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The pews of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Williamsburg were packed July 16 as Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated a bilingual Mass honoring the parish feast day in English and Italian. “Today is a day that those devotees of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are really, very happy,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “It’s her feast day. It’s a day that they show th...

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Ilario Bianchi opens the door of S.A.S. Italian Records and heads straight to the back of the store to snag a copy of his favorite weekly Italian magazine: Cronaca Vera. At the counter, Louise Baslie is naming all her family members who need cornicelli, Italian amulets that protect against the evil eye. Italian opera from surrounding speakers is se...

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In 1922 in Brooklyn, Italian immigrant Nick Defonte bought a corner store for $100. That store became Defonte’s Sandwich Shop, a Red Hook icon. Today, his grandkids run the original deli along with a second Staten Island outpost. At Defonte’s, staff and longtime customers bring all the boisterous conviviality of a family reunion. “You walk in here,...

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The feast in honor of Santa Rosalia has become a much-anticipated event in the Bensonhurst community. It’s a time to honor the patron saint of Palermo, Sicily with live entertainment, music, rides, games, food and drinks. Among the delicacies will be zeppole, rice balls and freshly-made brick oven pizza. Sponsored by Figli di Santa Rosalia, a membe...

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An iconic Bensonhurst sandwich shop is getting a second-coming this week. Residents of Sunset Park are set to become part of the Lioni Italian Heroes family as the Italian-American shop officially expects to open there on Thursday or Friday, the Brooklyn Eagle has learned. “We had been looking at Industry City and the area for about a year. The are...

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One of Brooklyn’s most beloved bakeries has had quite a year. Savarese Italian Pastry Shoppe at the corner of 60th Street and New Utrecht Avenue celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. But on March 26, a fire at Savarese caused minor damage to the upstairs apartment. Thankfully, the fire was contained, the bakery was not affected and no one was s...

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The neighborhood was out in force outside Our Lady of Grace Church on Saturday, July 13 to celebrate actor Vincent Pastore birthday a little early at an old-fashioned Brooklyn block party. Hosted by Gravesend-born actor and filmmaker William DeMeo and Michelle Frantzeskos’s Entertainment and Consultant Inc., there was food, music and dancing aplent...

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Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Lewis Iuliucci, the grandson of Italian immigrants that were processed through Ellis Island in the early 1900s, was taught that with hard work he could achieve the American dream — the prosperous life his family braved dangerous seas to seek.  “We were very, very poor and living in a melting-pot Brooklyn neighborhood w...

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A Williamsburg tradition since 1903, the Giglio Feast is going on now through Sunday, July 21st on the streets around Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on Havemeyer Street. All the familiar Italian street fair sights and smells are here: zeppoles, cigars, bracciole, beer, sausage & peppers, sucker games, clams, creaky rides, Manhattan Coffee Soda, fa...

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A cheesy, tomato-y pie can be yours for the nice price of free this weekend, when “fast-fine” Neapolitan pizza chain MidiCi opens their first New York location in Williamsburg this Saturday. Originally based in LA, MidiCi was opened in 2015 by Amit Kleinberger, the CEO of frozen yogurt chain Menchie’s. Now, MidiCi has locationspeppered across the c...

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