Located in the southwestern part of Brooklyn, Bensonhurst is known to be a large multiethnic neighborhood bounded by 86th street, 14th Avenue, 60th Street, McDonald Avenue, Avenue P, and Bay Parkway. Signature city skyscrapers cannot be found here, instead buildings no more than two or three stories high line the streets, giving the neighborhood an open air feel. The busy main streets like Bay Parkway are filled with numerous commercial stores and restaurants while the quieter side streets are lined with houses and small apartment buildings. According to the 2010 United States Census, Bensonhurst is currently known to be the home of around 151,000 people, most of which come from Asian backgrounds. Because of this Bensonhurst is known to be the home of one of Brooklyn’s several Chinatowns. Just by simply walking along Bay Parkway, one can notice the abundance of storefronts titled in Chinese lettering and the lack of diversity amongst the crowd that walk the streets.

Bensonhurst in particular has experienced drastic cultural changes in the past thirty to forty years. As immigration trends changed and influxes of different races of people began to settle, Bensonhurst has essentially transformed from one ethnic enclave to another. With Chinese restaurants, markets, and bakeries lined up all along the main street of Bay Parkway, it is hard to believe that Bensonhurst, Brooklyn was once known as the Little Italy of Brooklyn. The immigration of Jews and Italians into Bensonhurst began in the early 1900s; however, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the large portion of Italian immigrants arrived at Bensonhurst.

The once predominantly Italian and Jewish neighborhood began transforming into an ethnically Asian neighborhood in the 1990s when an influx of Chinese immigrants began to arrive to Bensonhurst. The immigration only further continued and with that the Asian demographic within Bensonhurst began to climb. According to the New York Times, “from 2000 to 2013…the foreign-born Chinese population in Brooklyn increased 49 percent to 128,000, from 86,000”. Based on the Social Explorer maps below, which illustrate the total Asian population from 2000 to 2014 in Bensonhurst and the total Italian ancestries tallied in Bensonhurst from 2000 to 2013, it is evident that there has been a drastic change in demographic in the past thirteen to fourteen years alone.

In the first map, there are obviously more dark orange colored sections on the left side versus the right showing a denser population of people with Italian ancestries in 2000 versus 2013. The left side illustrates how within those thirteen years many of those dense areas have cleared up, showing a decrease in Bensonhurst’s Italian population.

On the other hand, the second map illustrates how in 2014 (right) Bensonhurst was more densely populated with Asians than it was in 2000, with one of the smallest Census Tract percentages of the neighborhood in 2000 being 11.98% and one of the highest being 59.82% in 2014.

The change in the neighborhood can be seen with the growing number of Chinese-run stores such as fruit markets, clothing shops, and beauty and nail salons. Nevertheless, despite the vast amount of Chinese influence that Bensonhurst has experienced, some of its Italian roots can still be seen in the few Italian establishments that remain, one example being Bella Napoli, a small but characteristic brick oven pizzeria.

Bella Napoli, located on Bay Parkway between 72^nd and 71^st street visually stands out from its surrounding shops, with its bright red store front and English lettering. The instant the doors of Bella Napoli open the aroma of fire baked dough and tomato sauce permeate the air. The space is narrow but long, and it is arranged in a way to maximize seating for the customers all throughout the restaurant. A wide variety of metro style pizzas, each on their own wooden pizza peel, lay across the display window. Towards the back of the restaurant lies the brick oven which is one of if, not the most essential part of Bella Napoli’s business. It immediately catches the customers eye as it is elegantly decorated in a mosaic of fragmented bright red tile. The pizzas cooking inside are barely visible as they appear to be engulfed in flames. The aesthetic of the family run business is lively and new, but still manages to carry an old time familiar charm.

Anna Ragosta, owner of Bella Napoli pizzeria was born in Naples Italy in the year 1970. Since Naples is typically known as being the home for pizza, as Anna was growing up she was constantly surrounded by a lot of pizzerias including those owned by her family. Her uncle specifically owned a brick oven pizzeria and having been surrounded by that kind of environment Anna grew to love the pizza business from a very young age. Her husband, Lino, also had family who owned a lot of business in Naples which inclined them to open up the pizzeria a couple of years ago. When she was just seventeen years old, Anna immigrated to the United States and settled down in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. She went on to attend New Utrecht High School, one of the few high schools located right in Bensonhurst. Personality wise, Anna’s warm and extremely friendly nature makes connecting with customers a very easy and enjoyable task. When the pizzeria’s bustle slows to a low in the quiet afternoon hours you can even find her sitting down and conversing with her customers over a meal.

With such a strong business background and knowledge of brick oven pizza it may seem like opening the business was easy for Anna and her family. However, just as with every business, operating Bella Napoli and keeping it open has proved to be a challenging task. “We pay a lot of taxes, this area became a little expensive and it’s hard. I guess this is my first time opening a business you know and I began to find out it’s not really easy, it’s difficult. You have a lot of expenses, like insurance and you gotta pay taxes, payroll, and you gotta make sure the food is fresh… So it’s a lot of work, it’s not very easy,” says Anna. Although it is typical for the health department to often cause great stress on restaurant owners due to the possibility of grave issues arising, Anna mentions that the health inspections have not been an issue so far. In fact, she is very understanding and comments saying that even though they may cause some stress, they “look out for the public so you can’t blame them for doing their job… I mean I think it’s the right thing to do just for the health benefits for the customers.” Anna also emphasizes that if she took away anything from watching her uncle run his business in Naples it was that the food always has to be fresh. Thus it does not appear like Bella Napoli will run into any major health issues if they continue to abide by this fresh food moral.

When it comes to customers, in the time the business has been running, Anna has learned that “you have to keep your [old] customers [in order] to bring new customers in.” It is essentially easier to bring in new customers than it is to keep old customers and have them continue returning regularly. Despite the difficulty, Bella Napoli has managed to maintain regular customers. Anna mentions that “it is very important to build friendships with the customers.” She further explains saying “…but that’s just my personality, I’m very friendly so it comes natural to me, I don’t do it because I want them to come back, it’s just me.” When asked what she thought were the three key factors to keeping a business running, Anna answered by saying “quality…service, and keeping the customer happy”.

With the vast competition in the business world, specifically the restaurant world, one has to essentially bring something new and different to the table in order to be successful. Anna specifically decided to model the business after her uncle’s in using the brick oven for cooking the pizza. Since the 18th century, pizza in Naples has been cooked traditionally in a wood-burning “brick” oven. Over the years, the tradition has continued in Naples and has spread to many other cities across the world. By bringing the brick oven into Bensonhurst, Bella Napoli is contributing to this spread. Anna believes that the brick oven is essentially makes Bella Napoli’s pizza unique. Although there are other pizzeria’s in the neighborhood that pose as competition, Anna says that those pizzerias operate using regular ovens. “With the regular oven, the pizza comes out very crispy and that’s the way they’re used to it here in the United States, [with] brick oven, it’s a little bit more soft,” says Anna. This traditional method of pizza making essentially brings in a lot of customers especially ones with Italian backgrounds who know about brick oven pizza. They find comfort in Bella Napoli because they can trust the product knowing they’ll leave satisfied with a taste from home. Unlike the other pizzerias around, aside from selling pizza by the pie Bella Napoli also sells metro style pizza which is when pizza is sold by the meter. This style is very traditional to Naples.

Walking down Bay Parkway, it is evident that there aren’t many Italian places, when mentioned to Anna she immediately replies saying that the neighborhood used to be very Italian. Although Bella Napoli has only been open for business for about a year and a half, having lived in the neighborhood for so long Anna has been able to notice the changes in the neighborhood’s demographic over the years. “…I started seeing the change probably about six or seven years ago,” says Anna. This correlates with the change in numbers of Italian versus Asian people reported to be living in Bensonhurst over the past few years, as previously depicted by the Social Explorer maps.

Anna mentions how she believes the decrease in the number of Italian’s in the neighborhood can be attributed to the fact that “the prices of rent and houses went up a lot so everybody moved to Staten Island because the money that you would pay a house here, some people couldn’t afford.” According to the map below, which compares the Average Rent Growth in Bensonhurst from 2000 to 2014, the average rent in the area Bella Napoli is located in was around $712 in 2000 (left) and around $1196 in 2014 (right).

The areas that were once a lighter shade of pink have now become a dark pink almost red showing how the rent prices have increased significantly in the past fourteen years. This data further supports Anna’s proposal as to why so many Italians have moved out of Bensonhurst.

The change in demographic has definitely affected the Italian businesses in Bensonhurst, including Bella Napoli. Anna mentions that since “pizza is Italian… a lot of Italian people know about it, especially this one which is brick oven not regular oven pizza… so we tried to bring it in to the neighborhood.” However, in a predominantly Asian neighborhood it isn’t a typical dish thus they’ve had to change the menu and prices in order to adapt to the neighborhood and its changing population.

Though Bella Napoli has only been open for business for around a year and a half, the building in which the pizzeria resides was also a different kind of pizzeria in the 1980s, showing the Italian roots of the neighborhood.

Whether a pizzeria of some kind has existed in that building every year since the 1980s or not, the fact that there once was a pizzeria there thirty years ago and one still stands there today is very significant. It shows that despite the change into a predominantly Chinese/ Asian neighborhood, Bensonhurst managed to hold onto its Italian roots. Whether they are decades old or just newcomers to the business world, the small but still standing Italian businesses, such as Bella Napoli, are essentially the last sparks of the Italian neighborhood that was transformed and almost put out. However, the running and successful businesses show that not all of the flames have been put out just yet.

References

“Average gross rent for Specified renter-occupied housing units, 2000.” Map. Social Explorer, n.d. Web. May 30 2016. (based on data from U.S. Census Bureau)

“Average gross rent for Renter-occupied housing units, 2014.” Map. Social Explorer, n.d. Web. May 30 2016. (based on data from U.S. Census Bureau)

Robbins, Liz. “With an Influx of Newcomers, Little Chinatowns Dot a Changing Brooklyn.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Apr. 2015. Web. 30 May 2016.

“Total specified ancestries tallied: Italian, 2000.” Map. Social Explorer. Social Explorer, n.d. Web. May 30 2016. (based on data from U.S. Census Bureau)

“Total specified ancestries tallied: Italian, 2013.” Map. Social Explorer. Social Explorer, n.d. Web. May 30 2016. (based on data from U.S. Census Bureau)

“Total Population: Asian Alone, 2014.” Map. Social Explorer. Social Explorer, n.d. Web. May 30 2016. (based on data from U.S. Census Bureau)

“Total Population: Asian Alone, 2000.” Map. Social Explorer. Social Explorer, n.d. Web. May 30 2016. (based on data from U.S. Census Bureau)