Quote:
Originally Posted by Docere
At this point I suspect the descendants of Italian immigrants a century ago mostly live in far-flung suburbs and exurbs like Suffolk County, Dutchess County, central NJ etc., with some assimilated yuppies and hipsters living in Manhattan and the "hip" parts of Brooklyn rather than in the Italian enclaves that are still largely first and second generation.
Third and fourth generation Italian Americans still living in the "old neighborhood" is probably more of a Philadelphia thing.
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Yeah, probably. I think this all makes reasonable sense. The thing is, Brooklyn real estate went from Detroit to San Francisco in one generation, so older Italians cashed out big-time, or if their kids inherited the real estate, they sold. And it isn't really the gentrification/hipster stuff. It's mostly demographic expansion by Orthodox Jews and huge new waves of immigrants to SW Brooklyn, especially Russians and Chinese.
Orthodox Jews have replaced Italians in a number of areas, but especially Gravesend. They put massive demand on S. Brooklyn real estate, especially around Ocean Parkway, and formerly semi-dumpy Italian areas are now all Orthodox and filled with faux-palazzos.
This neighborhood was all Italian 30 years ago. Now you have a fancy apartment building for Orthodox Jews, obvious Orthodox-oriented retail, an Israeli falafel place and a Russian pharmacy.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/44...tUA9MQxB0IHDAA
This neigborhood is still somewhat Italian, but massively reduced. Note the Russian, Hebrew and Chinese signage, alongside some Italian places. The condo buildings going up everywhere cater to Russians/Ukranians.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/39...ea350b!6m1!1e1
And then Chinese took Bensonhurst and Bath Beach and the Russians took Sheepshead Bay and Madison.
In Philly, you don't have quite the same demographic pressures, so the old school Italian-American presence is a bit more obvious. There's less reason to sell and move to North Carolina and Florida when grandma's dumpy old home isn't getting $1.4 million. But Brooklyn has a more clearly Italian presence because of the postwar immigration. The Italian-American "Vinny from Brooklyn" cliche (separate from the Italians who came in the 1960's and 70's) is long gone. You'll still find this in Staten Island, though.