you have become, in a sense, a participant in their life and a part of that neighborhood.

Possibly the most difficult part of scoring a terrific interview lies in figuring out who to ask in the first place. I looked around and walked down the street thinking about it. I passed gelato shops, pizza restaurants, and the museum at the corner. I finally decided to procrastinate a little bit more and buy food from one of those stands that you can see set up all over the city. In Little Italy, of course, they sell Italian Food, and it is actually pretty good. Business had been slow that day I guess, because the vendor started talking to me, asking where I was from and whatnot. And so began my first interview, without my even expecting it.

Ordinary is Extraordinary

My name is Bill Gentilotti. I may have an Italian name, but I was actually born over in Brooklyn, out by Rockaway. That was where I grew up as a child of the 70s. Back then, this city was a different place. Technically, it was worse by most measures: parts that are perfectly fine now were magnets of crime and drug use. But I have good memories from those times, as most of us do from when we were children. Although I did not immigrate here, my grandparents on my mother’s side were in fact from South-Central Italy, and my ancestors on my father’s side going back were from Ireland. So, I am Irish-Italian-American, which is a pretty common mix around here.

Today, I live near the Bowery with my wife and two children, who are eleven and nine years old. I actually only work over here on Mulberry street two days a week, with the rest spent helping to manage our family convenience store a few blocks away. I have lived over here in Manhattan since attending community college about twenty years ago, and have no plans to leave anytime soon. New York City has always been my home, although the island is much different from far out in Brooklyn. There was actually a time when Brooklyn was its own official city, if you can believe it. They even had their own baseball team when my parents were growing up there. It’s amazing how things can change so much over time.

I love Little Italy because it is so distinct from any other part of the city. We don’t really get Italian immigrants these days, so this is basically all we have left of Italian life in the city. Many of our older residents are immigrants, and we still have a few thousand true Italians here. Even among those who are not, some still have learned to speak the language and are greatly immersed in the culture. Of course, the neighborhood has shrunk so much that the vast majority of residents are neither Italian nor descended from Italians. But, we all love it here, especially for the food.

I consider myself to be a pretty ordinary guy. I work every day to support my family and while we are not poor, we don’t have a ton of money. But even though most people in Little Italy and in New York live ordinary lives, we are all different and unique in some way, and that is what makes this such an incredible place to live. I don’t think that I could ever not live in a city, because being in a diverse, urban environment is such a big part of my background and who I am. I lived in Philly for a year as a kid and in Chicago for a few months back when I was 22. Both cities reminded me a lot of here, but especially Chicago. So while New York is my favorite city for obvious reasons, I know that there are other great ones out there too.

I would say that most people you see milling about here do not actually live in Little Italy, or even near it. Most are tourists, or are walking through to get someplace else. But if you come in the middle of the day and walk through, you are sure to find some true old Italians sitting out and enjoying the sunshine. Even though Chinatown has been eating away at this neighborhood for years, we don’t resent them or anything like it. Most of us have a lot of Chinese friends, and we work with them to make the area safe and attractive to visitors.

Many older Italians have sold their property to Chinese and moved out. I just say, this is how it is. Things change, and you can’t always stop change. Nor should you. Most change is good, and just a part of what makes the world turn. If the change is bad, you can do things to make it good. I don’t know what will be left of Little Italy in twenty years, but I know plenty of people who have no plans to go anywhere. I think that we will be around for years to come.