Italian Americans have lived in the United States since the 17th century. This year, for Italian Heritage Day on Oct. 12, their history is celebrated with an exclusive interview with Ray Guarini and a look at Italian treasures in the West Village.
Ray Guarini founded the Italian Enclaves Historical Society. This nonprofit documents Italian neighborhoods in North America. To preserve Italian American memory, it tracks churches, feasts and even cemeteries. Since its founding, it has built a database of almost 900 neighborhoods and 600 churches. Its efforts aim not only to digitize these spaces but also to safeguard oral history through local interviews.
“It is truly important to document these places because there are almost 18 million Italian Americans in the United States, thus representing the fifth-largest ethnic group,” Guarini said “In World War II, for instance, Italians were the largest ethnic group fighting for the United States, with almost 1.5 million represented in the armed forces.”
When celebrating Italian heritage, whether or not you are of this descent, Americans should know what Guarini calls the “countless treasures” the community has given “to American society in the forms of food, art, music, literature and religion.”
Faicco’s Italian Specialty
When it comes to Italian treasures, one of the country’s oldest is in the West Village: Eddie Faicco’s famous Italian deli, Faicco’s Italian Specialty.
Faicco’s is known for its Italian sandwiches, which arrived nearly a century after the store was inaugurated. Eduardo Faicco opened the store as a butcher shop in the 1900s, after arriving from Sorrento in 1897. He was inspired to start a business after arriving in America and visiting a local butcher, where he bought a sausage that had a piece of wood inside. Outraged by the quality and wanting to bring a part of his roots to his new home, he opened Faicco’s Pork Store, which now celebrates 126 years.
Faicco’s in Manhattan.
Current owner Eddie Faicco is the third generation in his family to continue the Italian American enterprise. After inheriting the business, he adapted it to what we see today while continuing the butcher’s tradition by offering many meat-derived Italian products, from cold cuts to sausages, and classic Italian dishes like beef braciole.
The store feels like family. Most of the staff are close, and many have been there for years. Oscar, one of the store’s managers, has helped Faicco for 32 years and oversees sourcing for most of the products Faicco curates. From cheeses to bread, the entire selection is run as Eddie Faicco envisions.
Regarding the sandwiches, which have gone quite viral online, Anthony Padula, Faicco’s close friend and store assistant, said, “He had a vision these sandwiches were gonna be a big thing, and as you can see, it has become a big thing. The meats that are put into the sandwich are Italian cuts, Italian cold cuts, but they’re available to anybody, but we buy the premium stuff. Everything in the store is top of the line; there is no skimping in any way.”
Italian heritage runs in the veins of Faicco’s family store and is kept alive by the hard workers dedicated to carrying a 100-year-old vision forward for another hundred years.
John’s Pizza
Originally founded as Pizzeria Port’Alba in Little Italy on Sullivan Street, John’s has been one of New York’s most sought-after Italian pizza places. In 1903, Neapolitan immigrant Filippo Milone opened Pizzeria Port’Alba. According to Ed Flynn from Scott’s Pizza Tours, a pizzeria named Port’Alba already existed in Naples, so choosing the name may have been intentional to attract more Neapolitans immigrating to New York.
Italians arrived in the West Village en masse, as Flynn said, “like any big influx of an immigrant community, they like to live near each other. Also, the city wasn’t as big at that time, so there weren’t as many options of different places to go. Down here were a lot of different tenement buildings, and so people could find a place that’s kind of their gateway into the city, into the country, pretty easily, pretty cheaply, in this neighborhood.”
Ten years after Port’Alba, in 1915, John Sasso, a relative of Milone’s, took over the pizzeria and moved it to Bleeker Street, renaming it John’s. Although it is trademarked “since 1929,” the establishment is actually 14 years older. In honor of its predecessor, Port’Alba, they keep a neon-green sign under John’s Pizza on the storefront that reads “Port’Alba,” honoring the restaurant’s first generation.
General manager Kevin Jackson said, “We try our best, as far as the Italian culture, to really represent the pizza; every pizza is made with love. Just like an old Italian mom would make a pizza.”
The store’s authenticity might keep it busy from opening to closing, but Jackson also said David Portnoy’s 2016 review doubled their influx: wait times went from 15 minutes to 30 minutes, and the store, already famous in the West Village, became famous worldwide.
Italian immigrants brought pizza to New York, and it became a staple. Flynn said, “This style of pizza, coal oven pizza, is the first kind of pizza that hits America. We are so used to slice shops that are gas-powered ovens; those don’t really become popular until after World War II.”
Italians in the West Village
Beyond these two classic Italian spots, Faicco’s and John’s, the West Village is crawling with Italian history that new businesses are slowly eclipsing.
Our Lady of Pompeii Church
Guarini points out this multitude of authentic Italian establishments that still remain in the West Village, like Pino’s Prime Meat, Arturo’s Coal Oven Pizza, Raffetto’s Fresh Pasta, Villa Mosconi Restaurant, Monte’s Trattoria, Rocco’s Pasticceria, Ottomanelli & Sons Meat Market, Florence Prime Meat Market, and Tiro a Segno Private Rifle Club.
Additionally, most Italians are of a Christian background. As Guarini points out, Italian churches throughout the neighborhood have anchored and connected Italian heritage in New York. Examples of these Italian churches, which even hold Mass in Italian, are the Church of St. Anthony of Padua on Sullivan Street. and Our Lady of Pompeii Roman Catholic Church on Carmine Street.
Whilst Little Italy in the Lower East Side still hosts the San Gennaro Feast and other Italian cultural staples, the West Village, despite attracting fewer crowds, has its fair share of heritage, if one knows where to look.
