When Italians first began to pour into New York late in the 19th century, a new era was underway—one of technological advances, divisive conflict over immigration, and, most importantly, change. Masses arriving in boats, the majority of Italian immigrants were men. Eager for work and brimming with the desire to make money, they toiled until they had enough to go to back to Italy, where some would get married and start families. Others would then come back to the States; the rest would never be seen again.
During the rapid social change of the 1890s, Italians started to populate a section of southwest Brooklyn called Bensonhurst, which then was a quiet but growing suburb. In the six decades that followed, the Italians transformed Bensonhurst into a cultural hub, alive with the language and tradition of a country 4,000 miles away. But by the 1970s, Italian Americans began to migrate away from Bensonhurst, to Long Island, Staten Island or New Jersey. Immigrants from China and eastern Europe moved in. Still, the Italian culture has left a strong imprint on Bensonhurst. Many Italian Americans remain in the neighborhood, and signs of their culture dot its storefronts and elaborate churches. After all, Bensonhurst was Brooklyn’s Little Italy.
But how did it get there?
