The heart of Little Italy is Mulberry Street. In the second half of the 19th century, New York City's Italian immigration reached its peak, with several Italian parishes and an Italian-lang uage newspaper.

Landmarks include Old St. Patrick's Church and the Police Building. It's a popular neighborhood, filled with old world atmosphere and many excellent eateries, among them Umberto's Clam House, Da Nico, Casa Bella, and Original Vincent's. Mid-September is a great time to visit for the most exciting annual event in the neighborhood, the ten-day Feast of San Gennaro. During this celebration, Mulberry Street is renamed Via San Gennaro and the shrines and relics of this saint are paraded through the streets. The crowds enjoy Italian foods of all types, rides, games, entertainment, and audience-participation singing and dancing. Tarantella, anyone?

NoLIta

Not so long ago, only a few noteworthy shops dotted the landscape east of Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The neighborhood known as NoLIta, or North of Little Italy, seemed quaint, a living postcard of narrow streets, mom-and-pop stores, and reasonable rent. Then, during the mid-1990s, many designer refugees from celebrity-clogged, high-rent SoHo and TriBeCa turned tiny pizzerias and shoe repair shops into stores to purvey their innovative creations. Soon, number of low-attitude boutiques blossomed on Mulberry, Mott, and Elizabeth Streets, offering one-of-a-kind designer goodies.