Languages of New York City Map

Site Details

Italiano

Italian

Census

For over a century, the New York metropolitan area has constituted one of the largest (if not the largest of all) “Italian-speaking” cities outside of Italy. However, the majority of Italian immigrants who have arrived in New York, especially in that first major wave, were not able to speak, read, or write (standard) Italian. Most, though by no means all, came from the south, and spoke Italo-Romance languages identified primarily by hometown, popularly known (in Italian) as dialetti (dialects). The New York presence of Italian itself grew significantly across the 20th century through newspapers, radio, schools, and later waves of migration.

ittle Italy (at first the Mulberry Bend) and then Greenwich Village were the crucible, but patterns were highly specific — for example Sicilians, especially from Sambucca, on Elizabeth Street, Neapolitans and Calabrians on Mulberry; Genoese on Baxter; Tyroleans and others from the far north of Italy on 69th Street by the Hudson, and so on. The first Italians in East Harlem, arriving in 1878, were reportedly from Polla in the province of Salerno, and settled in the vicinity of 115th Street; later, there was a Barese (Pugliese) community on East 112th Street; a group from Sarno near Naples on 107th; Calabrians on 109th; immigrants from Basilicata between 110th and 115th. In the 1920s and '30s, Italian gained ground as a language of national pride, reinforced by the innovative bilingual education programs at Benjamin Franklin High School.

Note that the language above may be used throughout the New York area — this is just one significant site.

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