Italians Of Brooklyn

Brooklyn, or "Bruculinu," as many Italians affectionately pronounced it, is where Italian values, culture, and dreams thrived. In an era when over four million Italians found their way to America, the first significant influx came during the 1880s, primarily from rural peasant communities fleeing poverty and overpopulation. Although Italians in South Brooklyn have been traced back as far as the 1820s, most settled in Manhattan. The 1855 New York Census did not list any Italian natives in Brooklyn; however, by 1890, there were 9,563 Italians residing in the borough. By 1900, Brooklyn's Italian population was second only to Manhattan. Although the last notable wave of Italian immigration ended in the 1960s, Italian remains one of the six prevalent foreign languages in New York according to a 2007 census estimate. This work serves as a time capsule to remind us of the contributions and influences these immigrants have offered to the community.

What accounts for the precarious state of liberalism in the mid 1980s? Why was the Republican Party able to steal away so many ethnic Democrats of modest means in recent presidential elections? Jonathan Rieder explores these questions in his powerful study of the Jews and Italians of Canarsie, a middle-income community that was once the scene of a wild insurgency against racial busing. Proud bootstrappers, the children of immigrants, Canarsians may speak with piquant New York accents, but their story has a more universal appeal. Canarsie is Middle America, Brooklyn-style.

Dark secrets and hidden sorrows abound in Santa Montefiore’s spellbinding new novel set in war-torn Italy and the streets of New York. 'Nobody does epic romance like Santa Montefiore' JOJO MOYES New York, 1979. It is Thanksgiving and Evelina has her close family and beloved friends gathered around, her heart weighted with gratitude for what she has and regret for what she has given up. She has lived in America for over thirty years, but she is still Italian in her soul. Northern Italy, 1934. Evelina leads a sheltered life with her parents and siblings in a villa of fading grandeur. When her elder sister Benedetta marries a banker, to suit her father’s wishes rather than her own, Evelina swears that she will never marry out of duty. She knows nothing of romantic love, but when she meets Ezra, son of the local dressmaker, her heart recognises it like an old friend. Evelina wants these carefree days to last forever. She wants to bask in sunshine, beauty and love and pay no heed to the grey clouds gathering on the horizon. But nothing lasts forever. The shadows of war are darkening over Europe and precious lives are under threat…

New York City's five boroughs have been home to more Italian immigrants than any other place in America. Over the last 140 years, scores of Italian neighborhoods have spanned Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx. These communities preserve their heritage by celebrating special events and feasts, such as Manhattan's 130-year-old Feast of St. Rocco, the Dance of the Giglio in East Harlem and Williamsburg, and saint processions for Padre Pio and Maria Addolorata; maintaining famous Mulberry Street storefronts and the Arthur Avenue Market in Little Italy, as well as popular bakeries and restaurants in Greenwich Village and Queens; and supporting and worshipping at notable Italian churches, like Brooklyn's Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine Church and Alba House, a religious bookstore on Staten Island. To help demonstrate the special place Italian immigrants hold in the city of New York to this day, readers will experience a visual tour of their traditions and landmarks.

Daniel Paterna's Feast of the Seven Fishes: A Brooklyn-Italian's Recipes Celebrating Food and Family is a timely reminder that a shared memory of food draws upon and enriches our souls. In Feast of the Seven Fishes: A Brooklyn Italian's Recipes Celebrating Food and Family, Daniel Paterna takes you on magical journey into a hidden world. Through recipes handed down in his family, stunning photos taken by the author himself, and three-generations of memories, Paterna reveals the soulful, humorous, and always delicious history of Italian-Americans in Brooklyn. Paterna is the real deal, a second-generation Italian-American, whose family has preserved their culture from the shores of Naples to the streets of Bensonhurst. He'll show you how to make long-forgotten recipes like stuffed calamari and he'll take you to the stores, restaurants, and bakeries where artisans are still doing things the old way. This is an intensely personal book that powerfully illustrates the essence of the American experience: the ways food, family, and memory are preserved and changed by the immigrants who brought them to our shores, and the children of those immigrants who keepthe flame alive.

Joe Polacco has written a wonderful tribute to his mother, Vina, and in the process has learned about himself. This memoir is told with humor, and is a tale of extended family in Brooklyn headed by the author's mother, the kind and big-hearted Vina. It's all about the family, the neighborhood, and most of all about Vina. She is beautiful, selfless, a creative designer and knows how to laugh and make others laugh. She is a master of Italian cuisine, admired for her original recipes, which are willingly shared. What more could anyone want in a Mom? More to the point which of us would not want to claim Vina as Mom? And all the characters in the memoir willingly testify that they love Vina and claim her as their own. The author has a love of--and knack for—foreign language and dialects. In New York City, specifically Brooklyn, the whole world can be found in this one place. And you'll find Joe Polacco and Vina in this melting pot. But be careful not to melt down as you laugh through the pages while commemorating those who have passed before, and after, Vina.

From #1 internationally bestselling author Santa Montefiore comes a spellbinding new novel about dark secrets and hidden sorrows—set in war-torn Italy and the streets of New York. New York, 1979. It is Thanksgiving and Evelina has her close family and beloved friends gathered around, her heart weighted with gratitude for what she has and regret for what she has given up. She has lived in America for over thirty years, but she is still Italian in her soul. Northern Italy, 1934. Evelina leads a sheltered life with her parents and siblings in a villa of fading grandeur. When her elder sister Benedetta marries a banker, to suit her father’s wishes rather than her own, Evelina swears that she will never marry out of duty. She knows nothing of romantic love, but when she meets Ezra, son of the local dressmaker, her heart recognises it like an old friend. Evelina wants these carefree days to last forever. She wants to bask in sunshine, beauty, and love, and pay no heed to the grey clouds gathering on the horizon. But nothing lasts forever. The shadows of war are darkening over Europe and precious lives are under threat…