The Italian-American community is celebrating 150 years in Rochester this year. On Tuesday, the Little Italy Association opened a new office downtown on Frankfort Street. The office will help with the plan to revitalize the Lyell Avenue neighborhood. In recent years, the association said the area has been troubled by crime, drugs and prostitution.

"There's many struggling families here, and we're not a winning city when we have a Lyell Avenue area that's in this condition," said Silvano Orsi, president of the Little Italy Neighborhood Association. Orsi said the organization is hoping to receive grants from the state to help with its plan to revitalize the area.