By Preeti Singh

As cloudy skies gave way to a bright sunny day early Sunday morning, more than a dozen merchants, dressed in white or red aprons, started to organizetheir displays on long tables set up along Arthur Avenue between Crescent Avenue and 187th Street. A smorgasbord of Italian foods, from wheels of parmesan and provolone, slabs of prosciutto and small piles of rice balls and traditional Italian breads, to rows of torrone (a confection made with honey and almond), biscotti, cannoli and sweet puffs were laid out to be sold. There was fruit in wine, wine with fruit, and free tastings of Italian red, white and rose wines.

More than 20,000 people visited the merchant's tables as the day unfolded for the Italian-American festival known as Ferragosto that is held in the Bronx every year on the Sunday after Labor Day. Once an Italian stronghold, Arthur Avenue has seen demographic shifts in the last decades. Albanian, Latino and black populations grew in the neighborhood and the shops along Arthur Avenue began to change. A Chinese take-away, a Hispanic grocer and an Albanian restaurant now co-exist with the neighborhood's Italian American stores and eateries. On Sunday, however, Arthur Avenue was all Italian.

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Source: http://nycitylens.com/