Episode 9 / The Real Mean Streets of Little Italy
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- The Last Days of Little Italy: An Original Documentary Series.
Little Italy, a historic haven for immigrant families from the old country, was once threatened by an ever-expanding Chinatown. But now the fatal blow is being delivered by the gentrifiers. Corporations, yuppies, and chain stores all moved in. How did Little Italy transform itself from a working class neighborhood of tenement buildings to the third most expensive zip code in the United States?
Part funny, part sad, the series explores the impact gentrification is having on Little Italy's long-term residents. The striking imagery captures the neighborhood before it is completely erased by sterile trendy stores and upper middle class sameness.
Will New York City lose another cultural touchstone to the forces of greed?
A Nolita Films Production
Written and Directed by Paul Stone
Produced by Claudia Montano
Cinematography & Editing by Paul Stone
Shot in New York City, Rome, Amalfi Coast & Puglia, Italy.
#newyork #littleitaly #nyc
I am Puerto Rican and was married to an Italian for many yrs. Italians are great people, hardworking, they stick together, protect each other and they will be missed. I loved being around Italians. They treated me great. I do not see many of them in the city like before. Sad. I will miss them.
Puerto Rican’s and Italians have very similar cultures. ♥️
i was married to one also she made the best gabagu
They’re mostly in Staten Island
@@AGAM1911 very similar
@@SuperShinobi95not anymore ! SI has become Asian and Indian !!
What an awesome little series. Holy hell. I did not live in Little Italy, and I’m not Italian but I was born across the river in Brooklyn in the 70’s and lived in neighborhoods with a similar feel and vibe to how Little Italy comes across in this series. I know it was real because I lived it, and felt it deeply. I agree with Dominic Fararro in episode 9, coming up poor in NYC during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s was hard, but truly special in its own, strange way. It was hard at times but damn, was it great overall. Playing in the streets till all hours. Friends up and down the block. Wow. This series captures that so well. The music, the editing, the people interviewed and the descriptions of daily life and stories they tell, and even the color grading really hit me hard in the nostalgia gland. The photos throughout the series too! Oh man. Wow. Has me longing for days, people and places so long gone now. Wow. Mr. Stone, hats off to you, and thank you.
@@amv7m thanks so much. So glad you’re enjoying the work!
I'm from Brooklyn too, Bath Beach
what a great comment
Me too. NYC was always a City of neighborhoods. I lived there most of my life 50+ years and no matter where you go and how nice it is, you will always miss the old neighborhood. There's nothing like it.
One of the most legendary and historical neighborhood in the country. 🇺🇸 Many people see Little Italy today, not knowing how living there really was. A great struggle we call it. Wouldn’t change it for the world. 🇮🇹💪🏼❤️
100%
Beautiful!! Pure artistry. These are the true New Yorkers, old school, OG. Viva Little Italy 🇮🇹 ❤ 🇺🇸
@@xneapolisx thanks!
Keep this series going, been watching since the first one dropped. Thank you for stopping by and filming/covering the old neighborhood. Salute to you. 🇮🇹🇺🇸🙏🏼🗽
@@JoJo.Christmas thanks for watching. Really appreciate it.
My dad and uncles moved to Little Italy from Sicily in the 60s. The bathtub was in the kitchen and there was one communal bathroom in the hallway. They all eventually moved to Bensonhurst (18th Ave) to have families. It was Brooklyn’s Little Italy. It’s unrecognizable now as most of the Italians left. Never thought I’d miss it but I do.
Really enjoying this series. It’s nicely done. I live not too far on Pearl Street and I try to make to the Cafes for an espresso as much as I can.
You should interview Vinnie “Stigma" Capuccio. He is the guitarist for veteran hardcore band Agnostic Front…a punk rock legend. His family has lived in Little Italy since the early 1900s. He still lives in the same apartment he was born in. He probably has stories for days.
@@exithero I know Vinnie. Great guy. Maybe he’ll be in season 2!
Seeing Bensonhurst now - is HEART BREAKING !!!!!!! I miss Hy Tulip deli , Rollerama and the Benson theatre . My grandmother was watching them film people on the street for Saturday Night Fever.
@@LannieLord Bensonhurst is unrecognizable.
I was born at 177 Mulberry Street. I loved it. My dad owned a luncheonette on Grand St. Next door to Ferraras. It was always filled with the. Culture that was brought here by the Italians at the turn of the century.
Amazing
This is a phenomenal short documentary. At 36 I'm too young to remember Little Italy when it was much larger than just a few blocks but I noticed it in the bordering cities in New Jersey where all of the Italian culture has been wiped away
@@JohnHolmes-h9v thank you!
Mr. Stone, I'm Italian American and recently found your channel and your series, I quickly became a subscriber after watching the first installment of "The last days of Little Italy". This is absolutely superb, to me it's not even a series of documentaries, it's more art than anything else. The music, the interviews, the camera work and the way it's all edited and put together. It's just amazing work. The content is sad, I hate seeing Little Italy slowly disappear, I was there in 2004 and even then it was very small compared to what the people you interviewed described it as even into the 1980's. But please keep these incredible pieces you've made coming! I plan on showing these to my relatives, I know they will appreciate them. Thank you for your continued work for the old neighborhood.
@@salvatorericca8353 Thanks Sal! Means a lot!
I love this. I truly wish I grew up among my own people. There's something about the camaraderie here you can never replicate.
Respect. The number one thing right there. These kids nowadays don't have that.
@@Optim40 I don’t blame the kids. I blame the parents. Parents gave up on parenting.
@@PaulStoneFilms
The women were brainwashed into thinking they were inadequate if they didn't work. Without a mother's presence in the household,the family sadly dissolved. Now both parents have to work like it or not because not many can survive on a single earner anymore. I blame feminists for this in the beginning and greedy corporations for what we have currently. Both political parties are guilty. When you take the mother out of the family it's going to be bad for everyone. 8 can't imagine not coming home from school with my mom's wonderful cooking and taking care of us
daily. It makes me nostalgic but very sad for this generation.
Thanks!
Thank you!
I love this guy! A true New Yorker. I grew up with guys like him. They looked out for you and the neighborhood. God's Blessings to you. 🙏🙏🙏🙏💯💯💯👍😨👍💋
‘Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too shall be swept away.’ Marcus Aurelius
Yup. Families are all spread apart these days. We stuck together back in the old days.
Yet another wonderful film about the last Italians of Little Italy. I've been working in the neighborhood for several months now and can't really make sense of things anymore. My parents were born and raised in the Bronx, then moved to Westchester. We always came to Little Italy--to walk around, see the feast--and like mostly everyone else I guess we took it for granted that it would be here forever. Thanks again Paul for your beautiful work and for taking the time to capture their stories!
@@benzynyc Thank you!
I grew up poor. I know what he means.
And yes a pump is a fire hydrant. Us New York’Rs call them pumps. Love that.
@@daedaetinez6406 haha. Thanks for watching!
Johnny pumps is what we called them too.
Love how gritty and DIY these are. Despite your impressive body of work you still have have the spirit of the indie filmmaker.
Thanks for the compliment!
This was beautiful ! There really are real New Yorkers, by that l mean people that were born and raised in the neighborhoods of NYC. I am a 3rd generation New Yorker my kids and granddaughter are 4th and 5th generation, I am from Washington Heights that is located in upper Manhattan, I was born on 186th. Street, my part of the heights was from 181st. Street to 193rd. Street, east of broadway to the Harlem River. It was almost all Irish, today it is almost all Dominican. It was a great place to grow up, it was safe, we had parks, and woods to play in, we played in the streets, curb ball, stick ball, fast pitching, Chinese, 2 hand touch, it was amazing. Today, it’s like this never existed, it’s like there was this civilization that just disappeared, but that’s New York, people come and go, memories are created, it’s like one big happy / sad cycle.
@@thomashowlin4353 thanks for watching!
Washington Heights today is a lot better than most part of the nyc.
These stories keep you watching even though I'm not from around here it's so fascinating and interesting
Thanks for watching!
very nice.....long live Little Italy!!‼
@@stonecreationsLI 🇮🇹🇮🇹💪🏻💪🏻
Great stories!! Italians left years ago!!! For upstate,LI,Queens,Brooklyn,Staten Island,Connecticut, jersey or Florida! And also the other thing that was Italians stopped immigrating in large numbers when Italia became more stable!
Nice name. I'm a Salierno.
Hi there from Sicily palermo
Iam from the Malo Clan and visited litle Italy in 1975
@@landoyuma5926 Did you like it?
Man what an amazing vlog.I used to walk through Little Italy and just pretend in my head it was the old neighborhood. I miss seeing the old groups the Italians the irish. Great video.
My mother and her family (Provenzano, Dellacroce, Naso, etc.) grew up there. I remember visiting my uncle Charlie Naso at his apartment on Bleeker St. when I graduated college in 1976. He was paying $38 a month rent.
Thanks for watching!
Very informative thanks for sharing this love New York and Italian food ❤❤❤
@@acquanellaogbemudia9930 thanks!
Amazing series, beautiful stories beautifully told! Keep it going!
@@a.a.aa.a5125 Thank you! More to come!
Another great episode, Paul. Been watching since episode One. My grandparents are from the neighborhood, and I revere those streets. Thank you for these stories.
My extended family owned Paolucci’s on Mulberry. They closed a few years back because the new owner made the rent infeasible. So sad.
@@AGAM1911 sorry to hear that. The city is a mess. It’s a boring mall now
Great interview !!!
You can alway tell when something is genuinely REAL amd spoken from the heart !
I'm from New Orleans and I feel the same way about here and my neighborhood !
Was ALWAYS a big Italian presence and good sense of community that is sadly slipping away from todays ( Modern Times ) and its sad that today's youth will not have or understand.
Love the video and I hope to see more !!
@@flyordie7098 thanks!
Miss little italy I Live in Florida now. I miss The restaurants Angelos Vincents Casa Ballas. I miss the Feast San Genaro every year! And I definitely miss Feraro Pastry!!
Fantastic documentary I used to love to be at Umberto's on mulberry and Broome and across the street was maraschinos now it's some mulberry Street bar and grill how sad
Thank you for this video. Did not know there will be more episodes
@@Bullet_1987 🇮🇹👌🏻
So great Paul, I'm a huge fan of your work!
@@loujohnson1664 Thanks Lou!
my mom was born in Little Italy in cicero Illinois in 1928. My grandmother was going into labor at their apt and when my grandfather was attempting to get my grandmother into the car and out to the hospital, they could not exit because Al Capone was having a standoff with the police and feds and the Law had barricaded their block. Eventually they made it out and mom was born at the hospital. Fast forward five years: my mom is 5 years old and being held by the hand my her parents as they strolled into town on a weekend morning. Al Capone was in that neighborhood with all of his guys and mobs of people because he was giving away shoes to the City's poorest children. My grandparents and my mom approached Mr. Capone and his mob or protectors. My grandpa explained to one of his guys what had happened five years earlier in Little Italy and they asked if they could personally share that story with Mr. Capone. They did get permission and Mr. Capone had a good chuckle that now he was meeting that little girl, my mom, that he almost caused to be born at home. 😄 My grandparents and my mom chatted with him for a while and then left.
@@SunsetBoulevard111 wow amazing story. Thanks for watching.
I lived at 385 Broome for 15 years!. The best period of my life!!!
I too was born dirt poor, no cars in our part of town........... Lots of violence and throughout we learned respect for everything! Being poor made me a better man.
2012 was the last time we were there, ice cream in the day time then back for a few bars and an evening dinner, good times ❤
Glad you had a good time!
I grew up on e. 6th between 1 and 2 aves. I remember the bocci court on houston. The new York I knew and loved is dead and gone. Makes me sick.
@@anthonytripp2251 I hear you!
Bronx Irish worked with many Italians in food industry...it was Gravey!!
Then others warred Sauce vs Gravey
Im from that era, and I thought growing up poor was the worst! Now that I'm older, I look back, and I thank God for all the good times and bad! It made me who I am today! I ❤ NYC!! 🏢🏨🏠
NY Native here, it's rare to hear anyone speak with a New York accent nowadays!
@@BradThePitts so true. I still have mine! 🇮🇹💪🏻
I love this stuff and listening to nostalgia! I went down last week only to be disappointed to see a change way different than what it was. The place was not filled with native new yorkers like myself. I grew up in the Bronx and practically grew up in little Italy in the Bronx and that too changed big time but i gotta say there is way more Italian shops and Italian owned restaurants in Little Italy, Bronx.
Keep it up , this serie is amazing , especially for those who knew it back then
Thanks!
Wow just wow… great story, the pictures… top notch, greetings from the Netherlands
The gentrification of working class neighborhoods difficult to witness. Inspired testimonial for the history of New York City.
Has happened in Philadelphia too.
But a lot of S. Phila( Little Italy here) has maintained the same character it's always had. The open air street market, the Italian Market, is why.
Good stuff cugine.
@@greggsiano5920 thanks
It's getting that way everywhere , everyone is being priced out of their neighborhoods ..
Great video! Always are! Keep up the good work! ❤
@@arthurhatten thanks! Will do!
Great video !
@@sergeantsulphur1953 thanks!
I love Italians so much I even considered moving to Italy when I was young.
Good stuff!
Another great episode Thanks
Thanks for watching!
Great documentary.great guy.
So sad how everything changed
I grew up in Little Sicily, we never stepped foot in Little Italy
First Movie was Who’s that knocking at my door. My sister Margaret and I were in it along with Theresa and Frankie Scorcese. Filmed behind Moes at 238 Elizabeth St
@@DeeTorres-t2o Yup. Most people think it’s Mean Streets.
Love this one
The yuppies ruined Little Italy and the rest of New York City! The New York City that inspired so many movies and songs is long gone!
@@scotbeane5123 we call them Trustafarians now. 🤣
Love this
@@annetteherrera2813 👍🏼🇮🇹
It got too Expensive to live there.... But didn't the Italians own most of the buildings? So who really raised the rents and caused people to move ?
Love this series.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome! I still go to Dipallos sometimes.
The best!
Un forte abbraccio da Napoli❤
Another great vid
@@nicmackavely7764 thanks!
Wow; I’m glad I found this - this guy is the best - funny - full of wisdom .
@@dennisliamardell8906 Dom is the best!
Very good video, I liked the old photos of the neighborhood, if you do another one with this guy I could just watch him talk of his friends in the photos. I just wish he had pointed himself out in the photos.
@@larryro8872 he was the one taking the pictures so he wasn’t in the photos of the group of guys
@@PaulStoneFilmsThanks for telling me that, I was trying to figure out who he was in the pictures. Great job on these films.
So sad, there's no more neighborhoods like back than. Different time and different people. All had character. Now its just a bunch of high price living and crime
your making beautiful videos, thank you😊
@@georgespiropoulos4892 thanks for watching!
Just watched all 9 episodes. What a great series this is. My wife and I moved to NYC in 2016 and my first apartment was on Elizabeth St. it was marketed as little Italy but when we got there it was all Chinatown. I didn’t know anything about the city and thought the area seemed cool so we got it. I guess I was one of those hipsters moving in they talk about. I moved away in the pandemic. But a few years back I connected with my grandmother who is Italian from New Jersey and got my Italian citizenship recognized though her, have been studying the language, and found through census records that my great great grandparents coming through Ellis island lived in tenament housing that same neighborhood just around the corner. I wish I had truly understood the history of the neighborhood and my own Italian ancestry when I was still living there. It was already disappearing but it makes me sad that soon it won’t be there. Anyway thank you for the great series
@@robillionaire wow thanks for binging all 9! What did it cost to get your citizenship? I tried and they wanted $8000 to fast track it.
I lived there from1960 to 1989...had to get out.. got involved in bad things....
I loved working in the Fulton fish market
I agree with everything this man said
@@gennerobootz6490 words of wisdom. 🇮🇹
My family has been on Elizabeth & prince since the 40s. Surrounding area as well,my cousin always bragged about godfather filmed a part in his building 😂😂😂 was a great neighborhood 👍🏽
@@MyNewYorkCity. Elizabeth Street is my favorite street in Manhattan
Very sad. I guess change is inevitable but it’s still a shame.
Interesting series, but the only reason Little Italy is disappearing is that the Italians moved away.
Do you blame them? The NY politicians squandered or tax money and bankrupted NYC in the 70s . They had no choice but to leave the city.
I remember when Chinese didn’t cross Canal Street
it seems like the take down of the MOB meant the death of Little Italy
He mentioned his crew got theirs asses kicked on the west side. Likely by the Irish gangs in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. The Irish mob was known as the Westies back then (from the West side of Manhattan). Sad that the Italian and Irish enclaves are disappearing.
My brother-in-own the small company food wholesaler, I remember riding into the city with him and this was probably like 82 or 83 and it was so much better than, but not just little Italy that whole area,, I loved going there. It was the best and now I hate going there. I think the future is everything’s gonna be KFC and McDonald’s I wouldn’t eat out anywhere anymore.
It’s sad u can’t live anywhere in nyc
I love ,love his story im from Cleveland little Italy not as big as yours but we have lots in common
Reminds me the episode of Sopranos when Tony goes back to his old neighborhood.
I just subscribed to your channel.
Wish I grew up in this era
The idea of a private social club is alluring. Bars are overcrowded and overpriced with hardly any real camaraderie
When I lived in NYC, the friendlyist and most helpful people to me were the jews, the puerto ricans, and the italians. The blacks were militant even in the workplace.
I'm Italian, I'm alone out here in California. I own property and own some apartments and I wish I could take in Italians but we're all so disconnected now and I don't have the social connections. What can be done 🙏☝️. It's true, I have to be the best at whatever I do
everybody should be born poor amen
I'm a white Aussie of germa, Irish, English Scottish mix.
And Italians are easy going and friendly.
Id love to move to Italy and marry a beautifull Italian women.
Moved to Staten Island from Brooklyn in the 1970s and most of the neighborhood were people who had relocated from Little Italy and Bay Ridge Brooklyn it was kind of the same culture and people but instead of bricks and mortar it was aluminum siding and grass😅😅😅😅
Remember Italian guys selling "Fireworks" in 1981.
so the mobsters didnt hold it down for its turf?
The director he was talking about… was it marti scorsayzi…or something like that or…!?
@@makingpeoplesmile4843 Martin Scorsese
He is an honest man accepting that he is dixlexic
@@yoyo8303 thanks for watching!
When u will upload a new video brother Im. Your subscriber from the Philippines
@@johngomez3570 I was yesterday but I got sick with the flu. I’m hoping to have one up by Monday. Thanks for subscribing!
Part of S. Philly is still Little Italy. It's called Bella Vista.
I heard that it’s little china now😂
I remember those beutiful smells,all home made.
Hi there from Sicily palermo
@@landoyuma5926 ciao!
There is a recipe against extinction: reduce your personal ambitions a little and instead have more children.
I've only lived in NYC since the early 90s but even then you could see the turnover happening in realtime. The Giuliani and Bloomberg years ushered in the corporate takeover for developers, and it changed every neighborhood for better and for worse. NYC is a big melting pot of cultures and it's important to pay tribute to the old days, as it becomes less about cultures and more about brands
Agree 100 % - The culture is dead. All we have left are rabid shoppers buying shit they don't need.