Episode 7 / The Cannoli King of Little Italy
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- The Last Days of Little Italy: An Original Documentary Series.
Caffe Palermo, in the heart of Little Italy, New York City, has been a favorite restaurant among locals and visitors alike since 1973. The store has been under the constant hands-on supervision of the owner “Baby John” Delutro, The Cannoli King, and his attention to every detail is evident upon your arrival.
Little Italy, a historic haven for immigrant families from the old country, was once threatened by an ever-expanding Chinatown. But now the fatal blow is being delivered by the gentrifiers. Corporations, yuppies, and chain stores all moved in. How did Little Italy transform itself from a working class neighborhood of tenement buildings to the third most expensive zip code in the United States?
Part funny, part sad, the series explores the impact gentrification is having on Little Italy's long-term residents. The striking imagery captures the neighborhood before it is completely erased by sterile trendy stores and upper middle class sameness.
Will New York City lose another cultural touchstone to the forces of greed?
A Nolita Films Production
Written and Directed by Paul Stone
Produced by Claudia Montano
Cinematography & Editing by Paul Stone
Shot in New York City, Rome, Amalfi Coast & Puglia, Italy. 
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My grandparents lived on mullberry back in the 30s, i love these stories. The thing is nobody tells the story of little italy. The closest we have is scorseses' "Italianamerican" its a such a shame nobody has wanted to tell the story of little italy. So thanks for this. Ive really loved these episodes.
@@kingpuppo5880 Thank you! I appreciate the kind words!
@@kingpuppo5880 Thanks! Means a lot!
Amazing film. I’m a long time New Yorker, born to a Jewish dad and catholic mom from the Bronx. Spent a lot of fun times downtown growing up. The Jewish neighborhood has completely disappeared, Chinatown has completely changed but still retains its character and little Italy has become such a hardcore tourist attraction in its condensed version, older generations like myself might find it a bit too intense and disorienting. Any time you can record history, it’s a gift to future generations that would otherwise not know what existed before. Thank you 😍
@@benzynyc great comment. Thanks!
The sad truth . I'm not from New York, but I can relate to their stories . All that's left are the memories .
So true. This is happening all over the world.
@@PaulStoneFilmsyes
,true. Leichhardt in Sydney’s inner west is going the same way. Italians from post WW2 settled there and now generations since have assimilated and moved on.
My husband and I used to live in Union City NJ in the 90s and we'd frequently go to Mulberry Street as we went to a barber shop near Christopher Street; we've had "The Cannoli King's" cannoli a few times. They're delicious and just like the ones I remember from my own "Little Italy" in Chicago where we had Lezza's bakery, Ferrara pastry. I'd "kill" for a real cannoli now because we have lived in Indianapolis, Indiana for 24 years and we retired from our jobs here. Sure it's cheaper than The City for sure but unless I do the 3 hour schlep up to Chicago, there are no cannoli; "The Cannoli King" brought back so many memories of my 1950s childhood in Chicago's Little Italy, was just like The Cannoli King described; I'm sorry I couldn't understand his last name in the video but he is a good story teller. Bravo, grazie tanto, auguri!
Truly sad. I grew up in NYC and spent a lot of time in Little Italy. I used to drive a bread truck for a bakery on Elizabeth Street. I went to every Feast of San Genaro during the 70's and 80's. A lot of memories and special times. Now lost to greed and the erasing of history. RJ
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My grandparents moved from Italy to New York City back in the 20s and yes back then it was a much bigger neighborhood. They eventually moved to Brooklyn years later. So sad that most of the area is not Little Italy anymore. Better times back then. Thanks for doing this video God bless you and your family.
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Excellent topic. Thank you. I'm in Canada, and it's the same thing. Neighborhoods vanishing and being replaced by mediocre generic garbage. A few still remain and fight for their existence, but it's mostly now just memories.
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Grande paesani e fratelli 🇮🇹🇺🇲 keep our tradition and heritage allive!
Un saluto da un paesano🇮🇹🇮🇹 residente in Germania
Always!
Why don’t you worry about the illegals in 🇩🇪 ‼️🤌🤌🤘 ohhh 🤫 I forgot your hiding because ur Mussolini sympathizer🤌🤌🤘‼️
A total heart break. Sad, what has been happening to so many iconic destinations.SAD!!
Born on 25 Downing Street, Our Lady of Pompeii, was my first grammar school
not only remember St.Gennaro, but also smaller feasts like St. Anthony and St.Joseph. San Gennaro and Saint Anthony went from Canal to Houston
That's mad I'm from 10 Downing Street and my best friend was at 11 Downing Street
Word, I remember back in the days my father used to take me to little Italy. Mind you I'm First generation American, my dad is from Colombia and my mom is from El salvabor, and i was raised in Bensonhurst Brooklyn. So I know my way around an Italian menu, but now every time i bring people from out of town to little Italy i always tell them "this ain't the Little Italy i remember"
Bensonhurst changed also
He encompassed so much with just a few simple words..."I'm 61 I am the last generation" My generation the baby boomers, we are the last generation from a simpler time. Everyone knew their place, you worked for what you have, there was no sense of entitlement and you lived your life your way without having to force your beliefs or your life style onto other people. Today it seems that everyone has a platform or an issue or a life style and they want everyone to know about it and sometimes make you feel like you are wrong because you are just you. I don't wish for the old days to come back but I am blessed to have lived during that time and now living during these times and believe me, simpler was and will always be better.
@@69airride3 preach! Amen! So true
Actually Gen X is the last generation that remembers. We’re always forgotten!
I mean the baby boomers have had it easier than any generation in the history of the world, to paint yourself as some kind of hard working simple peasant just because so many young people are inconsiderate loudmouths… I’m a millennial and born in the mid 1980s, saw life and most of my youth without mobile phones and social media, I also saw how the baby boomers received free university education, afforded families and housing on one income etc, they gave that all away for us younger generations for fat pensions and quiet neighbourhoods to retire in. It’s not so simple. Great film btw and I’m sure you’ve seen Abel Ferrara doc on mulberry?
@@PaulStoneFilms did you delete my comment 😂
I remember when little Italy was popular with every single Italian family, we shopped for cheese , pasta and pastries as well as cooking supplies. Now I see the Chinese taking over the entire area , same goes for Bensonhurst Brooklyn and Dyker park area, completely gone are the Italian's. Rent's are crazy and once the city touches anything it destroys it and back in the day we never locked our cars or houses, so sad to hear these stories. As a boy we walked little Italy and after that visited Delancy street (Jew Town) to buy clothes and wearable items. If we can only turn back time to the good old days where you loved your neighbors and everyone looked out for each other.
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I feel bad for him. The life he knew was slowly disappearing. He was very lucky to have known the people on your block.
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Attending the San Gennaro Festival 2023 was a pleasure, but the crowds were overwhelming for a small-town girl like myself. It's a shame that our iconic venues are disappearing globally. Thank you for sharing 😊
@@karendawson4087 thanks for watching!
KAREN THE ANGELS CHOOSE YOU THEY DECIDED THAT YOU WILL BE BEAUTIFUL THE ANGELS HAVE SPOKEN YOUR BEAUTY IS PHENOMENAL IF MICHELANGELO WERE ALIVE TODAY YOU WOULD BE HIS MUSE
@@marcvolpe8252 beautifully said, thank you ☺️
There’s nothing worse than watching a place you were born and grew up in change so much. You just feel completely helpless, as if you’re watching a dying relative on their death bed. I really wish Italy would pump some money into this neighborhood, due to keeping their heritage alive and thriving in the states, but who knows if that would even help. A lot of Italians live in the suburbs, nowadays. As he said, his kids don’t even want to go into the city to go there. I think a lot of that is do to the post covid reality of chaos in the city, too. These big cities like NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles have become unsafe and cold hellholes.
God Bless Baby John!
Thank you for doing this.
@@pauliedibbs9028 thank u for watching!
Well done, great production, thank you. the story’s the same in so many places, sadly, traditions and businesses like these fade away. Even the small town in Canada my grandparents immigrated to had a strong Italian community, not many of them left there now.
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Heartbreaking that the city is losing an iconic and once thriving neighborhood. I was born and raised in Astoria and fondly remember my parents taking my brother and I to Canal and Mott street to buy our Easter and Christmas clothes then go to Angelos for dinner. Countless times I went to little Italy with my buddies and girlfriends. I always wondered why the Italians or Italian organizations didnt buy the buildings to protect the neighborhood.
@@richbrig3 No one could have imagined that Giuliani would gentrify the city and make it livable again. Plus most of the residents were working class people living pay check to pay check. I saw it coming and bought my piece of nyc twenty years ago. 🙏
Astoria is changing also.. rents are through the roof.. plastic yuppies with no soul moving in..
Great stories, episodes, lived in NYC in the 90s, had a musician friend who lived in Mulberry. I get goosebumps at the sadness of what has happened, I can feel it in the air when I go visit my daughter who lives in Brookyn. Well done.
"Everything that once connected us is slowly disappearing" - Byung Chul Han
Thanks for watching!
I left NY 9 years ago. I miss Cafe Palermo. NY changed, and not for the better. When I left, Little Italy was already almost gone. Bread in the Bronx is not the same either. It’s so sad.
@@BeyondAestheticsAZ I hear you! That’s why I captured what was left before it’s completely gone. 🥲
@@PaulStoneFilms I am so glad that you did. Thank you so very much. I should fly back to NY just for one more cannoli from Cafe Palermo. They make the best cannoli in all of North America hands down!
Nicely done sir, despite it being super depressing to see. Both my folks are from LES and grew up there in the 50’s. This is just sad.
Well said
My family still lives in the area since the 40s
Thanks for watching!
This series is breaking my heart...
Some funny episodes coming soon. Thanks for the support!
I can relate to this with Norristown in Pennsylvania. There's still some fantastic Tomato Pie and Sandwich shops, but not so much Italian dominated neighborhoods with all the variety they once had. It's still an important town; just not like the past.
@@mikemchugh3073 totally agree. Thanks for watching!
Norristown is the birthplace of Mike Piazza.
@@larryro8872 Tommy Lasorda too, Norristown High grad in '44.
Great story, nicely done. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Interesting but very sad story of the modern world we now live in. Need to watch all 7 now
@@tbjdiamonddog thanks for the support!
Great video Baby John.
Same situation in Chicago’s Taylor Street neighborhood. Only a few, you can count on 1 hand few, left . Mary Zavarella Walker 🇮🇹🙅🏻♀️
My Italian Grandmother grew up in Mulberry St. There my Italian Grandfather from Naples, met her and they feel in love and married.
Blessings
@@user-fu2oy6dp4j thanks
It's not just Little Italy that's being erased. Communities all across America have become shadows of what they once were, if they even exist at all. Manhattan's Little Italy has a name, mostly as a tourist spot. The heart and soul of the neighborhood has long moved away to greener pastures. I suppose this is the American story, a constant shifting people in search of the good life... somewhere else. I'm one of them. Hats off to those whose roots hold them to their communities, even as their communities become mostly memories.
@@Peter7966 There are some of us still here. Don’t give up on us! 💪🏻
@@PaulStoneFilms No... I applaud you for hanging in there through all the changes. And Little Italy will never be what it was. But that''s true of everywhere.
Fantastic as always.
Sad but everything Baby John is saying is true. The last of the Mohicans right there. ❤🇮🇹 Everything was better when there were neighborhoods.
So true
Great series!!
@@edwardgonzalez3072 thanks!
Wow! Deliciouso! I'll be right over to manja!!
Chinatown remained because the family is sacred and they are very organized. They are also taught accounting and business at a young age. The Chinese family sticks together to the end. Italians are organized but not as organized as the Asian Communities.
great video!
Thanks!
Thank you pal
Great nostalgia - I still like to head downtown from the Bronx for the cultural memories - a lot of good stories in those walls
My paternal grandparents lived on Mott and Hester. Dad grew up there. Not like it used to be. I used to go to Vincent's for scungili with the hot sauce. Then went a few blocks for Chinese. I think Ferrara's is still there. Too bad Angelo's closed. They were good.
This whole series is excellent. I can definitely relate ,im born and raised in queens and my neighborhood is completely different, its gone.
$7,000/mo is crazy! But people will pay and that’s why rents keep going up.
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It is sad when business’s that have been there for many years close. I was a regular at Alleve and was so sad to see it close. Though , it is worth mentioning there are many new (Italian) business’s that have opened and continue to open in The area. Another series that you should consider doing is The New Little Italy , or The next Little Italy , and interview the business owners of many of the new (Italian) business’s there , who have just opened and who are opening. As old places (sadly) close , new places (happily) open. New business owners have a whole other point of view. Walking in the Neighborhood recently , I see many newer (Italian) places open , often w people directly from Italy and on various surrounding blocks , not only on Mulberry St.
@@victorsimonelli319 I agree it would be cool but once this original series is done I’m creating a new series about the Bowery. This series seems like it’s about Little Italy the place but it’s really about the people. The iconic characters that really don’t exist anymore. Young people aren’t interesting to me. 😏
This is great story but sad it's heart breaking what this government did to our city and country I been to this place million times in my younger day
We can all relate. Gradually local life is disappearing. Thanks for this beautiful piece on the twilight of an ethnicity in America
@@ericb8004 thanks for watching!
Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be….😮
That’s got to be a Yogi quote!
That's too bad. However, the laws of the market favor innovation and efficiency, not tradition and feelings. Unfortunately the Little Italy businesses kept doing the same thing for too long while their customers got old, left or died. Young people have sought the novelty Little Italy didn't offer. It's too bad to see Little Italy being gradually replaced with other less traditional options. Perhaps if they seek a change of direction without losing their character they'd find a new lifeline.
It pisses me off to see parts of NY being stripped away
There were Italians in the Village too.
The real Little Italy is in the Bronx - still going strong, too.
👍🏼
It's a horrible thing to see the past wither in to no remembernce, times are ever changing and washing the past away.
Thanks for watching!
It's good that he can be positive about, now, I feel life was better back, IN the day, for a million different reasons
times are changing, but they always have, enjoy today
Thanks
Thank god for Baby John keeping it alive or Italians would have no memories of great times on Mulberry Street.
Umberto’s is still there, i wonder if the food is still like it used to?
GOOD SHOW JOHN ALL TRUE HOW IS YOUR BROTHER PETER
Love this series. But let’s be honest. Little Italy of yesteryear was a rundown neighborhood. Hence, why our families moved out. What keeps people connected to the old neighborhood was the relationships we had, it was “family style”. But as more Italians became more successful we wanted to provide better living areas for our families to grow up in and I’m thankful for my parents and grandparents for doing so. While little Italy today is a shell of what it once was. It is celebrated even more today with the neighborhood being cleaned up, modernized, and being a fun place for tourists from all over the world to enjoy. Yes, it’s not the same, but in some ways it’s better than ever. Look at it as a great memorial for an old Italian neighborhood that once was. Ethnic neighborhoods typically just fade away over time, but the romance and charm of little Italy will probably stay for generations, even though the Italians moved out long ago.
@@donh1572 Take the date this was shot in context though. In 2015 hyper-gentrification shocked the older residents in the area with drastic change and insane increases in rent and commercial rent. A lot of older people were being coerced into moving by predatory landlords. It became increasingly harder for small businesses to survive and now we have a disneyfied shopping mall for trust fund kids, Nepo babies, and rich Euro trash.
@@PaulStoneFilms those older residents are why many Italians moved out. Their rent controlled units forced everyone else’s rent to skyrocket to cover the landlords cost. While it’s unfortunate, it also benefited most Italian families that moved out since we got bigger homes in better neighborhoods. Plus Little Italy never looked this good today . Let’s also keep in mind that rent was always insane. Even one person in this show explained how back in the early 1900’s they paid more than half of their income for slum like conditions with a shared toilet. To pine for yesteryears slum compared to todays better living conditions in that same area is crazy
@@donh1572I hate plastic generic yuppies
Sad to see the demise of a GREAT ITALIAN neighbourhood!!! John Gotti & co kept things in check and protected the Italian thing!
You got that right. What a mess now.
The whole country lost its soul with the globalization
@@fr_reynolds5002 agreed. Thnx for watching
We love you baby John!
@@Macmase900 The one and only!
the whole country has went to hell. I know no one anymore in my small country town here in south Georgia. depressing.
my man ❤
Similar situation in sydney Australia. Now our italian area is full of Mexican and Indian restaurants. Losing its soul and a tiny little bar that seats 5 tables has to pay over 10,000 a month with 7 year leases. Impossible to make money
The crazy thing is he says that a lot of kids around there pay 3 or 4 thousand per month to live around there. The reality is that many of them pay 5 or $6,000 per month to live in that neighborhood in 2024…or their parents pay that much. Either way it’s crazy how expensive NYC has become. I made it from 2011 to 2023 in Brooklyn before letting go and moving out. My income would have to be over 200k per year to justify living there now. Definitely miss it but had a good run.
@@thru_and_thru Daddy is paying all the bills. That’s the sad part but I guess they call it progress. I had to earn every penny I e made. It was hard but that was life on the streets. It builds character.
@@PaulStoneFilms 💯 Love these videos, excellent work!!
It's the unintended consequences of inclusion. The city thought that they would draw more people by making it an international festival. But instead it is now far less interesting. I saw that someone else commented that this is all the result of "anti whiteness". Remember that when the city took over the festival Italians were not seen as "white". I don't even remember people referring to themselves as "Italian" when I was a child. People referred to their native area sure (Sicilian, for example) but to it was outsiders who used the blanket term "Italian" for the most part unless to indicate some kinship between different kinds of Italians as opposed to other groups. This is not at all unique to this area or people who identify as "white". In Pakistan we have countless ethnic groups and every time one group tries to do something like a food festival or a religious day in their unique way there will be 5 or 6 other groups who act behind-hurt and need to force themselves on the activity for the sake of inclusion. I don't agree with that. Feel included as a spectator sometimes. Not everything needs to include you.
@@RasheedahNizam great comment thanks for watching!
you will be missed
Great film history. I know a fella on Grand St. Mr. Rossi has a store with all kinds of stuff.
Sadly, the next Chinatown and the history will be washed down the drain.
@@alangee79010 Ernie is a friend of mine. His episode is coming soon.
@@PaulStoneFilms I have a question about his health. Will he turn over his shop? That store has a milestone of legacy. Thanks for the info.
I lived in Italy and Sicily for a number of years and very little changed from year to year. Why?
@@NEMO-NEMO they protect their culture!
😢
The same thing happened in Toronto. The “taste of Italy”which is a weekend long event in June has little to do with Italy. I went this year after not going for a few years but I’m not going back next year. There was nothing Italian about that. It’s a shame. I know what this guy is talking about. It’s a real shame.
'little southern italy' would be a more appropriate name.
Not Italian but respect tradition, it is a shame but he is right the area will die with him. Globalization waters down the uniqueness and qualities we all have. You been sold a bad story, tending to the same cows is much easier for governments and big business. Don’t be a cow.
@@gabrielbatiz8168 So true. George Carlin predicted this a long time ago.
Square footage is as nothing but a dollar sign in today's corporate world. The day's of mom and pop family run business in once thriving enclaves of New York is all but dead. I got out of the city ages ago and don't ever plan on going back.
Did Herr Delutro go to Xavier High School?
@@helmutsecke3529 I don’t think so. Thanks for watching.
Did I hear correctly that store rents are 30K to 40K a month?
Can someone verify that?
@@ArmandoMirante-hj1mq yes. Those were the commercial rents in 2016. They have increased since then.
@@PaulStoneFilms why would anybody want to pay such atrocious high rents? And what kind of profits do these commercial stores need to make?
Come to New Jersey
@@ArmandoMirante-hj1mq the storefronts changed from cool small businesses to major big box retailers. That’s why it sux here now. But the retail zombies seem to love it. They swarm the area now. It’s a disaster.
Great video! The Albanians own most the Italian restaurants in NYC. Little Italy is stated island, parts of Long Island & NJ now. The few Italian immigrants coming to America don’t even go to NY anymore. 95% of the feast are gone in NYC, and the culture & catholic reason for the feast are gone. Growing up in downtown Brooklyn there was a feast going on in so many neighborhoods across the city every week. Sadly That way of life is done in America, Italians lost their culture & became white Americans. Land of meatloaf, cheeseburgers & man & cheese.
Amen.
I wonder if, "Clemenza" got his from this shop?
Maybe not, Baby John is much too young.
China Town is stalling up NY Little Italy….sad
I like cannoli, but I cannoli eat one.
Music is a little grim and gloomy - maybe some Italian music? The actual story is sad enough. Forgive me, I’m a pro musician - can’t help but notice. GREAT series.
commercial property is such a scam . its alway more than residential. and its usally just a open building or warehouse.
At 5:23 and 6:50 what he said is on the money in regards to multiculturalism that's cool,but the concept of being distinct does'nt mean one is being biased......
So true.
😮I drive a bread truck in nyc everyday 7 days a week Orchards street lower east side little laity all gone no flavor any more even bialiy place taste cardboard
City took the feast over because of the mob influence. I could see the feast going away because of the lack of sales. Sad time.
If the Italiani are gone how could there be a little Italy??? Of course it’s gone !! They stopped immigrating in huge numbers in 1930s.They all left to Brooklyn,SI.Queens,,upstate,Jersey ,Connecticut and Florida. Tenements are not ideal anyway
LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE CANNOLI
Fuckin shame
@@STREETBRAWLER27 damn right.
So who was there before the 🇮🇹? It used to be to be a Jewish neighborhood?
Irish. Thanks for watching!
@@PaulStoneFilms ; 👌 Fair Enough! I don’t hear them complaining about how South Philly 👴🏻 turned Kensington into a zombie land? Who they gonna blame now?
The Italians, "We own Little Italy!" The Bankers, "Here, hold my beer".
The bankers, “Rent control tenants for endless generations???? Why did we invest in this building??” Is more like it.
How come Italians didn’t buy homes or properties there, I don’t know why they preferred to stay tenants.
Because we bought beautiful homes on Long Island, New Jersey, and Staten Island with a yard, pool, dog, fence, etc….there was no comparison
Manny were unable to afford it, many moved as the area went downhill due to the city ignoring their needs.
I think there were few buying opportunities in Little Italy until the last 30 years unless you purchased a whole tenement building.
@@donh1572 hey different strokes for different folks.. but those places you mentioned never did nothing for me.. still in the city and still diggin it.
@@paulgentile1024 the city is different now. Back in the day, little Italy was the slums
It's not just Mulberry Street either. It's a phenomenon taking place all around the world. Enclaves that were a survival necessity have given over to a world population that is better educated, exposed to world travel, having higher incomes and fewer children, tech savvy, etc, etc.
The new world order is all inclusive ( 30 different nationalities in a 10 block area). Economic power has become centralized in the hands of a few super-wealthy individuals or corporations and they determine the fate of these once unique communities.
It's ironic that every immigrant's dream was that their children would lead a better life than themselves, that they would move onward and upward. Well they have and the communities of their birth have slowly become a vestige of an era that is no more.
Agree, 100%
'It was the best, everybody knew everybody, everybody whacked everybody...'
Its because of antiwhiteism.
@lilmomozerella