Soft waves crashed on the rocks of Shore Park and Parkway in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, as then-21-year-old Robert Nash took a walk there in June of 2016. He was with his now-wife Enza Nash, who was his girlfriend at the time, admiring the view of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
For Italian-Americans living in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn in the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, weekends were special. On Saturdays, they put on their best clothing and went shopping on 18th Avenue for everything from food to new shoes. They enjoyed gelato while strolling the avenue. They stopped for chats on the sidewalks, or while sitting on lawn chairs set up in front of houses.
Daniel Paterna, a second-generation Italian-American, is a creative director, designer and photographer. He is also the author of “Feast of the Seven Fishes: A Brooklyn-Italian’s Recipes Celebrating Food and Family.” Part-memoir and part-cookbook, Paterna captures the stories and recipes of Brooklyn Italians, including his own family.
The annual feast of San Gennaro, which honors the patron saint of Naples, Italy, attracts crowds to Little Italy each September.
People walk the streets enjoying sausage and peppers, rice balls, bracciole, zeppole and cannoli, in addition to watching live entertainment and playing carnival games.
However, Manhattan’s most famous Italian festival also has a more serious purpose: to raise money for good causes, including those that serve Italian-American communities in Brooklyn.