Caffe vittoria boston3/11/2024 ![]() ![]() But the newcomers have shown a strong determination to help preserve and even enhance the area`s traditions.Ī beneficiary of the influx has been the Old North Church, an Episcopal parish in a heavily Roman Catholic neighborhood that had, over time, become more of a museum than a living institution. Though most major Boston area banks have installed cash machines in their North End branches, the better to serve their yuppie clientele, the overall flavor of the community still is intensely, and joyously, Italian.Īccording to a survey by the North End Task Force, Italians now make up only about half of the neighborhood`s population. Old men still congregate in front of the Caiola Travel Agency on Hanover Street to gossip in Italian, only later moving inside to the Caffe Vittoria, where steaming cups of cappuccino are nursed by the hour. ![]() They`ve let drugs come into the community, and that`s what causes the crime.”įor all the apprehensions over runaway development, rising crime and the loss of traditional shopping outlets, there is much about the North End that is unchanging. Said an elderly woman, a homeowner in the neighborhood. ”The myth is that the Mafia takes care of the North End, protects it,” We could use more of these projects, but it`s very difficult to get the funding these days.”īeyond the concern over the dwindling supply of affordable housing, senior citizens also are worried about a recent rash of apartment break-ins and muggings in a neighborhood that had long been considered perhaps the safest in the city.Ī number of residents blame the incidents on Boston`s organized crime syndicate, which has used the North End as a base for half a century. ”The only thing that has saved our senior citizens are three housing projects that were built back when there was more money for that sort of thing. ”The elderly are scared out of their minds, worrying about losing their apartments,” said Elaine Iennaco Wilson, a lifelong North Ender who operates a nursing home in the community. But they also argue that outsiders still are succeeding in wrecking the community`s essential spirit and Italian character with their condominium conversions and their expensive specialty shops. In this era of heightened concern over preservation and community self-determination, even the most fervent defenders of the North End acknowledge that a thorough destruction of their neighborhood is politically impossible today. The walk-up tenement buildings that once housed low-income families have been replaced by antiseptic high-rises for the wealthy. The term ”West End” refers to a Boston neighborhood adjacent to the Charles River Basin that was bulldozed to the ground by developers in the 1950s. On most of these structures, angry protesters have plastered signs that say: ”North End Forever West End Never. ”But if people want to sell their property to a developer for a big profit, there`s nothing to stop them.”Īlong historic North Street, vintage apartment buildings are being gutted to make room for even more condominiums. ”We`re being gentrified out,” said Emilie Pugliano, president of the North End Task Force, a community group.
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