I grew up in Astoria and remember how great everything was back in the day. My father would bring us to Little Italy a lot. That way of life is sadly gone forever.
Thank You, some of my family is from little Italy, you are a 100% right about everything, sad to see it change from when I was a kid, much better times you felt safe in a busy Neighbor-hood people looked out for one another, shame to see how it is now. Thank God we still have Baby John their the cannoli king holding it down for all of us Italians.
I went there as a little girl in the sixties. My grandparents lived there. I loved all the people, the push carts, the food. I didn't notice the poverty, was to young. They moved to CT later on, but their funerals were held near their neighborhood in NY. Huge crowd. I always questioned that. But as my Sicilian relative used to say "mind your own business". I went as an adult and it wasn't the same. Food was still amazing. A man who owned a bakery there remembered my grandparents.
I was born in 79 and I can remember the 80’s. It was a rough time in NY but I tell you, the neighborhoods back then all looked out for each other. You could not disrespect your elders at all. Couldn’t curse in front of grown ups. Neighbors could discipline your kids and bring them back to the parents and the parents would finish disciplining their kids. You would never see this ever again. Good days and sad that this era has gotten so out of hand.
This is great. I’m from Cleveland and was in NYC last week and got to walk down Mulberry and have lunch. I really appreciate the history of the area!!!
I was born in redhook Brooklyn back when it was all Italian!! 151 bush street! Went to park slope in the 70s 80s when it was a rough neighborhood, the best time of my life!!! Great childhood!!! Never to be seen again!!
I grow up on Mott off Houston since 1970 but never knew of Charlie Brown, this was interesting because I seen him around but didn't know his background. Love this series
My grandparents lived there when they first came from Italy. They later moved to the Bronx, where my father and his siblings were born. I was born in the south Bronx. Lived and worked in the South Bronx most of my life. Even raised my kids in the Bronx. As far as I'm concerned, the Bronx is no place to raise kids today. I moved out of NYC entirely 13 years ago. And most of my family have moved out of New York also. It's a shame. I was once proud to be a New Yorker. I'm 73 years old today. I sometimes miss the old days. But, I wont miss what New York has turned into.
I visited Little Italy a couple of months back. Our tour guide grew up there and was telling us the same. The area has been completely gentrified. He is paying about 1600 bucks per month for an apartment because he knows the owner of the building but his neighbours are paying like 10k per month. Just crypto bros and finance workers living there now The San Gennaro Festival was on when I was there so the place was packed with Italian Americans and stalls with amazing food. Other than that it's a shame it's not what it used to be Great short film
Once a wife and kids are in the picture it's off to the suburbs. Happened to my cousin. Lived in Greenpoint and then his wife had a baby and they needed room.
I grew up in crown heights when I was a child we had a community people knew each other but now it's totally different all my friends are either passed away or moved away... that's the hard part of moving forward in life but I will always have good memories 😊
I grew up on 1st ave and 2nd st. New York is now just for the rich. No neighborhoods anymore and everything is shiny and new. When I was a kid above 14th st was a whole different world. Alphabet City back in the day was full of characters, some good, some bad, but it all gave flavor to the mix. Better stop as now I'm sounding old.
funny anyone near or south of 14'st would call it uc or the square ( union square ) and nyc their's to little Italy's i grew up on hester and mott street and 14'th is way from lower Manhattan
Beautiful videos and sound, with the testimony of the peoples it really make us travel back in time and understand how it must have been great to leave there back then
It's interesting that those of us who grew up in neighborhoods that we enjoyed, where we spent our money and made memorably moments and friendships feel like we were all of a sudden blindsided. It just seemed to happen one day. We had no say in the change. Nobody had to consult us, or even feel like they had to, they implemented their own vision of what our neighborhoods would become and those of us who lived there could take it or leave it. I've often felt that the expression, "it's just business," is just an excuse to be immoral, that you don't need to be part of a community. And if you don't live in that community then profit is the veil that hides all the potential damage you do to that community.
@@loujohnson1664 very well said. I grew up on George Carlin and he sums up what was happening in this quote. “ut there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education sucks, and it’s the same reason that it will never, ever, ever be fixed. It’s never gonna get any better. Don’t look for it. Be happy with what you got. Because the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners now, the real owners, the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the senate, the congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I'll tell you what they don’t want: They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests. Thats right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table to figure out how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. They don’t want that. You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers. People who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork, and just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you, sooner or later, 'cause they own this fucking place. It's a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people -- white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on -- good honest hard-working people continue -- these are people of modest means -- continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don't care about you at all -- at all -- at all. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That's what the owners count on; the fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that's being jammed up their assholes everyday. Because the owners of this country know the truth: it's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
Spanish Harlem has been around since the 1940s….and Puerto Ricans don’t even dominate that anymore either. Around 20 years ago they started moving out.
We grew up on St Marks Pl and 1st Ave...............After traveling the World we can report that NYC is the most expensive City on the Planet .........So the question is who did that ?
Today's world is so lost at this moment, and everything has become a fucking theme park than everyone's looking for authenticity through these documentaries. It seems that today everything is artificial, and not just intelligence.
Italian Harlem was the largest concentration of Italians outside of Italy at one point, now its gone...unfortunately i see history repating itself here sooner or later. There will be a few stores left and thats it
I still Love visiting family on Mulberry.St. Gennaro's Feast is a little different now but I still go every year since '61.Hey if any of you generation Z Rich Italians are listening start buying Little Italy back and raise your children there.Have the best of both worlds city living and Italian traditions Happy Thanksgiving and a Very Happy Holiday Season to all❤
I remember NYC from 1995. Some places weren't that great, and you had to be on your guard at night in some areas. But if you were street smart, and not stupid, you could still be safe. There were art galleries in the area, craft stores, fashion startups, some of them sold handmade jewelry. Now the galleries are gone, and it's all expensive clothing/jewelry. Chinatown was taking over, but it was still an inspiring place to live if you were an artist or musician.
Whoa-what time period is this guy talking about?How old is he?I need a little more info here for reference.That part got left out.I knew a Remo Cordani from that neighborhood.He would be about 67 in 2024.
It was the same in the bronx/Fordham rd..in 60s and 70s..it was a DIFFERENT WORLD!! Eventually the neighborhood changed..and everybody moved away.. **Today you need a machine gun to walk down the street
"Progess" courtesy of gentrification? Pfffft. Yeah right. History, culture and working class people be damned. Make way for the dollar bill or the pound note... 😠
This guys crying over progress 😂, when you start talking like this that means you been here too long. Move to Florida get u one of those flower shirts and unwind you are under as much pressure as a garage door spring.
Charlie Brown is a clown, but really the mob lost their power that's why , I used too go too the Bronx one, on Arthur Ave, great bread,food,etc their too before I moved south
These are great videos. A must to document what was in those ethnic neighborhoods, but it still hurts my heart to see it.
@@knoname7778 thanks for watching!🇮🇹💪🏻
I grew up in Astoria and remember how great everything was back in the day. My father would bring us to Little Italy a lot. That way of life is sadly gone forever.
Thank You, some of my family is from little Italy, you are a 100% right about everything, sad to see it change from when I was a kid, much better times you felt safe in a busy Neighbor-hood people looked out for one another, shame to see how it is now. Thank God we still have Baby John their the cannoli king holding it down for all of us Italians.
@@thewatch123-xz6rt 🇮🇹💪🏻
I went there as a little girl in the sixties. My grandparents lived there. I loved all the people, the push carts, the food. I didn't notice the poverty, was to young. They moved to CT later on, but their funerals were held near their neighborhood in NY. Huge crowd. I always questioned that. But as my Sicilian relative used to say "mind your own business". I went as an adult and it wasn't the same. Food was still amazing. A man who owned a bakery there remembered my grandparents.
I was born in 79 and I can remember the 80’s. It was a rough time in NY but I tell you, the neighborhoods back then all looked out for each other. You could not disrespect your elders at all. Couldn’t curse in front of grown ups. Neighbors could discipline your kids and bring them back to the parents and the parents would finish disciplining their kids. You would never see this ever again. Good days and sad that this era has gotten so out of hand.
This is great. I’m from Cleveland and was in NYC last week and got to walk down Mulberry and have lunch. I really appreciate the history of the area!!!
It's always great to see people appreciate the history of the area.
Grew up in Williamsburg and I miss that everybody knew everybody. Sad those days are gone
My family was on Richardson st in Williamsburg
I was born in redhook Brooklyn back when it was all Italian!! 151 bush street! Went to park slope in the 70s 80s when it was a rough neighborhood, the best time of my life!!! Great childhood!!! Never to be seen again!!
@@brooklynknightss right there with you I grew up in Sunset Park when it was TOUGH! 🇮🇹💪🏻
@PaulStoneFilms lol.... yes all those neighborhoods were rough back in the day.. sunset park had a lot of Puerto Ricans.
I grow up on Mott off Houston since 1970 but never knew of Charlie Brown, this was interesting because I seen him around but didn't know his background. Love this series
@@fred5nyc thnx!
When Democrats take something over, it turns into shit
My grandparents lived there when they first came from Italy. They later moved to the Bronx, where my father and his siblings were born. I was born in the south Bronx. Lived and worked in the South Bronx most of my life. Even raised my kids in the Bronx. As far as I'm concerned, the Bronx is no place to raise kids today. I moved out of NYC entirely 13 years ago. And most of my family have moved out of New York also. It's a shame. I was once proud to be a New Yorker. I'm 73 years old today. I sometimes miss the old days. But, I wont miss what New York has turned into.
@@John-st5gw amen brother. I agree 100%. 🇮🇹💪🏻
So many neighborhoods back then not just below Houston street. There was Chelsea with the Irish and Puerto Ricans up into Hells Kitchen.!
Wow, I love this guy Charlie Brown. This is a real man of integrity...his points are 100% real and accurate!
@@Mrgattes1 He’s the man!
I visited Little Italy a couple of months back. Our tour guide grew up there and was telling us the same. The area has been completely gentrified. He is paying about 1600 bucks per month for an apartment because he knows the owner of the building but his neighbours are paying like 10k per month. Just crypto bros and finance workers living there now
The San Gennaro Festival was on when I was there so the place was packed with Italian Americans and stalls with amazing food. Other than that it's a shame it's not what it used to be
Great short film
@@nomadscotsman thank you!
Those crypto and finance bros won't stay there forever either.
Once a wife and kids are in the picture it's off to the suburbs. Happened to my cousin. Lived in Greenpoint and then his wife had a baby and they needed room.
I GREW UP IN THE LITTLE ITALY ( the west side ) OF BUFFALO NEW YORK.. AND MY CHILDHOOD. STORY IS ALMOST EXACTLY AS THIS IS.. IT ALL WENT AWAY..
My Mom grew up on Hester Street. Her crib was a draw they took out of their dresser at night. Ciao.
@@christophercox936 haha 👍🏼
Excellent video and presenter. Perfect. Thank you
@@h.e9536 🇮🇹💪🏻👍🏼
When my great grandparents first arrived in NY, they settled in the LES before moving to Brooklyn in the early 1900's
I grew up in crown heights when I was a child we had a community people knew each other but now it's totally different all my friends are either passed away or moved away... that's the hard part of moving forward in life but I will always have good memories 😊
@@breakthroughs agree 100% 💪🏻
I grew up on 1st ave and 2nd st. New York is now just for the rich. No neighborhoods anymore and everything is shiny and new. When I was a kid above 14th st was a whole different world. Alphabet City back in the day was full of characters, some good, some bad, but it all gave flavor to the mix. Better stop as now I'm sounding old.
funny anyone near or south of 14'st would call it uc or the square ( union square ) and nyc their's to little Italy's i grew up on hester and mott street and 14'th is way from lower Manhattan
It’s truly a shame. All born and raised New Yorkers feel this pain, myself included.
@MuckyPup115 Thank Neoliberalism for that along with suburbs. They started drawing the middle class from the cities to the suburbs.
Same with Boston. All corporate restaurants bars.
The neighborhoods are all gone. So transient now n
@@MuckyPup115Same as London. Liverpool, Sydney, Melbourne..I could go on. All changed now. Need to be rich to live in old school areas.
Great series Really enjoying it Thanks
@@E204thbronx 💪🏻🇮🇹👍🏼
My two good friends from Con Edison Jackie Porcello and Ritchie Porcello were from this neighborhood...
@@glori30175 💪🏻🇮🇹
Great video. Bella but at the same time sad. Same old story 😢
Bigg love Charlie ❤
@@michaelgreene1441 Thanks!
Love your work! Thank you for sharing
Thnx!
Un abbraccio forte dall' Italia❤❤
...Thank You...Charlie Brown
He's Legendary ❤
@@mahoganybk 🇮🇹💪🏻
Beautiful videos and sound, with the testimony of the peoples it really make us travel back in time and understand how it must have been great to leave there back then
@@Costa998 thanks for watching!
I had dinner at Il Cortile this pst summer on my birthday and it was still as wonderful as it was the first time I was there in 1987!
@@garyinla4807 🇮🇹👍🏼💪🏻
These are lovely films.
@@janackova thanks! 🇮🇹👌🏻
It's interesting that those of us who grew up in neighborhoods that we enjoyed, where we spent our money and made memorably moments and friendships feel like we were all of a sudden blindsided. It just seemed to happen one day. We had no say in the change. Nobody had to consult us, or even feel like they had to, they implemented their own vision of what our neighborhoods would become and those of us who lived there could take it or leave it. I've often felt that the expression, "it's just business," is just an excuse to be immoral, that you don't need to be part of a community. And if you don't live in that community then profit is the veil that hides all the potential damage you do to that community.
@@loujohnson1664 very well said. I grew up on George Carlin and he sums up what was happening in this quote. “ut there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education sucks, and it’s the same reason that it will never, ever, ever be fixed. It’s never gonna get any better. Don’t look for it. Be happy with what you got. Because the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners now, the real owners, the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the senate, the congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I'll tell you what they don’t want: They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests. Thats right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table to figure out how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. They don’t want that. You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers. People who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork, and just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you, sooner or later, 'cause they own this fucking place. It's a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people -- white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on -- good honest hard-working people continue -- these are people of modest means -- continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don't care about you at all -- at all -- at all. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That's what the owners count on; the fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that's being jammed up their assholes everyday. Because the owners of this country know the truth: it's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
GreatVideo!!!!!
@@robertcarannante2251 Thanks! Charlie Brown made it easy. Haha
They still exist, those bathrooms in the hallway especially in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
My family is from the original little Italy which is now known as Spanish Harlem.
@@99seas 💪🏻🇮🇹
Spanish Harlem has been around since the 1940s….and Puerto Ricans don’t even dominate that anymore either. Around 20 years ago they started moving out.
My parents too.
We grew up on St Marks Pl and 1st Ave...............After traveling the World we can report that NYC is the most expensive City on the Planet .........So the question is who did that ?
I love these videos.
Thnx!
I'm sure someone has said it, but little Italy 🇮🇹 is the Fordham section of DA BRONX! Still a great story Charlie Brown is ol' school!
@@Jrr1976 🇮🇹💪🏻
Fordham Rd is fucked up now
God bless you Charlie Brown u one of the old school good ones.
Evolutions and changes to be🌍🌏.
my OG look like he enjoyed his TIMeS (lifeLaw)👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 congrats
@@elwatabarber 🇮🇹👍🏼💪🏻
Today's world is so lost at this moment, and everything has become a fucking theme park than everyone's looking for authenticity through these documentaries. It seems that today everything is artificial, and not just intelligence.
Italian Harlem was the largest concentration of Italians outside of Italy at one point, now its gone...unfortunately i see history repating itself here sooner or later. There will be a few stores left and thats it
That's already what It is bro. And has been for decades. Italians haven't lived in little Italy for a couple generations already.
Great documentary but very sad story. It was once 40 or so blocka now it's almost gone. American greed at its best.
Good series, go back and try to find the last of the Mohicans. There must be a few still left.
@@daotalk_official 🇮🇹💪🏻
Environment may change, but the people dont! If they do, thats the end. Its important we teach our children cultural history
I still Love visiting family on Mulberry.St. Gennaro's Feast is a little different now but I still go every year since '61.Hey if any of you generation Z Rich Italians are listening start buying Little Italy back and raise your children there.Have the best of both worlds city living and Italian traditions Happy Thanksgiving and a Very Happy Holiday Season to all❤
I remember NYC from 1995. Some places weren't that great, and you had to be on your guard at night in some areas. But if you were street smart, and not stupid, you could still be safe. There were art galleries in the area, craft stores, fashion startups, some of them sold handmade jewelry. Now the galleries are gone, and it's all expensive clothing/jewelry. Chinatown was taking over, but it was still an inspiring place to live if you were an artist or musician.
1995 I lived on Marcy Ave in bed-study and it was a shooting gallery, and bushwick was and Williamsburg were just as wild.
He is 💯 correct and accurate!!! Sad. Glad I left New York. It’s actually turning into California. No joke!
@@daedaetinez6406 🇮🇹💪🏻👍🏼
Theresa's of Mulberry Street-gone. Cafe Sorrento-gone. Luna-gone. Great restaurants
Whoa-what time period is this guy talking about?How old is he?I need a little more info here for reference.That part got left out.I knew a Remo Cordani from that neighborhood.He would be about 67 in 2024.
@@chrisbrady-t1u not positive but I think Charlie is around 67.
It was safe because of the connected guys
@@chrisnelson3046 🇮🇹💪🏻
Nothing is the way it was. Especially in nyc.
It was the same in the bronx/Fordham rd..in 60s and 70s..it was a DIFFERENT WORLD!!
Eventually the neighborhood changed..and everybody moved away..
**Today you need a machine gun to walk down the street
@@Nickys-v1z 🇮🇹💪🏻
Things change I think he is more attached to the culture of the area .people move out pass away life changes as we age.
The real little Italy is Arthur ave in the Bronx
Nothing in life stays the same, so forget about it 🇭🇺😂
@@michealrios2505 🤣
Rich people have no clue
Never did, never will
@@CedrickTudge 🇮🇹💪🏻
little Italy was but for Italians also Pacific and Sacrament St. was a big Italian neighborhood for one Our Lady of Loretta
I grew up in little italy
@@anthonyjmarulla8539 🇮🇹💪🏻
@PaulStoneFilms such ashame how the culture and old days are gone forever. Reminds me of the spruce springsteen song Atlantic City
@@anthonyjmarulla8539 😢
Sad
"Progess" courtesy of gentrification? Pfffft. Yeah right. History, culture and working class people be damned. Make way for the dollar bill or the pound note... 😠
... Great Doc., 👍 - & as for Times
Square? 🤯
Now it is Chinatown. The chinese outnumber the Italians.
@@yoyo8303 🇮🇹💪🏻
SAD
Is Jimmy Brown a friend of mine or a friend of ours?
Neighborhoods are dead in Manhattan and the city, to be honest.
Hells kitchen,Soho,
Alphabet City, to name a few just in Manhattan
@@AndyB718 100% 🇮🇹💪🏻
NYC IS A TOILET BOWL NOW.
@@dennisgenovese227 🇮🇹💪🏻
I don't think so always have been like that since Italians. And jewish arrived in NYC. .please educate yourself.
He gave the bigoted “hishtory” of “Talyans from lil Ittley.” And you ain’t gona shee dat no more.
You are so wait
@@MarkLeben-zw9ou 🇮🇹👌🏻
It-lee It-lee It-lee ...act as if you have a litlle education..It-a-lee
It san ganarro
This guys crying over progress 😂, when you start talking like this that means you been here too long. Move to Florida get u one of those flower shirts and unwind you are under as much pressure as a garage door spring.
You don't understand the old timers it was a great comorotority with the Italian people knowing each other for many years.
Charlie Brown is a clown, but really the mob lost their power that's why , I used too go too the Bronx one, on Arthur Ave, great bread,food,etc their too before I moved south
Same Crap with all these episodes
Ahh Chaloots 🤌
what business can afford to pay 5k a month??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Does Charlie Brown still live there?
He moved away but hangs out here a lot.
Gil 180 BX 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼💯👎🏼💯