It’s la dolce vita — in Bensonhurst! A parade celebrating Italian-American culture will return to Bensonhurst on Oct 12 for the 38th time — and this year it will add its first-ever block party to the festivities. The annual Brooklyn Columbus Parade will turn a stretch of 18th Avenue into a red, white, and green festa to honor the 15th-century Italian explorer, while highlighting positive Italian-American heritage since then, according to the head of the organization behind the parade.

“Originally the idea was very much to fight the image that Italian-Americans were at best workers in the pizza parlors or at worst joining gangs,” said Jack Spatola, president of the Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Brooklyn. “Rather than accentuate the pizzaiolo — with all respect to the pizzaiolo, everybody loves pizza — we should also highlight educators, lawyers, and public servants.”