Monday, March 27, 2023

Brief History of Italian New York NY NYC




AL PACINO

SICILIAN AMERICAN

Native NEW YORK ITALIAN

BRONX, NEW YORK|


New York City has the largest population of Italian Americans in the United States of America as well as North America, many of whom inhabit ethnic enclaves in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. New York is home to the third largest Italian population outside of Italy, behind Buenos Aires, Argentina (first) and São Paulo, Brazil (second). Over 2.6 million[1] Italians and Italian-Americans live in the greater New York metro area, with about 800,000 living within one of the five New York City boroughs. This makes Italian Americans the largest ethnic group in the New York metro area.

The first Italian to reside in New York was Pietro Cesare Alberti, a Venetian seaman who, in 1635, settled in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam that would eventually become New York. A small wave of Protestants, known as Waldensians, who were of French and northern Italian heritage (specifically Piedmontese), occurred during the 17th century, with the majority coming between 1654 and 1663.[ A 1671 Dutch record indicates that, in 1656 alone, the Duchy of Savoy near Turin, Italy, had exiled 300 Waldensians due to their Protestant faith.

The largest wave of Italian immigration to the United States took place in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Between 1820 and 1978, 5.3 million Italians immigrated to the United States, including over two million between 1900 and 1910. Only Irish and Germans immigrated in larger numbers.

The first New York neighborhood to be settled by large numbers of Italian immigrants – primarily from Southern Italy (mostly from Sicily) – was East Harlem, which became the first part of the city to be known as "Little Italy". The area, which lies east of Lexington Avenue between 96th and 116th Streets and east of Madison Avenue between 116th and 125th Streets, featured people from different regions of Italy on each cross street, as immigrants from each area chose to live in close proximity to each other.

"Italian Harlem" approached its peak in the 1930s, with over 100,000 Italian-Americans living in its crowded, run-down apartment buildings.  The 1930 census showed that 81 percent of the population of Italian Harlem consisted of first- or second- generation Italian Americans. This was somewhat less than the concentration of Italian Americans in the Lower East Side’s Little Italy with 88 percent; Italian Harlem’s total population, however, was three times that of Little Italy. Remnants of the neighborhood's Italian heritage are kept alive by the Giglio Society of East Harlem. Every year on the second weekend of August, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated and the "Dancing of the Giglio" is performed for thousands of visitors.

After World War II, the original Italian settlements such as East Harlem declined as Italian Americans moved to the North Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn's southern tier. The geographic shift coincided with a new wave of Italian immigration. An estimated 129,000 to 150,000 Italian immigrants entered New York City between 1945 and 1973. Bypassing Manhattan, they settled in Italian American neighborhoods in the outer boroughs and helped reinvigorate Italian culture and community institutions. With the influx of postwar immigrants, Bensonhurst became the largest Italian community in New York City, with 150,000 Italian Americans in the 1980 census.

The best-known "Little Italy" in Manhattan is the area currently called that, which centers around Mulberry Street. This settlement, however, is rapidly becoming part of the adjacent Chinatown as the older Italian residents die and their children move elsewhere. As of the 2000 census, 692,739 New Yorkers reported Italian ancestry, making them the largest European ethnic group in the city. In 2011, the American Community Survey found there were 49,075 persons of Italian birth in New York. 








Charles "Lucky" Luciano

Charles Lucky Luciano was born in Lercara Friddi, Sicily.

His parents immigrated to New York when he was 9 years old.

The Luciano's settled on East 1oth Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The neighborhood, a 100 years ago, when Lucky was growing up, was primarily
a Sicilian neighborhood, as well as Neapolitans, and Italian immigrants from Geno and Abruzzo as well.





Author Daniel Bellino "Z"

SICILIAN AMERICAN


Daniel Bellino Z, also lived in the East Village,which was known
as part of the Lower East Side when Lucky Luciano lived there.
Daniel lived on Avenue A at Saint Mark's Place for 11 years, from 1982
to 1993. While living there, he worked 2 jobs for 7 years. He'd cook at French and Italian restaurants during the day, and at night he waited tables at John's on 12th Street for 7 years. John's opened in 1908 and is still in business today (2023). 

Not only did "Lucky" Luciano eat at John's and Lanza's around the block
on 1st Avenue, he is said to have "Whacked" (murdered) someone on the East 12th Street, right in front of John's Sicilian Restaurant.

Lucky also frequent DeRoberti's Pasticceria, a Sicilian Pastry Shop next toLanza's Restaurant on 1st Avenue. Veneiro's Italian Pastry Shop which opened on East 11th Street in 1890, is just about 50 feet away from Lanza's and DeRoberti's.





The BELLINO FAMILY

Giuseppina & Fillipo Bellino

Immigrated to New York from Lercara Friddi in 1906

The same years as the LUCINAO Family, both Families, along with
Martino Severino Sinatra (Frank's Father) are from LERCARA FRIDDI, Sicily.

The Bellino's; Fillipo, daughter Lucia - my Mother, Antonino and Giuseppina

are pictured here in Lodi, New Jersey, where they moved to, after 2 years in NYC

Fillipo opened a Shoemaker Shop on Main Street in Lodi, where there was a little
gambling room in the back, where local Italian men played cards and bet on Numbers.









RECIPES From My SICILIAN NONNA

GIUSEPPINA SALEMI BELLINO

From LERCARA FRIDDI

And Other SICILIAN & ITALIAN RECIPES










SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN AMERICANS COOK

aka The GODFATHER COOKBOOK








Martin Scorsese

Sicilian-American

Famed Italian-American director Martin Scorsese grew up in 
a 6 floor walk-up in a Sicilian Neighborhood on Elizabeth Street
just south of Houston Street with his Sicilian-American parents
Catherine and Charles Scorsese.

His ancestral Sicilian Family are from the town of Pollizzi Generosa
in the Province of Palermo, near the towns of Corleone and
Lercara Friddi, Sicily.












Monday, March 13, 2023

Joe Pepitone has Passed Away

 



JOE PEPITONE


"It's a sad day in New York, and especially for Italian-American New Yorker's, and those who loved the late great Joe Pepitone, of Brooklyn, New York. 

The Yankees are deeply saddened by the passing of former Yankee Joe Pepitone, whose playful and charismatic personality and on-field contributions made him a favorite of generations of Yankees fans even beyond his years with the team in the 1960s,” the Yankees said in a statement.

“As a native New Yorker, he embraced everything about being a Yankee during both his playing career -- which included three All-Star appearances and three Gold Gloves -- and in the decades thereafter. You always knew when Joe walked into a room -- his immense pride in being a Yankee was always on display. He will be missed by our entire organization, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all who knew him."





Joe Pepitone with Mickey Mantle

and Roger Maris



If Joe Pepitone were a car, he’d be a Ferrari — powerful, Italian, and high-performance. Though his career .258 batting average may not evidence power, Pepitone placed in the American League’s top 10 in total bases twice, in RBI twice, and in home runs thrice in his 12-year major-league career (1962-1973). He also clouted seven grand slams.

Defensively, Pepitone showed merit at first base in the junior circuit with a top-10 ranking four times for putouts, four times for assists, and four times for double plays. He also occupied the number-one slot in fielding percentage three times; in addition to first base, he played all three outfield positions.

But it is Pepitone’s off-the-field exploits that often grab more attention. For a Yankee in the 1960s, New York City was a playground of nightclubs, saloons, and crash pads; Pepitone soaked it up like a sponge with teammates, mobsters, and women. There was no If Joe Pepitone were a car, he’d be a Ferrari — powerful, Italian, and high-performance. Though his career .258 batting average may not evidence power, Pepitone placed in the American League’s top 10 in total bases twice, in RBI twice, and in home runs thrice in his 12-year major-league career (1962-1973). He also clouted seven grand slams.

Defensively, Pepitone showed merit at first base in the junior circuit with a top-10 ranking four times for putouts, four times for assists, and four times for double plays. He also occupied the number-one slot in fielding percentage three times; in addition to first base, he played all three outfield positions.






JOE PEPITONE

ART by artist PhilMcKenney





SUNDAY SAUCE








Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Do You Have SUNDAY SAUCE

 



SUNDAY SAUCE 

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

The DEFINING BOOK on SUNDAY SAUCE

MEATBALLS BRACIOLE & OTHER STUFF





FIVE STAR REVIEWS





Sunday Sauce by New York Italian-American author Daniel Bellino Z has become required reading of Italian-Americans and the Italian-American kitchen, and Italian-America's most supreme dish 
Sunday Sauce ( aka Gravy).

SUNDAY SAUCE with the # 1 Best Selling Italian Cookbook (on Amazon Kindle, for more than 2 years, aupon its publication release, and is still a bestseller today. If you're into Italian Food, and Italian American Food, culture, and lifestyle, this book is a must for your Cookbook & Italian Cultural Library. Readers love many great recipes, and wonderful stories of Italian Food & Peoples, told by the author. No pictures, just great recipes and wonderful stories of: Italians, Italian Food, and culture.

Get your copy today!










BESTSELLING ITALIAN COOKBOOKS

By DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE