Arthur Street?
I think you mean Arthur Avenue.
Was watching something about Arthur st in the Bronx earlier, it said it was the real Little Italy in NY.
I like to think it was. The operative word being
was. The stores and restaurants are still Italian, but the populace was over 85 percent Latino at the last census (2010). It may even be higher now. Many of the Albanians have even split for the suburbs.
Is that the case, also is it an area with a strong LCN connection?
It sure was. But again, the operative word there is
was. I was born in 1959 and grew up on the corner of Hoffman and 187th, right in the heart of that neighborhood. Think "A Bronx Tale." Chazz really captured the spirit of the neighbohood at the time when he made that movie. But like I said earlier, today the stores and restaurants are still Italian, but that's about it. There isn't a single social club left. Not one. When I was a kid, there were a dozen.
Patsy Parrello still has his Rigoletto restaurant right on the avenue. But believe it or not, that's a square joint. The place was never a hangout. Patsy and his wife put their hearts and souls into that place. They'd never let it become a "joint."
