According to the "Blue Guide; city guide New york" some of the more intresting things to be found in little italy are as follows:
The Festivals; St. Anthony and San Gennaro, in the first two weeks in june and around september the 9th, respectively. Naturaly it was neither time so me and my date went with the rest of the tour... btw I highly DO recomend the festivals, there's some great food, and of course the processsion of each of the saints. I'd have to say however that the feast of San Gennaro is substantially more crowded and lively. Seems like most of new york, and a good salting of people from abroad, come to check that one out. If you like crowds and village fairs, this one's the one for you...
So, for us it was a matter of checking out the rest of the tour. begining w/ Paolucci's (149 mullberry St.) and then Going on to the Former Police Headquater's building. (240 Center Street) Quite an impressive building that as of 1987 was turned into luxury apts, w/ celebs like Linda Evangelista, Steffi Graff and Cindy Crawford taking residence. Which would explain the reception we got when we walked in; a very brisk hello and no you can't wander around. So we stood in the lobby a few minutes, admired the beauty of it, and after having explained the building was on a tour, went back outside to check out the architecture Which included five statues each representing a borough perched above the entrance...
By this point it had begun to drizzle so we quickly made our way up to spring street and made a side tour to a place called Pink Berry; an icecream shop of sorts, and specializing in yogurt. Organic frozen yogurt apparently, and w/ one of the coolest floors I've seen around. I must say the flavors took me back as a bit too tart at first, but I think that's just me not being used to frozen yogurt.
Then we moved on to the Bowery Savings Bank. (130 Bowery St) which we got side tracked from as more rain came, and ducked into a lighting shop. The people were great and we quickly learned something I'd always wondered about' why is it called Bowery Street? According to one imaginative lighting store employee; its named after a famous lighting expert for the city's upper crust during the 18th century. Wikipedia tells a slightly different story... but hey, there's the flavor of the city for you; everyone's got a story to tell.
NOW we finally got to the bowery bank and quickly found out that its been turned into a high end reception hall called, "Capitale." The guard was nice enough to let us take a peek around when I told him I'm working to be a tour guide, and so we perused the premises as the staff began to put the event together. I gotta tell you the place is very spacious, and grand. The high domed ceiling of the main room easily made the hundred capacity seating area look very not crowded and it was pretty impresive seeing the upstairs vault towards the back of the room. We also took a look around downstairs and found the main vault a storage place for silverware and supplies. What must have once been the bank manager's office upstairs has been turned into a private area/bar for the bridal party, and yes it still feels luxurious and exclusive... its good to be the bank manager... lol
By this point things were getting even wetter so we camped out a bit at One Taste, an Urban Retreat Center (196 Grand), and then took a quick detour out of little italy to go up to the east village where a friend of her's was displaying his sculptures at an art gallery. Thus we split ways and I came back into the heart of little italy to hang out w/ some friends. Thanks to the rain, the roof had gotten flooded and in the ensuing havok, the building.... sprang a waterfall... Never missing an opportunity, and already wet from the rain, I jumped at the opportunity, and jumped under the waterfall... :-D
Hey, how often does one get the chance to stand under a waterfall in little italy?
:-D
Stay tuned next time: Chinatown!
