Two of the most famous areas in New York City are its ethnic centers of Little Italy and Chinatown. These areas have been dining, shopping, and day trip destinations for both New Yorkers and tourist a like for at least the last century. But in the last 20 years they have defiantly changed quite a bit. Chinatown is literally taking over New York’s Little Italy. Years ago, from what I have read, Little Italy was similar in size to Chinatown. Close to 8 or 9 square blocks. As Italians in the area have assimilated or blended into all of the other burros Little Italy has diminished; while Chinatown has grown and grown.
When we visited on a rainy Saturday we started on Canal street off of the number 4 subway. You notice the difference from most of New York. Everything is written in Chinese. Not Chinese and English, just Chinese. Even the Mc Donald’s sign has the famous golden arches over Chinese characters! Along Canal street all of the buildings first floors have been turned into outdoor market style boots with rolling steel doors for when they are out of use. There are easily a half dozen or more of these in each building fronting the street. These booths have new immigrants trying to make a living off of people looking for knock off Gucci and Channel bags and merchandise, cheap sun glasses, exotic foods, New York Souvenirs, or necessities such as the $3 door umbrellas we purchased.
As you walk along the side of the road the side walks are packed with people looking to by these items. After a time you see open lots have been turned into flee markets with more booths. Once you turn off of Canal Street to either the north or south you start to see a whole other world. All of the stores are designed now to service the large immigrant population. Still everything is written in Chinese but now the stores sell suits, electronics, fresh duck, fish, and other items. The big difference is that with the exception of in the various restaurants you don’t see many White, Black, Indian, Latino, or any other ethnicity that is not Asian. Except for the New York style buildings you feel as if you are in another County. We had the best Tai food I had ever had and shopped at an interesting Tibetan rug shop. It was quite an experience.
After some time of walking we finally got out of Chinatown, or so we thought. In fact we had unintentionally wandered into Little Italy; though after 3 blocks we crossed right back into Chinatown. It has grown around Little Italy and Little Italy really only consists of Mulberry street and the first block or two directly East or West. The interesting change was all of the signs, banners, store fronts, and so on change from being in Chinese to being mixed English and Italian. Walking down the street with the people and architecture now felt like walking around in any coming of age or mob movie filmed in New York in the last 60 years. There were older immigrants and their offspring living, working, and socializing in what was left of their part of town. Many of whom were sitting on the stoop or watching the tourist go by from there windows occasional calling out to friends as they past by. Along Mulberry street you find mostly Italian restaurants, gelato stands, Italian markets, and of course more souvenir stands.
We actually had other things to do in the afternoon and had just eaten Tai food so we decided to return later for dinner. The scene that night was very festive and quite different that from the day. The police actually had blocked the street to auto traffic and large groups of people walked up and down the streets in packs. There were many, many more tourist than before. Also while we had noticed that during the day there were decorations strung up from building to building across the street we did not get the full affect. At night these decorations are lit up with lights and go for blocks. At one end of the street there were even game booths set up similar to at a fair. Though it was very touristy it was a lot of fun and even with the large numbers of people roaming the streets and looking for a place to dine there are so many eateries, pizzerias, cafes, and restaurants we did not have trouble finding a place to eat.
The restaurant we chose was being run by a early middle aged immigrant who spoke English with a thick accent, talked to the cooks and waiters in Italian and the bus boys in Spanish. We had our pick of the outdoor seating including candle light, table cloth, and all the expected classic design cues. RB ordered a dish I had never scene before with sea food and pasta the she absolutely loved and that looked unbelievable. I ordered a typical alfredo pasta that was the freshest and probably the most authentic I have had. All of the ingredients in both meals were very fresh and the sauces I assume were made from scratch because they were so good. We had an absolutely wonderful experience even if the host neglected us a little while he tried to entice more diners. I personally enjoyed going to Little Italy that evening more than Chinatown, even if there is much of the area remaining.
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