New York, NY on South of Union Square

Retracing The East Village’s Historic Little Italy

October, the month when we mark Columbus Day, is also Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month. That combined with the recent celebrations around the 125th anniversary of Veniero’s inspires a closer look at the East Village’s own historic Little Italy, centered around First Avenue near the beloved pastry shop and cafe. While not nearly as famous or intact as similar districts around Mulberry Street or Bleecker and Carmine Street in the South Village, if you look closely, or know where to dig, vestiges of the East Village’s once-thriving Italian community are all around.

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231 East 14th Street

Built in 1919, this building originally housed the Cloakmakers Local 48 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. In New York in the early 20th century, nearly all female garment workers were Jewish or Italian, and while they often worked closely together, there were also separate organizations and entities catering to differences of language and culture.

231 East 14th Street

The dramatic relief marble carvings on the building depicting workers’ struggle against exploitation are believed to be the work of poet and sculptor Onorio Ruotolo. In the 1920s, after Mussolini’s takeover of Italy, the Center was a hub of anti-Fascist organizing in New York.

440 East 12th Street

In many ways the heart of the East Village’s Italian American community was this church which stood for nearly one hundred years between 1st Avenue and Avenue A. Built between 1911 and 1917, the church was based upon the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin. For decades, the beautiful, twin-towered church served a largely-Italian-American congregation, which got more diverse as the 20th century progressed.