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.