The Belmont section of the north Bronx, whose main street is Arthur Avenue, has in recent years achieved a reputation as much for its Italian-American street culture as for its food, both in the stores and restaurants. The allure is its pre-eminence as America’s most authentic version of Little Italy, in contrast to the neighborhood of the same name in lower Manhattan, which has lost most of its character and survives solely on tourists.

Belmont, on the other hand, is a thriving community, today with large numbers of Albanians, Serbians and Montenegrins who have bought property, restored it and made the neighborhood shine after a down period in the 1990s. It has always been one of the safest neighborhoods in all of New York.