The immigration wave that flooded America at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries brought people from most of the European countries, as well as from Asia. Although the number of Italian immigrants in that period was not higher than that of the Germans, Irish or Poles, today Italian Americans make up the largest European American ethnic group in New York City, 8.3 percent. The neighborhood that today is called Little Italy was the foundation and nucleus of the community, and is still an integral part of Italian American culture and heritage.
The most intense period of Italian immigration to America occurred between 1880 and 1920, when over four million Italians left their homes and took the boat over the Atlantic in search of opportunity in the United States. Most of them, about 80 percent, came from the south of the country, from regions such as Campania, Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzo and Molise. After the final phase of unification of Italy in 1871 the southern parts of the country had been neglected by the central government in Rome, creating difficult economic conditions for the lower classes of society. New York was the main destination for Italians coming to America, followed by Philadelphia and Boston, and Mulberry Street in lower Manhattan, between Canal Street in the south and Broom Street in the north, became the epicenter of the newly arrived community.
In fact, at the height of Italian immigration to New York at the turn of the 20th century, when there were roughly 10,000 Italians living on and around Mulberry Street, the neighborhood was not considered one of the many New York neighborhoods - it was considered to literally be a little piece of Italy in New York. It was a southern Italian village with the same language, customs, mind frame and cultural institutions that people had in southern Italy. The difference was that this village was not in the country of Italy, but in the US.
In the beginning, Little Italy was a slum. There was another Italian neighborhood in the Bronx, but, being far from the industrial activity, that neighborhood was not as polluted and the urban layout of the Bronx prevented it from becoming overly congested. The overwhelming majority of Italian immigrants did not speak English, had practically no education and did not have anyone in the New World. Usually the father or the older male children would immigrate first and then, after earning enough money, would send for the rest of the family.
Starting life anew in a foreign country, where everything was different - from religion to language to food - was not easy. The immigrants had to settle for menial, low-salary jobs and were often exploited by their American employers and the Italian intermediaries who found them the jobs. The sanitary conditions in lower Manhattan were not good. Electricity, heating and ventilation were scarce and dwellings were overcrowded. Disease, such as tuberculosis, spread quickly and obviously only the very few could afford quality treatments. Crime, organized or not, was rampant, and many immigrants got involved in illegal activities just in order to stay alive. The criminal organizations preyed on the poverty of the neighborhood, recruiting members faster than the US army recruited soldiers. The Italian-American mafia, with its connections in southern Italy, became extremely powerful in New York and at times, with its intricate corruption schemes, exercised more authority than the city authorities themselves. Families such as Morello and Genovese were cancerous to the city in the first half of the 20th century and their remnants still survive to this day.
But Little Italy was not all squalor, crime and misery. Italian immigrants made substantial contributions to the development of the city. Men worked in the construction of roads, subways, buildings and bridges. Women were skilled seamstresses, bringing with them the styles and tastes of the Mediterranean. Italian recipes, especially pasta dishes, became very popular and there was a growing demand for Italian chefs. Just like there were increasing opportunities for Italian singers, musicians and actors. Catholic festivals were colorful and dramatic and presented an alternative to the sedate and often dreary Protestant ceremonies. Italian culture, with its inexhaustible history and artistic wealth, was new in America and it drew lots of curiosity from the Anglo-Protestant part of the population, which is why Little Italy, despite the dark, underground elements, was always a fun place to be.
Little Italy in lower Manhattan was not the only Italian enclave in New York City. There were several in every borough - in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and in Staten Island. In fact, it was one of the smallest. However, it was definitely the most vibrant and popular one. Thanks to its proximity to some of New York's most vital areas, such as the South Street Seaport, Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, Little Italy on Mulberry Street assumed a dynamic and exuberant character. It also attracted the spotlight in the post-war years when famous Italian Americans such as singers Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Mario Lanza and athletes Joe DiMaggio and Rocky Marciano began appearing in the cafes and restaurants on Mulberry Street. Some of them are still open today: Grotta Azzurra, Pellegrino's and Angelo's of Mulberry Street.
But it was the 1974 film The Godfather Part II, based on Mario Puzo's novel and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, that brought Little Italy in Lower Manhattan world fame. The film shows the years when young Vito Corleone immigrated to New York and was growing up on Mulberry Street. Surprisingly, even though Vito becomes a local mafia boss and engages in all the illegal and violent activities that mob bosses normally engage in, we as the audience are forced to sympathize with him. The story, narrating all the sides of life in Little Italy, tells us that Vito had no alternative: he did what he did because he had to survive.
Paradoxically, although it was the most popular Italian neighborhood in New York in the 20th century, today there are not that many second, third or fourth generation Italians living in Little Italy. After World War II, with the emergence of Chinatown below Canal Street and the increase of real estate prices in Lower Manhattan, most Italians moved to other boroughs of New York City or to New Jersey. But the spirit of southern Italy is still there, especially in the summer when the restaurants offer outdoor seating and you can smell the aromas of Mediterranean cuisine wafting across Mulberry Street, or in the second half of September during the Feast of San Gennaro when Roman Catholic decorations envelop the neighborhood.