Arthur Avenue

Arthur Avenue, the Little Italy of the Bronx in New York

Arthur Avenue designates the commercial area of the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx, popularly known as New York's Little Italy. The site presents itself as the reference for bread, pasta, meat, pastries, espresso machines, and Italian sausage, and brings together a collection of food, dining, and houseware establishments that, according to its own description, outnumber those of other rival neighborhoods.

The page notes that the area is both a secret for many New Yorkers and a place of return for others, and attributes to the Zagat Survey the "Best Buy" status for more Arthur Avenue shops than any other neighborhood in the city.

Shops and culinary offerings

The material lists the variety of businesses that make up the district: markets, butcher shops, pasta shops, and pastry shops, as well as gift and houseware shops. The regular clientele includes both long-time residents and relatives and visitors who return for the products and the memories of the place.

The Arthur Avenue Retail Market, spearheaded by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, functions as a covered Italian bazaar that brings together under one roof part of the offerings also found on nearby streets, from sausage makers to bakers, cafes, and florists.

The covered market and its composition

The description of the Arthur Avenue Retail Market details, in the food category alone, nine restaurants, five pastry shops, four butcher shops, two pasta makers, six bakeries, three pork stores, five gourmet delicatessens, two fish markets, three gourmet coffee shops, and one gourmet Italian shop. To this are added the gift and houseware shops.

Dining and visitors

The dining experience is presented as the main attraction for visitors, with a wide range of Italian cuisine within a short walk through the neighborhood. The text cites a food critic's comparison according to which the restaurants of Arthur Avenue make those of Mulberry Street look like "stepchildren of the Olive Garden."

The public is not limited to the Italian community: the presence of license plates from all around the Tri-state area and even from Vermont and Pennsylvania is cited as an indication of an active tourist market. Driving access is described as easy via several routes, with easy parking and a safe environment, and visits are often combined with Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Zoo, or the New York Botanical Garden.

Family tradition and associated figures

The site emphasizes the small-town character that generations of Italian families have given to this urban area. Among the personalities born or raised in the area, it mentions actor Chazz Palminteri, author Don DeLillo, and musician Dion DiMucci, whose group, Dion and the Belmonts, takes its name from a local street, Belmont Avenue. It also relates that Joe Pesci began his acting career after being discovered by Robert De Niro at a neighborhood restaurant where he worked as a maitre d'.

Family continuity is maintained, according to the text, with grandchildren and great-grandchildren who remain or return to Arthur Avenue to run businesses founded by their immigrant ancestors. The page includes the statement that nearly every shop on the avenue is already a kind of institution.

Among the notable visitors who have frequented the area are Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, and in a more recent list Clint Eastwood, Liza Minnelli, Cher, Joe Pesci, and Tony Lo Bianco, who seek an atmosphere away from the media spotlight of Manhattan.

Events and district activity

The site maintains an events calendar and a merchant list, with Ferragosto editions documented from 2009 to 2022 and the celebration of the New York Pizza Festival in the Little Italy of the Bronx. The 2022 Ferragosto edition was announced for September 11, from 12:00 to 18:00 hours.