History of Belmont
San Gennaro Festival
Named in the 18th century by the tobacco-giant Lorillard family, Belmont has always been a hotspot for immigrants, from Germans to Irish to Italians and to present-day Albanians and Puerto Ricans. Though the majority of residents in the Belmont area are Hispanic, Italians maintain a strong presence on Arthur Avenue, though even here the ethnic scene is changing. The recent influx of Albanians has been made manifest on Arthur Avenue in every form, from restaurants to bars to convenience stores to electronics centers. With this ever-changing racial and ethnic scene, it is only natural that we find a great diversity of food, culture, and traditions. Perhaps this diversity is just one of the reasons why Arthur Avenue has become such a hotspot for tourists: here you can pick up traditional Albanian knickknacks, enjoy a 4-star Italian dinner at Zero Otto Nove (followed, of course, by a serving of tiramisu and an espresso), or stop in for a quick taco at Rio Bravo Restaurante & Bar.
In the mid-19th century, the immigrant makeup of Belmont was predominantly Irish and German, as was the case for many New York neighborhoods. There was little ethnic diversity at that time; the first beginnings of this diversity came in the Second Wave of Immigration. It was then that Italians moved into and rapidly populated the Belmont, taking over not only the residential areas but also the retail and commercial stores. Italians made such a strong mark in Belmont that Arthur Avenue has been nicknamed the “Little Italy of the Bronx.” Although there remains today a strong Italian presence on Arthur Avenue, stray little and you will find yourself in increasingly diverse neighborhoods. Albanians and Puerto Ricans are the late-20th and early-21st century immigrants of Belmont. The Arthur Avenue retail market still remains predominantly Italian, but today you can find an Albanian restaurant, an Albanian convenient store, and an Albanian electronics store. The residential scene has changed more drastically than the retail scene. For the most part, residents of Belmont are now Puerto Rican, even around Arthur Avenue.
Yet ethnic diversity remains an important part of the Belmont neighborhood. Though the dominant ethnic group has shifted from Irish to Italian to Albanian to Puerto Rican, this is not to say that after each ethnographic shift in the makeup of the neighborhood the one immigrant group died out and was replaced entirely by a new one. Rather, the old immigrant groups linger to this day. Though perhaps fewer in number, Italians remain strong in influence. Arthur Avenue is still viewed as the “Little Italy of the Bronx,” and when you walk the avenue you are unmistakably in an Italian neighborhood. But even Arthur Avenue shows today signs of an ethnic shift. First, Albanian stores and restaurants began popping up, and then came the sweeping Hispanic influence. Today, Arthur Avenue stands as an encapsulation of the ethnic and immigrant history of Belmont: a well-established Italian restaurant is sandwiched between a trendy Albanian café and a newfound Mexican eatery.
