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Brooklyn’s “Little Italy”

Bensonhurst was formerly stereotyped as a haven for Mafia members.

However, currently the neighborhood is undergoing a transformation; many of the original houses dating back over 90 years ago are being torn down and replaced by three-story brick apartment buildings and multi-family condominiums, sometimes referred to as “Fedders Houses” for their distinctive air conditioner sleeves.

Visitors from throughout the New York City metropolitan area flock to the neighborhood each year in late August or early September to take part in the colorful Festa di Santa Rosalia (commonly known as “the Feast” to locals), held on 18th Avenue from Bay Ridge Parkway (75th Street) to 66th Street.

“The Feast” is presented by Bensonhurst resident and skilled marketer Franco Corrado, as well as by the Santa Rosalia Society, on 18th Avenue. Born in Rome in 1955, Corrado has been an active social member of the Italian-American community for the past 20 years. St. Rosalia is the patron saint of the city of Palermo and is sometimes venerated as the patron for the entire island of Sicily.

The annual end-of-summer celebration attracts thousands. Bensonhurt also hosts a Columbus Day parade. Demonstrating the identical trend as adjacent Lower Manhattan in New York City, Bensonhurst’s Little Italy is declining concomitantly with its Italian American population, being uprooted by the rapidly expanding Bensonhurst Chinatown and its attendant Chinese population.

18th Avenue (BMT West End Line)

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