Stage 6 – Andrew Merfeld to Riley Filipowicz

I liked how Riley gave a little bit of background to the historical and cultural significance of the Italian community in New York City. I also liked how he talked about how the formations of the different Burroughs that can be found in New York City, I thought the intro was very well done, and thoughtful.

1990’s

I liked the background in this section as well. I thought the description of the traditions in the areas of places like Little Italy, really brought it all together. It was interesting reading about the nostalgia that the Italians felt about their homeland when being in this area. As for the map, I thought it was very helpful to see where most of the Italian population was in New York City. It gives a very good visual of the actual area he is talking about during this time. As you can see, the Italians took up most of the South Eastern part of the city.

2000’s

I, again, enjoyed the historical background provided about the population of the Italians during this time. I liked how he added in the spread of the Italian population, and how they contributed to the cities diversity with food, art, and community spirit. I thought the description of “These areas buzzed with the scent of fresh bread and lively conversations in both English and Italian. Festivals and family gatherings remained essential, offering chances to preserve heritage.” gave me a very good visual of things that would be going on. Likewise, the part about Sopranos was also interesting.

2010’s

I liked seeing how the population grew from the first map provided. I think it really brings together all of the aspects of the community really embracing the Italian population that you mentioned in the 1900’s and 2000’s. You can see that the population really grew, and the Italians began to spread more throughout the city. You can see that throughout this whole time period, the Italian population began to grow throughout the city creating the Italian New York culture that we see today in present-day New York.

I think the whole project was put together pretty well. Riley emphasized that it was hard to get information on this time period, so I think with limited information he was able to put together a pretty good map of the Italian Population in New York City.