Bensonhurst’s 18th Avenue profiled in Brooklyn Paper

 Posted by on December 1, 2010  Miscellaneous
Dec 012010
 

The Brooklyn Paper ran a profile of Bensonhurst’s 18th Avenue yesterday, focusing on the area between 70th and 80th Streets.

Bensonhurst is still very much the Little Italy it has been since the 1950s. And some of the best classic Italian-American eateries and shops are between 70th and 80th streets on 18th Avenue, also known as Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard — another nod to the neighborhood’s Italian heritage.

I don’t know if I entirely agree with that assessment – along my part of 18th Avenue, which is in the 60s, Chinese stores find their way into a lot of the empty storefronts. Yes, there are a lot of Italian shops, and yes, it does support huge crowds at the 10-day, 8-block Santa Rosalia festival each summer… I’m just saying, calling it “very much the Little Italy” of the ’50s might be a little much.

That’s the only eyebrow I raised at the article. Otherwise, it’s a nice little tour of a ten-block stretch of the Avenue where “You can basically eat and shop around the world in 10 blocks,” with profiles on:

  • Frank and Sal’s Prime Meat Market
  • Polsk Sklep
  • Mexican Ayometla
  • Bensonhurst Wine and Liquors
  • Exclusive V.I.P. Fashion
  • Queen Ann Ravioli
  • Hand Pull Noodles and Dumpling House
  • Sas Italian Records
  • Louie’s Lighting and Furniture
  • Villabate Alba Pasticceria
  • Spicy Bampa

Full story at The Brooklyn Paper.

  • http://montaguestreetjournal.com Ace

    As I posted at thebrooklynpaper: Why leave out Villa Fiorita and Il Colosseo? Also Gino’s Focacceria? And the Butcher shop next to Il Colosseo is great too.

  • Rosario

    You are correct in raising an eyebrow. Anyone who says “it’s very much the Little Italy it has been since the 1950s” was NOT here in the 1950s! Heck, it’s not even the Little Italy it was in the 1990s! Yes, there are a few solid Italian shops on 18th Avenue – the food places especially – but the places that depended heavily on ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS for business: the Italian music shops, Italian video shops, Italian cafes, Italian magazine shops, Italian clothing shops, Italian housewares shops, etc. are 90% GONE! Ten years ago, I’d say that 18th Avenue was a shadow of its former self. Now, I’d say it’s not even related to its former self. Just as it was once one of many Italian sections in Brooklyn, now it’s one of many Chinese sections in Brooklyn. Some Italian neighborhoods are now the haunts of hipsters; some of yuppies; and this one of different immigrant groups. Still, sad as it is, it’s probably the most likely place to find an authentic Italian community in New York City, even if it’s only a very, very small group.