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The photographs of people on the street Francesca Magnani takes every day document how New Yorkers have been coping with the virus. Originally from Padua, Italy, the writer and photographer has been living in Brooklyn for more than 15 years, and her work has been featured in a solo show at Photoville and many publications, including Brownstoner. Ma...

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Dyker Heights says goodbye to a beloved local merchant. On Saturday, May 16, Paolo Pesce, owner of La Bella Marketplace, 7907 13th Ave., died at age 75 from colon cancer complications. He is survived by his wife Maria, his children Antonella, Janet and Nick, his three grandchildren and brothers Larry and Frank Pesce was born Aug.12,1944 in a fisher...

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"Brooklyn Roses", a novel by Catherine Gigante-Brown. Brooklyn Roses follows the travails and triumphs of that loud, loving Italian-American family from Borough Park. The riveting story picks up more than a dozen years after The Bells of Brooklyn, in the turbulent late 1950s/early 1960s. It weaves an unforgettable tale that encompasses forbidden lo...

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A local tradition like no other, the Feast of Our Lady Mount Carmel and San Paolino di Nola has officially been canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The annual Italian-American celebration has taken place for the past 117 years in Williamsburg, and on Sunday, the pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel announced the cancellation in a letter...

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Golden Gate Fancy Fruits has long been one of our favorite hidden gems in New York City, featured in our book Secret Brooklyn. It was a gorgeous summer day when we first met the proprietor of the Marine Park shop, John Cortese, who was 92 years old at the time and clearly a New York City treasure. Cortese is a World War II veteran who served in the...

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I grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with my father telling me tales of his childhood in nearby Borough Park. Only a few miles away from each other, the neighborhoods—and our stories—were worlds apart. Yet in many ways, they were very similar. My father grew up in a brick house surrounded by family during the Depression. I grew up in a brick house surr...

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Yesterday the IABF along with Italian Enclaves donated and delivered thousands of surgical mask and gloves to several Brooklyn hospitals, police precincts, Fire Houses, EMT’s and nursing homes. Proceeds for this donation came from our recent GoFundMe campaign. Thanks to our good friend Ray Guarini for his help in initiating this campaign and delive...

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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought life to a near standstill in New York City and caused an untold number of people to lose their jobs, tenants in the building did not need to pay April rent, it read. “STAY SAFE, HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS & WASH YOUR HANDS!!!” the landlord, Mario Salerno, wrote on the signs, which he posted at all of...

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After the Fresh Pond Road Street Festival was the only one not to immediately be approved at Community Board 5 of five street festival applications this year, the celebration of Italian-American heritage finally got the green light at the board’s meeting on March 11.  The street fair, managed by Federazione Italo-Americana di Brooklyn and Queens si...

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Looking to chow down on some Italian fare? A new spot has you covered. Located at 548 Fourth Ave. in Gowanus, the newcomer is called Pulia Ristorante. This is the fifth location of the international chain of Apulian restaurant/cafes, which also has outposts in London, the Netherlands, Italy and Atlantic City. The chain was founded in 2012 with the...

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