Arthur Avenue:
Nestled in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, just south of Fordham Road, Arthur Avenue has been extolled by regional media outlets as a charming, unique example of Italian-American New York. And Facebook, that great finder of bizarre and overlooked truths, has a fan page: “Arthur Avenue, The Real Little Italy of New York”, where 9,271 fans can share memories, directions to their favorite stores and the occasional criticism.
Lured by the promise of delicious Italian food, lively pedestrian life, and the possibility of making new discoveries, The Planning Farm decided to investigate.
The approach to Arthur Avenue is really where the adventure begins; ten, five, and even three blocks away from the 187th Street intersection that marks the generally recognized beginning of the Little Italy, it is difficult to fathom that this mini-neighborhood of cheese shops, sausage makers and bakeries exists. The corner-cutting, diagonal-heavy streetscape of the Bronx— with extra-wide avenues and cross-streets angled every which way—does not lend itself to imagining a neighborhood of aging Italians walking along shady, clean sidewalks.
But, alas, just before the Arthur Avenue street-sign comes into reading sight, we began to see the familiar tri-colored Italian flag among the awnings along 187th Street. Bakeries replace the bodegas of blocks past, and the street suddenly seems to enjoy the presence of a few more trees (not to mention the bocce court nestled away in a neighborhood park at 188th Street).
The change in retail typologies is notable; restaurants and food stores dominate, many of the later with fresh fish or fowl in the window. The restaurants are almost exclusively Italian, but in a surprise mirroring of immigration patterns within Italy, Albanian cuisine is also represented. Visiting during election season, we noticed that Mike Bloomberg has been careful to post signs acknowledging the presence of (and need for support from) both nationalities.
At the southern end of the three block strip is the seemingly appropriate Christopher Columbus park; a small oasis with not much more than a statue and a few benches, part of the New York City Parks Department “Triangles, Squares and Sitting Areas” small open-spaces program. Around the corner from the park, hints of the Italianisms from “the Real Little Italy” can still be found. Most notable among these gems is a shuttered “social club”, closed by New York State Court order due to illegal sale of alcoholic beverages and gambling activities. We cannot legitimately point any fingers at Mafioso friends, but the shuttered storefront does satisfy stereotypes of what kinds of activities Italians spend their time getting up to.
The walk was lovely, and as planners we always enjoy seeing a new neighborhood and slightly different sample of New York’s mélange of building typologies and streets. In the end, we found ourselves slightly blasé. It was The Planning Farm’s first field trip; had our expectations been too high? Was the romanticized coverage in The New York Times and New York Magazine to blame? We think so.
We certainly weren’t transported to anywhere that the MTA can’t reach, but Italy was there; her people and her pasta products well-represented within this piece of the diverse patchwork of the central Bronx. Let us hope that New Yorkers do take advantage of this cultural treasure.
