In 2001, Joe Aievoli put up a small sign in Chinese on the Aievoli Funeral Home in Dyker Heights, which had been serving the area's largely Italian Catholic population since 1900. "People thought he was insane. They said he was going to alienate his other customers," recalled Pat Marmo, owner of Daniel J. Schaefer Funeral Home, who considers Aievoli a mentor.

Aievoli, a fourth-generation funeral director, ignored the criticism. "Just from walking around the neighborhood, I could tell that's where it was going to go," he recalled, referring to the nearby swath of southern Brooklyn that has since become the borough's Chinatown.

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Source: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/