New York City, NY

Men and boys on the sidewalk outside of a store, at a festival in Little Italy, New York City.

Little Italy at the time consisted of 30 blocks in the Lower East Side. Over two centuries ago, waves of Italians left Italy to make the United States their new home. With the Italian economy in shambles, Italian young men and women immigrated to America in the hopes of earning money and sending it back to their families in Italy. With the advent of fascism in Italy and the worsening of the mafia in the south of Italy, more and more families relocated to the United States permanently.
The Italians who came to New York City settled in the Lower East Side first and then in East Harlem, establishing a more significant Little Italy and community, albeit not as popular as lower Manhattan.
From East Harlem to the Lower East Side, New York City was home to at least 390,000 Italian in the 1920s. In those years, Little Italy became a little piece of Italy in America, where the culture, the language, and patriotism could flourish.
As Italians made New York City their home, Italian restaurants and businesses started to open, some of which are still open today.
Italians were also hard workers and came from a long-standing tradition of unionism. Even in their new LES home, they came together and founded the Italian Labor Center. Built in 1919, it housed first the Italian Ladies Garment Workers’ Union. Second, with the advent of Mussolini’s takeover of Italy, the Center became the hub of anti-fascist organizing in the United States.
In the late 1930s, Little Italy was almost exclusively populated by Italians, although some relocated to Brooklyn and Staten Island during WWII.
In the late mid 20th century, Little Italy was immortalized in American cinema, especially with the idolizing of the mafia in films.