New York’s Italian heart still beats.
With more than 2.6 million paesanos living in NYC and environs — at last census, roughly 600,000 in the five boroughs — Italian-Americans are a vital part of city life and culture, a century after their ranks initially swelled to 17 percent of the city’s total population.
Today, that number is down considerably, as the diaspora has dispersed to other parts of the country — to between five and six percent.
But even now, all over the Big Apple, or la Grande Mela, there remain blocks where you can hear the mother tongue, spot nonnas hollering for kids from their stoops, see guys in white tank tops showing off chest hair and cross necklaces, and catch entire families gathered for Sunday Mass — right before a neighbor invites you to pull up a lawn chair and stay a while.
Manhattan’s Little Italy and The Bronx’s Arthur Avenue are just the tip of the boot. With New York currently celebrating Italian American Heritage Month, not to mention Columbus Day and the annual parade on Fifth Avenue this Monday, it’s the perfect time to dive into some of the under-the-radar outer-borough enclaves that are cooking up authentic Italian culture — right under your nose.
As these villas prove, the old country isn’t going anywhere. It’s right there in the bakeries, butcher shops, churches, coffee bars, gardens, and Sunday dinners.
Here’s where to get a pizz-a the action this holiday weekend.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst, a.k.a. “Brooklyn’s Little Italy,” has changed significantly since immigrants first descended on Bay Parkway in the early 1900s. But don’t tell the remaining old-timers that Italian “Brook-a-leen” is dead.
“Walk down any side street in Bensonhurst, and you’ll see the Italian-American presence right away,” Nick Papa, 37, a fourth-generation Italian-American told The Post of his neighborhood’s front yards, where Virgin Mary statues stand guard over manicured gardens.
Fuggedabout those “false stories” that Bensonhurst is “over, gone, no longer a Little Italy,” he insists — and for proof, head straight to 18th Avenue.
There, the food writer said, stop at J&V Pizzeria, Villabate Alba Bakery, Lioni Italian Heroes and Papa Pasquale, before snacking on salciccia at the historic Lucy’s Sausages, whose recipes stretch back over a century.
And don’t forget to stock up on handmade pasta and amore at the long-running Pastosa Ravioli — less than two blocks away at the corner of New Utrecht Ave. and Bay Ridge Pkwy.
Cathy Coluccio Fazzolari, who grew up in the neighborhood, co-owns specialty importer and market D. Coluccio & Sons on Bensonhurst’s 60th Street.
Her parents emigrated from Calabria in southern Italy, and opened shop in 1962 after realizing local greenhorns couldn’t find proper comfort food. Decades later, Fazzolari still sees that line to the old country in the neighborhood — and on her store’s shelves.
“You’ll always hear all the different dialects among our customers, the Sicilian dialect, the Neapolitan, the Calabrese,” Fazzolari said of her customers — many making the trek back from the suburbs.
“If they want authentic tomatoes, cheeses and more, they say they need to come back to us,” she told The Post.
Her local hit list for visitors to the area — the Basilica of Regina Pacis, Faicco’s Pork Store, Villabate Alba, and L&B Spumoni Gardens. And the family market, of course.
If you’re heading to Bensonhurst this weekend, don’t miss the 44th Annual Columbus Day Parade on Saturday, Oct. 10, hosted by the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Brooklyn. Mass begins at 10 a.m. at St. Athanasius Church (2154 61st St.), followed by the parade at 1 p.m. at 18th Avenue (Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard) and 61st Street.
Middle Village, Queens
For a low-key taste of Il Bel Paese in Gotham, head to Middle Village, Queens — where you can still hear Italian spoken in line at the mom-and-pop shops.
Joseph Pascale, 25, a Ridgewood local who frequents Middle Village for Italian specialty foods, says that’s the main draw.
“I love spending a day in Middle Village as I think it’s one of the few New York City neighborhoods where you could actually hear the Italian language spoken by regular people in small businesses,” Pascale said.
He advises grabbing a table at Erasmo Ristorante for pasta, then cruising Metropolitan Avenue’s bakeries and delis, stopping at Colombo Fruit & Vegetable Market to rub elbows with longtime Italian immigrants. Next, hit Mario’s Meat Market for veal cutlets, and grab Sicilian pastries at Joe’s Bakery.
He also points visitors toward St. John’s Cemetery, where his Italian great-grandparents rest alongside mob royalty like John Gotti, Carlo Gambino, Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano, and Vito Genovese.
Pascale notes that because Middle Village is tucked deep in Queens, it retains authentic neighborhood soul.
“It’s not a tourist trap. You’ll meet real working people and Italian immigrants in its stores and restaurants, which means a lot to me,” the beverage-industry sales manager said.
The residential vibe adds to the charm: Pascale describes quiet blocks packed with single-family homes, driveways, and backyard gardens where locals still cultivate prize tomatoes and string beans.
When he made the move from Connecticut two years ago, Pascale was looking for a slice of home.
“I remember thinking, ‘I want to find the old-school Italians in New York,’ and I can now say that I have.”
Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood has changed hands — and nationalities — over the decades, but Tony Di Piazza, chairman of the Associazione Culturale Italiana di New York, says its Italian-American flavor remains.
Di Piazza, who settled in Ridgewood after coming to the US from Palermo in 1966, remembers the neighborhood transitioning from German to Italian before becoming increasingly Eastern European and multicultural.
Today, Italian-American life thrives on and around Fresh Pond Road, where classic spots like Antica Trattoria and Corato I sit side-by-side with newcomers Rustico Taverna, Arrigo’s and the nearby Il Gigante Trattoria.
Even a quick coffee run gets the full Italian treatment at Sofia Gourmet, which slings panini, pastries, gelato, and imported goods.
One of Di Piazza’s favorite hometown habits is classic and simple: espresso with a view.
“It’s a classic Italian tradition to hang around coffee bars,” Di Piazza said, adding that he “loves visiting” European Coffee Bar on Fresh Pond Road.
Howard Beach, Queens
Di Piazza also logged nearly four decades in Howard Beach, raising his family there after moving in the 1970s.
The neighborhood “offered a more suburban version of Italian-American New York, with one-family homes and a strong family-oriented community,” he says.
“I think Howard Beach is one of the nicest New York City neighborhoods to live in and to raise a family in,” Di Piazza said, “and it feels like its Italian-American community is still there.”
To eat like a local, he points to Bruno Ristorante and Matteo’s — two old-school joints serving up hearty dishes straight out of Lo Stivale.
And Howard Beach sure knows how to throw a festa.
St. Helen Catholic Academy will host a fall street festival on Sunday, Oct. 11, from noon to 4 p.m. at 83-09 157th Ave.
Expect Italian favorites like zeppoles and sausage and peppers, plus a fall market and a haunted house for a spooky-season twist.
Shoppers can also stock up on farm-fresh vegetables, pies, jam, apple cider and doughnuts, delivered straight from the farm that morning.
Dyker Heights, Brooklyn
Dyker Heights might be famous for its over-the-top Christmas lights, but locals know it for a year-round tradition: unapologetic Italian-American life.
Anthony Ciccone, 40, was born and raised on these streets and says the culture runs deep, even as the hood diversifies.
“You can see old-timers playing bocce at Dyker Park on the weekends, or during the week, because apparently retirement has its perks,” Ciccone said.
Growing up, Italian families lived on every side of his house, and the local park was ground zero for basketball and stickball games.
“I grew up around that place, and to this day, that smell of pizza can instantly bring you back to your childhood if you grew up in the neighborhood,” the insurance agency owner said.
He added, “You know the roots are still there when you drive down a block in Dyker Heights or Bensonhurst during the summer and see an older man in a white tank top, garden hose in hand, hosing down a perfectly clean cement driveway because apparently the concrete needed to look ‘clean.’”
Can’t-miss neighborhood staples in Dyker Heights include Krispy Pizza, Tasty Pastry Shoppe and St. Bernadette’s Church, where Ciccone says he can “still feel like that 10-year-old kid about to sit down and eat a nice plate of baked clams.”
Rosebank & Tottenville, Staten Island
Staten Island’s Italian-American story stretches from historic immigrant neighborhoods to its sprawling South Shore communities, earning the borough its well-deserved nickname, Staten Italy — and Rosebank offers a front-row seat to that history.
Jenna Guarneri, 29, grew up in Tottenville after her family relocated from Brooklyn in the 1980s. Now, the PR firm CEO lives in nearby Shore Acres.
In Rosebank, she points to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grotto, a hand-built shrine dating to 1937, as a local neighborhood treasure, along with the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum to connect with the community’s immigrant history.
But the local Italian-American culture isn’t just about relics.
Guarneri points to Mount Loretto’s massive Columbus Day festival — Staten Island’s largest feast — coming up on Monday, alongside legendary dining spots like Don Cheech and Basilio Inn, which is over 100 years old.
The future of the neighborhood is bright, she said.
“As I watch my niece grow up in the same area I did, I can still see how deeply rooted Italian-American culture remains in Tottenville, Rosebank and elsewhere today,” Guarneri explained.
She also points to Casa Belvedere, the Italian Cultural Foundation, which hosts events and meetups that keep Italian language, cuisine and community traditions alive for all New Yorkers.
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