A few years ago, we heard about the project for a bridge across the Strait of Messina. It had been drawn up by a group of professionals who, I believe at the modest cost of 300 million euros, envisaged a copy of San Francisco’s Golden Gate. It was a disgrace on several counts. The most serious being: “Italy does not copy.” More recently, Italy’s pr...

In December 2021, New York’s MacDougal Street wine bar and restaurant, Niche Niche, had the privilege of hosting Rome’s renowned Salumeria Roscioli for a brief pop-up event. Little did anyone know that this momentous occasion would sow the seeds of a remarkable partnership. Two years down the road, they celebrate the birth of the very first Rosciol...

Every September for the past ninety-seven years, thousands upon thousands descend on Mulberry Street in Manhattan’s venerable Little Italy for “a festa ‘e tutte ‘e feste”—“The Feast of All Feasts”… the eleven-day celebration that is the Feast of San Gennaro! This year, the Italian American Podcast is celebrating the Patron Saint of Napoli- and one...

Huddled together on a snakeskin couch in a New York hotel, their euphoria was infectious. Måneskin just played a pop-up lunchtime show in Times Square, and now they learned their Madison Square Garden show scheduled for later in the week was a sellout. Pleasantly surprised, frontman Damiano David called the news “very special.” “It’s one of the mos...

The New York City cultural and culinary landmark Delmonico's reopened Monday following a three-year closure from the COVID pandemic. City officials say Delmonico's was the first fine dining restaurant in the city when it opened in 1837 on Beaver Street. It has since survived the Prohibition Era, September 11th and Hurricane Sandy. Over the years, i...

Michael Mann’s racing drama “Ferrari” is set to close the 61st annual New York Film Festival. The sports biopic, starring Adam Driver as automotive mogul Enzo Ferrari, will make its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall on Oct. 13. Michael Mann (“Heat,” “The Last of the Mohicans”) directed “Ferrari,” which is adapted from the 1991 biography “...

Rossana Russo’s rich history in Little Italy dates back to when her parents, both Italian natives, settled on Grand Street and met on Mott St. at a long since gone Five and Dime, and became restaurant owners in the neighborhood in 1984. When they passed away–her mother Gaetana “Lunella” in 2019 and her father Antonio in 2020–she was faced with the...

Christopher Columbus received some powerful Old World backing in Manhattan on Tuesday as New York City pols weigh whether to yank statues of him and other now-controversial historial figures. Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni pointedly visited the borough’s famed Columbus Circle to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony honoring Columbus — jus...

Today, the Center for Italian Modern Art announces that it is the recipient of a $60,000 grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The Spring 2023 grant program recognizes arts organizations and museums for their visual arts programming, exhibitions, and research initiatives that provide critical support to artists. CIMA joins a ri...

Even on a hot day in July, everyone wants to see the butcher in Little Italy. In this case, it’s Jennifer Prezioso, the fourth-generation butcher and sole owner and worker of Albanese Meats & Poultry, who’s maintaining the family legacy that over the summer turned 100 years old. Step inside the store, and you’ll find a display case of bone-in rib-e...