Well in truth DS, what I think has happened over the last decade or so it that :
Many of the old timers who owned those buildings and stores have passed on or moved out and have sold to the chinese busnesses. By doing this it obviously diminshed the presence of the Italian eateries and stores, which have now been replaced the chinese businesses.
As for your "since Gotti" statement, well there is also some truth to that. Many of the businesses and buildings were owned and run by the "oldtime" mobsters. But over the last decade many have died, and many have gone to prison for a long time. The younger generation of mobsters, well whatevers left of them, have different ideals and ideas and have not held the "traditions" of the area in as high esteem as the older mobsters had throughout the years. So they sold out the businesses and buildings that were owned by many years by the old timers.
If you go there these days you will see that ChinaTown has expanded tremendously while Little Italy has shrunk to about an area of 2 to 3 blocks.
Don Cardi