The Jewish community lived alongside the larger Italian community in Bensonhurst. Both groups got along very well. Norma Shamosh, a 73-year-old mother to five children, and a Bensonhurst native, remembers how her children would often play with Italian children. Aimee Cohen, a Jewish Egyptian immigrant, attributes the relationships between Jews and Italians to the lack of exclusive stores and markets. She believes that relationships were built because the communities would shop for groceries in the same facilities.
