The only neighborhood I thought resembled the Italian neighborhood I've been to years ago was Arthur Ave in the Bronx. Little Italy NYC seemed to be filled with young ppl, but in the Bronx I got to see the old men hanging outside the market talking in Italian to the clam guy. That made me happy.
I think I already may have mentioned it to you. But I grew up on 187th and Hoffman, and I own a property there today. I've spent my entire life in and around that neighborhood, even after I moved out of it.
At the 2010 census the population in the 10458 zip code (Arthur Avenue/Botanical Garden/Bronx Zoo area) was less than 15 percent Italian. And even that's a stretch. Our Lady of Mount Carmel (made famous in "A Bronx Tale"), has Masses in Spanish every day. They're down to one Italian Mass per week. That's all you have to know.
The stores and restaurants will always be Italian (I hope so, anyway). But the third and fourth generation Italian Americans have almost all split for the burbs. Even the Albanians are starting to move out
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