I recently worked with two northern Italians (from Rome). They live on the upper west side (doing well, financially). I tried to strike up conversation about the Italian presence in Queens and some of the neighborhoods. I was trying to segwey into discussion about Parkside, my favorite restaurant ever. They laughed. They don't even consider anything south of Naples to be true Italian. So there are differences in identity even within Italy.
It's not the first time I've worked with people from northern Italy. The last time a woman declared that if anyone mentioned the words "spaghetti" or "mafia" that she would take her shoe off and throw it at them. Just saying.
Don't know if this ties in with the topic but discrimination is ubiquitous. There is discrimination within families (parents favor one child over the other). Dating is discrimination. Shopping is discrimination.
I work very close to that area, it is a mostly Mexican area, with Italians last in numbers behind Columbians and other South American groups. They say the last time it was Italian in Corona was way back in the 1980's or earlier.
Forgot to mention Tony's on 104th street, where Nicky Santoro (Bonanno) meets with Tough Tony Federici (Genovese) on occasion.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/pillow-carrying-mobster-24-months-jail-article-1.1215812They have Italian restaurants, but the residents are rarely Italian. A few mostly elderly people live there, mostly on one or 2 small blocks. This is like when people try to call some areas Irish even though they too are all South American and Mexican. I went to a place called Doanvan's in Woodside, an old time Irish pub. I was told there were a lot of Irish in the area. Guess what, all the pool in the street were Spanish and speaking it. Inside it was Irish, and there are few living around there, but look at the numbers.
Corona
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Corona-Corona-NY.htmlI hear ya, and I'm not disagreeing. Speaking of Woodside (my sister had her baby showewr at Donovan's) there is a legit Irish bar right under the LIRR and 7 platforms on 61st and Roosevelt. It's called the station bar (oddly enough). I drink there on occasion and it's probably 90% brogues in there at all times. The Irish population, from what I've been told had all moved to the southern part of Woodside, past Queens BLVD, closer to Maspeth. I don't know if that is true, or even if it is, whether it still holds true.
The turnover in Jackson Heights seems to be every 10 years. It was once Colombian and now almost all Mexican (and British, yes British, as one gets closer to the airport). Travers Park (formerly 78th Street park) on many weekends has tons of UK bloke accents recently. I held a community event there 2 years ago and the amount of UK immigrants was astounding. But they came over with money, methinks. Just gentrifying in Queens because London is a shitshow.
Anyway these things are fun to talk about. Always some funny corners of Queens with odd genetic history (Bukarians in Rego Park, Greek Orthodox in Whitestone, etc.)
