You can't swing a dead cat on the West Side of Manhattan today without hitting a Starbucks or a Panera bread. It's almost completely gentrified these days.

As far as Irish neighborhoods go, there are still pockets of Irish in Inwood, which is on the northwestern tip of Manhattan, on the Bronx border. But the only truly Irish neighborhood left in New York City, and the only truly ethnic neighborhood left at all----besides the Dominicans in Washington Heights----is the Woodlawn section of the Bronx.

It's remarkable. The Woodlawn zip code (10470) is still over 80 percent Irish, which is unheard of today as far as a single ethnic group dominating a neighborhood goes (with the exception of the Dominicans in Washington Heights, which I mentioned earlier). And the Irish spill right over the Yonkers side of the border onto McLean Avenue.

Woodlawn may very well be more Irish today than when I was growing up, and I'm almost 55. And when I say Irish, I mean off the boat Irish. I'm not even talking about Irish American. Katonah Avenue is literally like an Irish village.

You gotta hand it to them. They're just too thickheaded to leave .