Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants. Little Italy on Mulberry Street, extends as far south as Canal Street, as far north as Bleecker, as far west as Lafayette and as far east as the Bowery. It borders Chinatown at Bowery. NoLita is a neighborhood in downtown Manhattan lying just north of Little Italy and Chinatown and bordering on SoHo. It’s a compact place whose boundaries include Houston Street to the north, Broome Street to the south, Lafayette Street to the west, and a gritty section of the Bowery to the east. If you’ve been to the Feast of San Gennaro on Mulberry Street, the downtown Italian-American pageant/food fair that heralds the impending arrival of autumn in New York, you’ve visited Nolita. Historically a part of Little Italy, with a small but present Italian population enjoying their twilight years in rent-controlled bliss, the place has developed its own identity, in part through the creative efforts of local realtors, merchants and restauranteurs. The area is less commercialized and touristy than Little Italy, and there are gracious pockets of quiet and leafy repose that you won’t find in many other neighborhoods in Manhattan. There are a number of small shops and grocers, a large outdoor market with a high-quality selection of hats and accessories, and quite a few good homegrown Italian restaurants with 10 or 12 tables, unencumbered by tourist-baiting proclamations of authenticity. The scale of the buildings in the heart of NoLita is small, the streets are narrow, and there is a pervasive intimacy that lends the place much of its charm. Its character in general is close in spirit and appearance to the popular idea of the essential Greenwich Village. By Ken Hamberg
Trains:
Buses:
Rental Prices:
$2,400 ― $10,200Sales Prices:
$870,000 ― $2,450,000Landmarks:
Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, Bowery Savings Bank, Puck BuildingSchool Districts:
2Police Precincts:
5
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