Signs made out of red, green and white tinsel effusively welcome visitors here, a signal perhaps that today's Little Italy is light years away from the solid ethnic enclave of old. The neighborhood is a lot smaller and more commercial than it once was, and the area settled by New York's huge nineteenth-century influx of Italian immigrants is encroached upon a little more each year by Chinatown. In fact, if you walk north from Canal Street along Mulberry or Mott streets to get here, the transition from the cultural heart of Chinatown to Little Italy's Big Tomato tourist schmaltz can be a little difficult to stomach. Few Italians still live here and some of the restaurants cater to tourists with valet parking and by piping the music of NY's favorite Italian son, Frank Sinatra, onto the street.

But that's not to advise missing out on Little Italy altogether. Some original bakeries and salumerias (Italian specialty food stores) do survive, and here, amid the imported cheeses, sausages and salamis hanging from the ceiling, you can buy sandwiches made with slabs of mozzarella or eat slices of homemade focaccia.

The best way to access Little Italy is by taking the #N, #R, #J, #M, #Z or #6 train to Canal Street and walking up Mulberry Street

Explore Little Itally
Mid-September's ten-day Festa di San Gennaro is a wild and tacky celebration of the day of the patron saint of Naples. Italians from all over the city converge on Mulberry Street , Little Italy's main strip, and the area is transformed by street stalls and numerous Italian fast-food and snack outlets. The festivities center around the Church of the Most Precious Blood , just off Canal at 109 Mulberry St, and provide a rare chance to see this quaint church and its courtyard, normally closed up and protected from the public gaze.

Few of the restaurants around here really stand out, but the former site of Umberto's Clam House , on the corner of Mulberry and Hester streets, was quite notorious in its time: it was the scene of a vicious gangland murder in 1972, when Joe "Crazy Joey" Gallo was shot dead while celebrating his birthday with his wife and daughter. Gallo, a big talker and ruthless businessman, was alleged to have offended a rival family and so paid the price. Umberto's Clam House has since relocated to 386 Broome St.

Explore Mulberry Street

Old St Patrick’s Cathedral
In striking counterpoint to the lawlessness of the Italian underworld, the Old St Patrick's Cathedral at 263 Mulberry St was the first Catholic cathedral in the city and the parent church to its much more famous offspring on Fifth Avenue and 50th Street. The interior has been restored to its former glory and plans are afoot to add spires to its 100-year-old roof. Mass is still held in the cathedral and it is open to the public, unlike the walled cemetery behind, which is unfortunately almost always locked. 

NoLita 

#N or #R to Prince Street.

Just east of Broadway and south of Houston, fashion, style and nonchalant living have found fertile new breeding ground. Lining the streets are fresh, creative and independent designer boutiques, coffeehouses and cafés, establishing this area as the latest in chic. Referred to as NoLita , this section north of Little Italy, which extends east from Lafayette, Mott and Elizabeth streets between Prince and Houston, is great for only-in-New York, hip accessory shopping. NoLita is not cheap by any means, but the young, artsy and restless hanging outside the area's proliferation of trendy stores, bars and restaurants make it an excellent place for a late-afternoon drink and a spot of beautiful-people watching.

Old Police Headquarters
Reaction to Little Italy's illicit past can be found at the corner of Centre and Broome streets, where you'll find the Old Police Headquarters , a palatial 1909 Neoclassical confection meant to cow would-be criminals into obedience with its high-rise dome and lavish ornamentation. The police headquarters moved to a bland modern building around City Hall in 1973, and the overbearing palace was converted in the late Eighties into upmarket condominiums, some of which have been called home by Steffi Graf, Winona Ryder and Christy Turlington

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