A classic Northeast Ohio immigrant community struggles with the downsides of success.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A young woman on a scooter lobbed a verbal hand grenade at a tour group on a hot summer night in Cleveland’s
Retired jurist and lawyer and former Cleveland City Council president Basil Russo, photography outside Holy Rosary Church in Little Italy, is a passionate advocate for the neighborhood, and Italian American culture and heritage nationally.“This neighborhood is iconic,” Russo said recently over a slice of pepperoni pizza and a pecan roll at Presti’s, a century-old eatery and local crossroads.
The neighborhood revived in the 1980s after the collapse of organized crime. Art walks and other activities improved its image, along with mainstays, such as the annual Feast of the Assumption, which will mark itsThe Feast of the Assumption procession with the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary walks through the Little Italy neighborhood, August 15, 2023.
Controversy erupted in 2017-18 over a proposed apartment block at East 119th Street, opposite the new Red Line rapid transit station built by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.After nearly a decade of controversy, Cleveland's Board of Zoning Appeals approved construction of this transit-oriented apartment building in Cleveland's Little Italy near a rapid transit rail station on Mayfield Road..
Cleveland artist F.W. Simmons painted "A Daughter of Little Italy'' around 1900. It's on display in the Italian American Museum of Cleveland.Organized by the Historic Gateway Development Corp., the tours have exploded in popularity, sometimes drawing more than 100 participants. Italian-Americans across the region want to reconnect with family roots. Other visitors want to dig deeper into the history of a neighborhood they love, Dean said.
“This is my heart and my soul,’’ he said of the neighborhood. “I don’t think you can stop development and stop change. You just have to nurture change.”Terry Tarantino, owner of La Dolce Vita, the iconic restaurant at Mayfield and Murray Hill, is doing his best to preserve Little Italy’s character by staging opera night concerts, with soloists singing arias and Broadway tunes.
The impetus for transforming the theater is none other than demand created by the arrival of newcomers in Little Italy. “Because of all the apartments and facilities in the neighborhood, we want to use it to accommodate people that need amenities,” he said.
Slitt-Urban @Lll Cleveland-Little-Italy Robert-Fatica Terry-Tarantino Basil-Russo Pamela-Dorazio-Dean City-Planning
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