Trading stromboli for sashimi

Asians dominating larger part of Bensonhurst¹s Little Italy
By Matthew Lysiak | Special to amNewYork
November 14, 2007

It¹s official ‹ sushi now rules over ravioli 32-22 in Brooklyn¹s Little Italy of Bensonhurst.

A recent walk down the famed Christopher Columbo Boulevard between 60th and 86th streets now tallies 16 Italian restaurants versus 17 Asian eateries.

The count along 86th Street from 15th to 24th avenues has Italians outnumbered by a margin of 15-6.

Asians dominating larger part of Bensonhurst¹s Little Italy Lenny¹s of ³Saturday Night Fever² fame serves a large Asian demographic. Photo
While outsiders may be shocked at the news, locals view it as the inevitable culmination of a demographic tidal wave years in the making.

³This is supposed to be Little Italy, but everyone here knows that all the Italians moved to Staten Island,² said La Bella Pizza owner Mohammed Haman, who says he bought the 86th Street pizzeria six years ago from an Italian family who crossed the Verrazano.

The new merchants are also quick to point out that Italians didn¹t get the boot, but instead fled to greener pastures with Chinese from Sunset Park and Russians from Brighton Beach filling the void. For the most part, the transition has been seamless.

³Now Bensonhurst is a diverse community and everyone has embraced us,² said New Ruan¹s manager Donald Ruan, whose Chinese restaurant recently opened at 1955 86th St.

Officials aren¹t shocked by the result, but are surprised over just how quickly the retail face of the community ‹ once dubbed the ³real Little Italy of New York² by travel writer Eleanor Berman ‹ has transformed. The number of Italians in the neighborhood, down to 59,112, is a little more than half that of two decades ago, according to the 2000 Census. Since 2000, that number has likely fallen farther.

On 18th Avenue, the site of the Feast of Santa Rosalia, Chinese novelty stores and beauty parlors now line the streets once dominated by espresso toting old men. Along 86th Street, headless chickens hang upside down outside one Chinese storefront only a block from Lenny¹s pizza, where Manero of ³Saturday Night Fever² famously ordered a slice of double- decker pizza.

Lenny¹s manager Nick Cerra says that while the changes may be hard to accept for many longtime residents, the ³Little Italy² within Bensonhurst will endure, albeit in a littler version.

³Over time, everything changes, but one thing society can¹t live without is tradition,² said Cerra. ³The Chinese are going to keep moving in while the Italians keep moving out, but Lenny¹s is going to be around forever ‹ even Asian people love pizza.²