Robert Orsi brings into light the predominant traditions of Italian Harlem by painting a vivid picture of the largest annual celebration of the area. The festa of the Madonna of 115th street was an energetic and colorful celebration fueled by extreme religious devotion. The fervent Catholicism of Italian culture took root in the new immigrant communities of the late 19th century. The most vibrant display of this carry-over of tradition was, then, the festa—a celebration dedicated to the Virgin Mary, or la Madonna. The Madonna of 115th was a statue depicting the Virgin Mary, and in her arms a portrayal of the infant Jesus. This physical statue was much revered by the people of Italian Harlem. Even beyond the confines of Northern Manhattan, Italians from distant areas of the United States traveled to New York to join in the celebration that worshipped the statue. Food, games, and superstitious acts of penance were all common aspects of the lively celebration. In a procession sponsored by merchants and members of the New York elite, a statue of the Madonna—mounted on a float with a box to collect money and jewelry from the impoverished penitents—weaved its way through several blocks of the Italian community.

In the next chapter of the book, Orsi discusses the motives and backgrounds of the average Italian Harlem immigrant. The immigrants came mostly from Southern Italy—but even then they chose to maintain subdivisions by identifying with narrower regional boundaries. Italian immigrants left the bitterness of life in their home country for questionably less deplorable conditions in the Western world. And knowing of the horrible state from which these poor immigrants fled, the entrepreneur’s smile grew wider. Italian immigrants were used as strikebreakers, a business practice that aggravated ethnic tensions and urban progression. The account of Vincent Scilipoti only confirms an unremitting exploitation of the working class—something already very much established as a rulebook tactic of the rising capitalist.