schmittle italy
North Jay Street was once the home of a thriving Italian immigrant population.
The children of those immigrants long ago joined the Brain Drain out of Schenectady
County, or have moved to the City’s suburbs. A handful of the original immigrants
may, along with their devoted offspring, survive on the block. However, I have
never seen any signs of life at the remaining half dozen residences.
Two years ago, the first prong in the Metroplex plan to “support an Italian heritage
neighborhood” came to fruition, when Cornell’s Restaurant moved its venerable
and successful operation from another section of Schenectady to North Jay Street,
thanks to almost $500,000 in Metroplex aid.
One beloved Jay Street bakery went out of business a few years ago.
The image shown above is the newly completed Little Italy streetscape, crowned
by imposing entryway columns, and financed with a $750,000 Metroplex grant.
You can find a number of articles about our Little Italy here.
After moving one restaurant to North Jay Street, Little Italy now boasts the following
“Italian heritage” enterprises: One restaurant; one bakery; one spumoni shop.
The other business addresses on North Jay Street include: two auto body shops, one
boarded-up former strip club (previously a boarded-up Fire Station); one funeral home;
one empty, former gay bar; and, at the far corner, a biker bar (called the Saw Mill).

If you happen to be in the region — checking out, for instance, the lovely
Little Italy 20 miles away in Troy, NY, come on over to Schenectady’s La Piccola Italia.
I checked: Issa has no spumoni haiku for me to share with you.
update (May 29, 2005): scroll down to read about chutzpah in Little Italy
by dagosan:
mom serves
grandma’s recipes —
Christmas Eve calamari
[Dec. 24, 2004]
under nana’s afghan -
dreaming homemade
bread and meatballs
[Nov 30, 2004]
Frankly, my friend Carolyn
Has anyone heard whether court-appointed attorneys in Alabama have voted
Practicing what I preach (and preaching instead of practicing), I started a

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