Manhattan’s East Village is renowned for its vibrant history as a center of counterculture, the birthplace of punk, and the home of many influential artists, writers, musicians, and beatniks.

While the area to the south around Mulberry Street is most famous as the borough’s Little Italy, there were also a significant number of Italians living in the East Village beginning in the late 19th century, according to Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.