"Little Italy"

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:40 AM -0500 12/5/01, Ittaob at AOL.COM wrote:
>In a message dated 12/5/01 9:34:48 AM, jester at PANIX.COM writes:
>
><< The cite for which Fred Shapiro posted the bibliography quite clearly
>refers to a Little Italy between Madison and Fifth near Central Park.
>  >>
>
>Then there must have been more than one, for there was absolutely one at
>around 116th and First. Remnants of it still survive in the form of
>restaurants, funeral homes, etc. It was quite famous in its day.
>
Right; that's the one we discussed in some detail earlier, as I
recall--home of Rao's, counterexample to my ignorant claim that
"Little Italy" is a name rather than a description, and that there
could only be one (the Lower East Side/Mulberry St.) one in
Manhattan, etc.  Evidently there's no constraint on how many there
can be even on the upper East Side (although perhaps those two were
not coevals).  Let a thousand Little Italys (Italies?) bloom!

larry