More than Pasta and People-Watching in Lower Manhattan
Prosecco and romance in New York City’s Little Italy
Photo credit: M. Ciavardini
Why head to the touristy and ever-shrinking Little Italy in lower Manhattan? The neighborhood is a great place for people-watching, for sitting at an outdoor table on a sunny day and sipping some Prosecco, or a bellini, or some white-wine sangria, or for critiquing different types of pasta, or for heading to Caffé Roma at the corner of Mulberry and Broome Streets and feeling like your Italian great-grandfather as you order an espresso and a little sweet. You might go to learn about the immigrant experience of an older generation at the Italian American Museum or enjoy the invigorating color of the Most Precious Blood Church.
San Gennaro at the Mulberry Street Cigar Company in New York City’s Little Italy
Photo credit: M. Ciavardini
You might go to pick up some kitschy souvenirs or an inexpensive scarf or for some torrone, or nougat, that can be bought at a pushcart. Or you might need some gelato or cannoli or baba au rhum.
Most Precious Blood Church, Little Italy
Photo credit: M. Ciavardini
What you might find in addition to food is art you don’t anticipate, art in unexpected places, art you might not link with Italy, or Little Italy, or New York.
Photo credit: M. Ciavardini
Yes, Little Italy is touristy and it’s shrinking, but why not enjoy an afternoon outside listening to restaurant hawkers trying to persuade you to come in, to tourists trying to learn about New York? Why not visit for some bargains and Prosecco and pasta and pastry and street art?
—Lori Tripoli