By Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net
Susan Meiselas, a famous documentary photographer, lived in Little Italy for many years. It was a place with a wonderful immigrant life style, and she discovered that many folks went up on the roof, not only to escape the fog of the city, but also to record life there in photographs. She embarked on a project, with some friends, to track down and collect such images. Later she got Martin Scorcese to write the introduction.
The photos were gathered with small stories to go along with each.
Martin Scorcese was from that neighborhood and he said, “..and I wonder, do people still go up to the roof? And if they do, what do they see?
“Because we saw heaven.”
By Angel Marinaccio. Page 93.
“The best tans ever were also to be found
on ‘tar beach.’ Everyone in the building mixed
up a concoction of baby oil and iodine
to make their own suntan lotion. Lying down
on army blankets or a beach chair, while a
portable radio played all the songs of the 50s
and 60s, it was a great time.”
Blogfinger will present a series of photos from this wonderful book where one can see and even know the people who lived there. Little Italy is practically gone now, but the melody lingers on.
Susan began her project around the time of the 200th anniversary of the Basilica of old St Patrick’s Cathedral. We visited and photographed there, and we will repost that piece as well.
THE DRIFTERS
Eileen and I lived in New York City while I was in my internship and residency/fellowship years. We loved to take the train to Little Italy where you could sit down at a tiny restaurant and watch the best Italian cuisine prepared in front of you. Our favorite was Luna’s.
Many of the businesses there were in families for a hundred years or more including shops with unbelievable breads, cheese and baked goods.
A few years ago we took a tour of family businesses which were all over 100 years old in Little Italy.