Thanks to the The Little Italy Merchant Association, Mulberry Street will soon have a new mural painted by street artist and toymaker Tristan Eaton. Bowery Boogie reports that the association's goal is to lure a "younger demographic" to Little Italy. But youngs are different, and aren't to be trusted. "That’s not going up in my courtyard," 87-year-old Father Fabian Grifone, told the Post. "It has nothing to do with the Catholic religion or Italians. It looks like pagan art. I don't want it." Yeah, how about something tasteful, like James Gandolfini? more ›

The real, original Ray's Pizza on Prince Street near Little Italy, which served its last slice in October, is being split into two separate businesses and will reopen next year, DNAinfo reports. Those businesses? Another pizza place and a spa, so you can get your greasy cheese-stained lip waxed all in one place. more ›

Last month, rumors started swirling that the real, original—no, really—Ray's Pizza at 27 Prince Street was going under. At the time, a staffer swatted us off when we asked for a date, but today, the news is official: Ray's will serve its last slice this Sunday. more ›

Yesterday, pizza aficionados were stunned and saddened by the news that the original—no, really—Ray's Pizza is set to close at the end of this month. Or...is it? more ›

The controversial 11-day San Gennaro festival kicked off yesterday with a new world record. And while some NoLIta neighbors still seem miffed that the Feast is hurting their business, people at the festival certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. As one manager was moaning to the Post that “There was nothing but hammering and sawing since they set up,” Chicago's Patrick Bertoletti was off breaking the world cannoli-eating record by chowing down on 32 of the desserts in six minutes! more ›

Earlier this year Little Italy/NoLIta neighbors huffed and puffed and threatened to shorten the annual Feast of San Gennaro festival down—to no avail. The 11-day street bonanza just reopened, all the way up to Houston, on Mulberry Street and will be there through September 25. But, on the plus side, the organizers say they've heard your complaints and are trying to spice things up this year with more foodie-friendly fare and shorter hours. more ›

If there's anything that New Yorkers love more than swirling a champagne flute around in public at 2 p.m. on a Sunday, it's the feeling of swirling it around outdoors. But what about those poor souls who live above these vulgar outdoor eateries? They moved into the most desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan to be left in peace! Today's Post details the "backlash" (scare quotes ours) against outdoor eating by the people who have to put up with "herds of patrons blocking sidewalks with their precious poodles and strollers." more ›

It's not news that Manhattan's Chinatown is an ever-growing beast. Encompassing parts of SoHo, TriBeCa and whatever is left of Little Italy, its unofficial boundaries are expanding with every year. But now, the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation wants to make some of those boundaries official, and is proposing a Business Improvement District that would sprawl for blocks over what neighbors say is not their turf. more ›

This week Sam Sifton at the Times files a two star rave on Torrisi Italian Specialties, a little $50 prix fixe Italian-American joint that recently received a rave from New York, as well. "During the day, Torrisi is a sandwich shop modeled on those of the neighborhood old school," writes Sifton. "You can get a good chicken parm or an excellent turkey hero there, some flavorful contorni, a can of beer, a small bottle of Coke. The dishes are all smart upgrades on classics, beautifully cooked, humble Italian-American lunch fare for an era that respects the form. At night, though, the room is transformed into a restaurant of around 20 seats, in which artists make work and customers consume it." more ›

Ah marone, this low-budget video promoting a new bus tour of Manhattan Mafia spots is so full of Italian-American mob cliches the only thing missing is a bloody horse head. In fact, it's so hilariously awful it actually makes us want to get on the bus—and we're not just saying that because some goomba's got a telephone cord wrapped around our necks. more ›

The cash windfall from a major marijuana money-laundering ring has gone up in smoke. Investigators recently raided an apartment at 153 Mulberry Street (next to the Italian American Museum) and seized $1.1 million in cash believed to be profits from a large-scale hydroponic pot operation. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Daniel McGehean, the apartment's 32-year-old tenant, and Canadian national Richard Doyon, 37. (According to the Daily News, they also seized an incriminating photo of McGehean standing in a marijuana field.) more ›

Little Italy is fighting back against Tucker Max's controversial ad campaign. Yeah, that poster on the right says, "Blind Girls Never See You Coming." Va fan culo, indeed. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, the city evacuated 273 Mott Street in Little Italty (or Nolita) because a rather large crack emerged in the building's facade. The NY Post reports the crack was three inches wide at the top of the building, "The building, which has 15 residents, and a Japanese/Thai restaurant on its first floor and apartments above, has a 20-foot tall crack in its facade that seems to have grown since last year, a caller complained to the Buildings Department." The Department of Buildings had actually issued a complaint to the building's owner on Tuesday about the crack, but yesterday the FDNY and DOB were on the scene after complaints of the building shaking. On Sunday, a four-story building, which had a substantial crack in its exterior wall, in Brooklyn collapsed, perhaps partly due to the recent rain. And EV Grieve passed by 273 Mott, where one onlooker muttered, "This is what happens when it rains for 30 straight days." more ›

Residents and business owners who have been complaining about the new Grand Street bike lane now have a video that they say demonstrates the traffic mess caused by the lane, which provides a dedicated space for cyclists separated from traffic by a row of parked cars. Sent to us by the Soho Alliance, the video depicts a truck driver turning from West Broadway onto Grand Street and mistaking the parked cars for idling traffic. more ›

The new bike lane on Grand Street that a local shop owner recently called the possible "demise of Little Italy" continues to draw attention with complaints that fire trucks are struggling to maneuver around the new setup of the block. Ernest Lepore, owner of Ferrara Cafe who originally talked to Villager, appears to have taken his case against the lane to the Post, telling the paper, "I saw one truck back up four or five times before being able to squeeze into the lane. The firefighter was visibly frustrated." more ›

The new bike lane that extends along Grand Street between Varick and Chrystie Streets has been warmly received by many cyclists who like the way it's separated from traffic by a row of parked cars. Not so pleased are business owners through Soho, Little Italy and Chinatown, some of whom fear the bike lane will "hurt business and create a dangerous situation," according to The Villager. more ›

A new restaurant in Little Italy, Dolce Vita, has been trying to serve food that would make the tourist-flooded neighborhood "authentic" again, but according to an open letter posted on Eater, the other restaurateurs are jealous and trying to destroy them: "If you are the new guy on the block and not in everybody else’s back-pocket or part of Old Little Italy, you apparently do not have a prayer of making it. Police are sent to my establishment from these restaurant ‘ghosts’ regularly checking for a liquor license, or a sidewalk café license or what ever else citation they can come up with as soon as a whiff of a busy Dolce Vita is caught from around the block." The jeremiad goes on, but the moral is simple: You're asking for major agita trying to serve good food in Little Italy. more ›

Luigi Di Palo, a youthful 56-year-old better known as Lou, runs Little Italy’s century-old Di Palo’s Fine Foods with his brother and sister. The store started out as a latteria, selling only fresh cheese, milk and butter. Di Palo likes to say that he and his family are among the “last of the real, original Little Italy people.” These days the store is a little Italy in its own right with hundreds of Italian specialties – salumi, cheese, olive oil, preserves, and Balsamic vinegar among other things. Di Palo’s still makes its own cheese daily and as one customer kvelled, “There’s no ricotta like his ricotta.” And they were right, the bit we tasted was like eating a cloud made out of milk. We chatted with him about his family’s store as well as the neighborhood and its upcoming Carnevale festival, which runs through February 3 and will feature special dishes at area restaurants as well as impromptu shows by Italian performers and singers on weekends. more ›

Rainbow cookies are quite possibly our favorite cookies. Ever. Whenever someone brings a cookie assortment from an Italian bakery we always eat all the rainbow cookies first and usually discard the rest. more ›

In time for next week’s Columbus Day festivities, the Post’s Steve Cuozzo lets his Ital flag fly with two gushing columns on Italian cuisine. He points out that Italian restaurants outnumber all other kinds of restaurants in New York by a big margin (and that’s not because of the ever-metastasizing Olive Gardens.) He cites seven “marvelous” eateries – Del Posto, A Voce, Abbocatto, Insieme, Fiamma, L'Impero and Alto – that “establish Italian as the cuisine to beat.” Nobu can sleep with the fishes. more ›

It would seem to be nothing less than dereliction of duty for an Italian-American food writer to have never been to the Italian food mecca that is Arthur Avenue, but it does on occasion happen. This oversight is even more glaring given that said food writer is half Calabrese and had never set foot in the Calabria Pork Store. more ›

Bruni goes to Franny’s in Brooklyn, rates it a top pick, awards it two stars, and calls himself a newly converted “besotted Franny’s believer.” Says Franny’s simplicity—they serve crostini, cured meats, pasta and pizza (along with a few other items)—“is deceptive. The restaurant finds transcendence in dishes and genres that wouldn’t seem to yield so readily to invention or open the door to so much pleasure.” more ›

Feast of San Gennaro. Manhattan’s Little Italy may be constantly shifting borders and shrinking, but this event seems to get bigger every year. Plunk down $3 for a big plastic cup of Italian bianco with peaches. When you’re done sipping, you can fish out the large hunks of wine-steeped fruit with your straw. It’s worth waiting on the long lines for kettle-fried zeppolis that come by the half or full dozen, shook up in a plain brown paper bag and coated with confectioner’s sugar. Just give them a couple of minutes to cool down before you start eating- they’re about 300 degrees fresh out of the oil. September 13-27, sangennaro.org more ›