Jeanne Beckwith, Author of Opportunity of a Lifetime

At 7 p.m. on Sunday August 6th, Jeanne Beckwith sat in the front row of Nicu’s Spoon Theater as a group of six actors and actresses, scripts in hand, went through an enthusiastic reading of her science fiction play Opportunity of a Lifetime, which had won first prize for Best Full Length Script in the Redd Tale Theatre Company’s 2011 sci-fi festival. Though Beckwith describes many of her plays as “odd” and “quirky,” she had never delved fully into science fiction before she began writing drafts of Opportunity of a Lifetime a few years ago. When she heard about the sci-fi contest put on by the Redd Tale Theatre Company
– whose mission statement is “To Provide Enlightening, Entertaining Sci-Fi Theatrical Experiences That Contribute to Humanity’s Next Step Forward — she realized she could submit Opportunity of a Lifetime. She heavily revised the play before submitting it, and was thrilled to learn she’d won.

Sign Outside the Spoon Theater's Entrance

Nicu’s Spoon theater is located at 38 West 38th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, on the fifth floor of a nondescript building that, from the outside, looks nothing like a venue that would house a theater. A blank steel door serves as entrance. Only a small placard reading “Spoon Theater,” taped to the wall next to the door, announces the theater’s existence. The theater itself is a small, hot, room. There is no stage — just a small performing space, and three rows of six or seven seats for audience members. But the space is intimate, and well-suited for the reading of a play like Beckwith’s, which involves close interactions
between numerous actors at once, with the action taking place largely in one room. The playwright was very happy with the experience: “It’s so hard to get a show put on in New York City,” says Beckwith, who lives in Vermont and has been writing plays for three decades. When she won the contest, she says, “What I really won was a performing space in New York.”

Cast-members Performing Opportunity of a Lifetime

The presentation, while certainly not a full production, was more than just a stationary reading: Directed by Monica Callan, it was a real performance, complete with blocking. While the Swedish-born actress Beata Dalton sat off to the side reading occasional stage directions, the six cast-members — Griffin Hennelly, Judd Silverman, Mary Scripps, Erin Callahan, Bob Carmody, and F. Brett Cox — moved about the stage, scripts in hand, performing with humor and emotion.

The play is about a young man named Ted, played by Griffin Hennelly, who answers a job interview ad that seems eerily specific to him: It calls, among other things, for an archeology student who knows Morse Code. The “interview” takes place on an island owned by a billionaire, named Mr. Solomon, who never appears in the play. Ted soon realizes that something’s amiss: Among other things, his “interviewers” — including a deceptively genial man named Mr. Cook, played by Judd Silverman, and a scientist named Dr. Butler, played by Bob Carmody — ask invasive questions about his life, and make odd requests, such as asking for a blood sample. The experience bears no resemblance to a job interview, and Ted grows increasingly uncomfortable as his hosts seem unwilling to let him leave the island.

Full cast, Left from Right: Mary Scripps, Bob Carmody, Beata Dalton (Stage Directions Reader), Erin Callahan, Griffin Hennelly, Judd Silverman, and F. Brett Cox

By the end of the play, Ted learns that he has been summoned because he is in fact a clone of the billionaire Solomon, who has replicated himself in the hope of finding a worthy heir. Beckwith says she began writing her play partly because cloning was a subject that intrigued her. Because human cloning is now essentially scientifically possible, she says, she finds it dramatically fascinating to imagine a world where it has secretly taken place at the whim of a billionaire.

Beckwith says there is nothing like seeing one’s plays come to life through live performance, and she was very pleased with the jobs the actors did. In addition, she says, seeing her play performed helped her detect and eliminate some minor flaws in the play that she hadn’t noticed before. So, says Beckwith, the experience was not only fun, but it will prove useful as she tries to shop her play elsewhere in the future.

Ellen Datlow, Science Fiction Editor and Friend of the Playwright, Stands Outside the Entrance to Nicu's Spoon Theater

Jack Kittle, the political director of District Council 9, claims that they have been very reasonable and have offered to take a 25% cut but Rose Associates aren’t willing to budge.

Due to the fact that the two sides could not come to an agreement, management has temporarily hired non-union painters, according to DC9.

Neighboring union workers and even residents came out to help support the painters, while police officers remained close to keep the peace.

Kittle stated that they are out everyday with information booths trying to raise awareness.

Bright gold fliers continue to be handed out to people passing by that refer to Rose Associates as “Bed bugs – who suck the financial blood from workers”. A large brown inflatable bug stands high in the middle of the protesters each day.

And yet, punk can still be found in the area. The following locations offer up punk –– alive, preserved and transformed.

Punk (everything) at ABC No Rio

So what is punk? “I can’t really, I don’t think I can answer that question,” said Tallahassee Idlewild, 26. She is a volunteer booker for this arts organization, which has long been a symbol of punk culture on the Lower East Side.

The entrance to No Rio at 156 Rivington St. is covered with stickers and graffiti. The sign screwed to the left of the entrance reads “culture of opposition since 1980” and speaks to its history as a meeting ground for artists, poets and musicians.

The community center traces its origins to the 1980 “The Real Estate Show,” an exhibit consisting of 30 artists who lived in an abandoned building on Delancey Street. After police forced the artists out, the participants entered talks with the city, which led to the gift of their own space at its current address. No Rio eventually bought the entire building from the city for $1.

But you get what you pay for, according to Idlewild, who said that the structure is in such poor condition that the foundation is crumbling. In a few months, the entire building will be torn down and completely rebuilt.

The project comes at a time when punk itself has become “a lot less of a daily destination,” said Nat Meysenburg, 27, another No Rio volunteer. The organization keeps the spirit going by hosting hardcore/punk matinees, poetry readings and art exhibitions.

The public is also welcome to use No Rio’s darkroom, silk screening print shop and zine library. Making these facilities available is part of the mission to engage locals and keep punk alive. “In a lot of ways, punk’s tenacity in the Lower East Side is a testament to the strong will of key members of punk,” Idlewild added.

But the “hacked away” parts are troublesome to these members. The closing of CBGB’s, the legendary punk club, showed that even “mainstream punk,” as Idlewild classified it, wasn’t safe from the changing New York climate. The club is now home to the John Varvatos boutique.

“It makes me really sad,” she said of the club’s closing. “It’s an absolute testament to the new New York. This awful, ugly thing it is.”

Fashion at John Varvatos

In 2008, the designer John Varvatos took over the old CBGB’s space. On the afternoon of July 30, The Talking Head’s song “Once in a Lifetime” was playing. The song’s refrain, “Same as it ever was” seemed to announce the boutique’s ironic attempt to maintain the character of it previous owner.

The store features $50 T-shirts and $2,000 leather jackets. All that remains of the original inhabitants of the space, according to general manager Andrew Escobar, are the walls, “which, as you can see, are pretty beat up,” he said.

The black walls, with their residue of old stickers, graffiti and peeling paint, are the only remaining signs of the CBGB’s grunge culture. Most of it is framed behind glass to help preserve its original condition, Escobar said.

The store is marketing an upscale rock ‘n’ roll theme with displays of boots, electric guitars and stereo equipment are all available for sale. Also for sale are books detailing the club’s retinue of famous performers.

Tour the punk scene

“The Rock Junket East Village Rock n’ Punk Tour” takes participants to nearly a dozen sites famous for punk affiliation. The tour lasts two hours and costs $29.

One stop is a mural of Joe Strummer, the late leading man of The Clash. In 2003, the graffiti artists Zephyr and Dr. Revolt painted it on the wall outside of Niagra Bar (112 Ave. A at Seventh Street).

Also featured on the tour is Trash and Vaudeville (4 St. Marks Place), an “alternative,” two-floor clothing store. Inside, you can find an array of spikes, neon-colored pants and an entire wall of military-style boots. The clothing store has inhabited the same location since 1975.

Across the street is Search and Destroy (25 St. Marks Place), a storefront vintage clothing retailer that declares its “edginess” with a window display featuring a pile of naked, plastic baby dolls, skeletons with mohawks and a naked woman mannequin hanging from the ceiling, her arms and legs tied. Fake, bloody pig carcasses also hang from the ceiling.

Archiving punk at the Fales Library

“The Downtown Collection” in New York University’s Fales Library was started in the mid-1990s by Director Marvin Taylor. The collection encompasses the development of the arts scene in SoHo and the Lower East Side during the 1970s through the early 1990s.

“Although the collection documents much more than Punk, it naturally contains some important documentation of punk’s development in New York,” responded Fales senior archivist Lisa Darms in an e-mail.

The collection’s treasures include the personal papers of Richard Hell, a writer and musician who played in Television, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and the Heartbreakers. The library also has audio and video clips, photographs, fliers, zines, stage props and other artifacts from the scene.

And where is punk now? As an “old punk,” Darms wrote that she thinks that she tends “to suffer from a certain amount of nostalgia for the ‘good old days.’”

But she thinks that punk will always be alive in some form because “people –– especially young people –– will always be parts of movements that operate in the spirit of Punk. I don’t think that attitude has to require a certain uniform or aesthetic, and it troubles me when that aesthetic is marketed as a ‘look.”’

As the economy is preparing to enter yet another recession, the tensions between the two groups have become more and more exacerbated.
 

Eye to eye.

Amy Rosales and James Brako-McComb peer into a construction site for construction workers.

This year – the fourth for the Hunt – was the third for the event to be held in New York, with the exception being last year when it took place in Virginia at James Madison University. Due to the low show number of four people, counting Brako, the participants joined forces and approached the challenges together. Battling the 85 Fahrenheit temperature, they completed 19.5 challenges out of a total of 80, visiting more than five different parks mostly via walking.

Both challenges from the Salute to Public Servants category were achieved (bringing donuts to a fire station and water to a construction site) with the second highest challenge achievement category being the Hunt-O-Lympics.

“Right now, my aim is for New York City to be a very large-knit group of people who will come out and do this every year,” Brako said of the Hunt’s envisioned future in the short-term. In the long run, Brako’s dream is to expand the Hunt to all college campuses across the country and help coordinate this very unusual Hunt.

On Aug. 2nd, neighbors and their local 7th Precinct police joined to celebrate the 28th Annual National Night Out (NNO), an event that raises awareness against crime and drug use. It was a warm Tuesday night in Lower Manhattan as around 80 attendees gathered for the festivity. The block party stretched across Attorney and Stanton Streets, and offered a fest of live music, food stalls, a mini roller-coaster ride, petting zoo, and game booths for both children and adults in the community.

The event was the product of three-months planning, joint with combined efforts of neighbors who had volunteered to help.

“Fundraising and putting everything together was really the hardest part,” said Carlo Schiano, a member of the 7th Precinct Community Council, which organized the event. Many equipment were donated. The stage — on which
bands performed, and guest speakers including Senator Daniel Squadron and State Assemblyman Sheldon Silver appeared — was provided by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, an agency responsible for the city’s recreational spaces.

NNO is celebrated across the country on the first Tuesday of August each year. Introduced in 1984 by anti-crime organization, National Association of Town Watch (NATW), the event aims to reduce crime rates by raising awareness and increasing citizen participation in crime monitoring. During that time, only 5 to 7
percent of the typical residential community were involved in neighborhood crime surveillance, as reported by NATW.

Anti-crime efforts however, have grown tremendously over the subsequent years.

In its first launching year of 1984, around 2.5 million Americans nationwide from 23 states took part. But in 2010, 37 million residents took part from all 50 states. For every community, celebrations are also culminated in different forms and scales — ranging from rallies and meetings, to neighborhood walks and parades outdoors.

“This is the day where the police and the community join together to party as one,” stated a police officer at the event, with a smile. “It lets people know that we’re not always bad guys, arresting people,” another officer added. “But that we’re also humans, like them.”

“I spend most of my days in Tompkins Square Park, Union Square and on the Subway.” Jocelyn always looks for squat houses but they are nowadays much harder to come buy.

“They used to be pretty easy to find but now they are rare,” said Jocelyn.

Jocelyn who is a drug user says she does so to survive. “It is so hard to be a woman on the streets, I need drugs to lessen the pain. Also, the fact that I am not with my three children is really painful.”

Jocelyn is looking to change her life and wants to go to rehab. “I am hoping to get help. The thought of having my children with me, is what keeps me going.”
 

“I think a lot of [artists] say to themselves, ‘I can be a painter, I can be a graphic designer — or I can be a tattoo artist and have the cool job,” Zilber says.

Leaving Israel, where he’d worked at Psycho Tattoo in Tel Aviv for the past few years, wasn’t easy. But it was the only choice for someone who wanted to stretch himself artistically: The craft was more sophisticated and technically evolved in New York City, he says, and indeed many of the works he admired in magazines were produced at New York Adorned. So a year later, he obtained an artist’s visa and immigrated to New York.

Mostly self-taught back then, Zilber found the skill level of his new colleagues intimidating.

“I felt like a backyard basketball player who fell into the NBA,” he says. “I had to start educating
myself.” He began taking private art classes, with a focus, over the last four years, on Tibetan art — now his specialty at New York Adorned.

Tibetan art, Zilber says, provides an endless source of colorful designs. His Tibetan art-inspired works have ranged from dragons and skulls to flowers and images of Buddha. “[Tibetan art’s] sensitive line expression, rich compositions, and simplicity lend themselves beautifully to the body,” he writes on his website. In addition, Zilber says, his focus on Tibetan art gives him a unique niche within the larger tattoo world. A decade after his walk down Avenue A, he’s become one of the most sought-after artists at New York Adorned.

Zilber met Bethany Cirlin at New York Adorned, where she worked alongside him as a tattoo artist from 2003 to 2005. Recently, when she wanted a new tattoo, she sought him out. In late July at New York Adorned, Zilber tattooed a large Tibetan lotus flower on the right side of her stomach. He spent over an hour sketching out the design before beginning the tattoo.

All reputable tattoo artists have an hourly minimum, ranging anywhere from $150 to $300, though some charge by the piece. Zilber generally charges $200 per hour. Depending on the shop and the artist’s skill level, a customer can expect to pay between $300 and $500 for a piece like the one Cirlin was getting.

When they were ready, Cirlin lay down on a table while Zilber sat in a chair,needle in his right hand, closely concentrating on his work, with different colored inks laid out on a tray to his right.

Depending on the size and complexity of the design, performing a single tattoo can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. It took Zilber almost two hours to complete Cirlin’s tattoo. During that time, Cirlin frequently put her right arm over her face, wincing in pain. The lower stomach, say Zilber and Cirlin, is a particularly sensitive part of the body for tattooing.

“It kills,” Cirlin said at one point during the process.

Not all tattoos are as painful as Cirlin’s, depending on where on the body they’re done, but the process always hurts. “Tattoo pain is not that bad,” says Zilber, who has many tattoos, including designs running up and down both arms. “You get used to it while you’re getting tattooed. But even if you’ve had 20 tattoos, it’ll still hurt every time.”

Cirlin loves tattoos, but her years in the field have taught her caution. In 1997, an artist inadvertently inserted a phallic image into one of her tattoos. After that, she says, “I just became obsessed with the skin…There are so many people who either got tattooed too quickly and aren’t really committed, or have stuff they’re not happy with.” In 2007, Cirlin opened Forever Yours Esthetics at The Laser Spa, where she specializes in cosmetic treatments including laser tattoo removal.

Zilber himself is one of Cirlin’s clients; he is having a tattoo of a skull removed from the left side of his neck. After getting married last year, Zilber grew to dislike the tattoo when he saw it in one of his wedding photos. “The design was weird,” he says.

Laser removal is a lengthy and costly process. According to Cirlin, it takes a minimum of one year depending on the color and size of a tattoo, and requires eight to 12 treatments spaced four to 10 weeks apart. Depending on the tattoo, the price ranges from $150 to $400 per treatment.

According to Zilber, it is also extremely painful, though the individual sessions are bearable since the lasering process lasts no more than a few minutes. Zilber’s bimonthly treatments began in November of 2010. He and Cirlin hope his tattoo, already faded, will be gone by next April.

Zilber’s experience has him more convinced than ever that people should think carefully before committing to a tattoo. “It takes years and money to get a tattoo taken off,” he says. “It’s a bad idea to think, ‘well, if I change my mind, I can always get it lasered.’”

But for now removal was on no one’s mind. When Cirlin’s lotus tattoo was finished, she stood up and admired it in a mirror: Comprised of lush pink petals surrounded by waves of green leaves, it was easily one of her best, Cirlin said.

On Saturday, July 30, Lee held the latest Dances of Vice event at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village. Called Shanghai Foxtrot, the concert focused on the music and culture of “The Pearl of Asia” during the first part of the 20th century. In this interview, she discusses the motivations for creating Dances of Vice and the appeal of 1920s Shanghai.
 

Cirino gave an hour-long presentation at the newly opened BMW Guggenheim Lab. Using Molecular Gastronomy techniques, he created and served participants water of varying viscosity, creating a metaphor to represent the varying levels of water scarcity in different regions of the world.

The BMW Guggenheim Lab is described on their website as “part urban think tank, party community center, and public gathering space.” Essentially it’s a mobile public classroom designed to help citizens investigate the problems globalization faces today. It’s currently in New York for a few months, nestled into a building lot at Houston St. and 2nd Ave. In October it will begin to travel the world, visiting nine major global cities over the next six years. The evening rain could be heard clearly in the open space of the Lab, and perfectly complemented the night’s subject.

Here’s some extended footage from the interview with Michael in which he discusses the founding of A Razor, A Shiny Knife, his own background, and modern cuisine.

The district, originally proposed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in April, will become official only after the final approval at the LPC public hearing regarding the issue in the coming weeks.

The area under consideration, rich in immigrant history dating back to the 19th century, would be bounded by East 7th Street to East 2nd Street along 2nd Avenue, with an additional area on East 10th Street from Avenue A to Avenue B. In total, more than 300 buildings would be protected from changes that would destroy their historic character. Currently historic districts in the East Village only protect one 38-building area in addition to 27 individual buildings.

Below is a slideshow of five churches that would be covered under the new district.

She attended the University of South Carolina in Charleston. Her troubles began when she left her first husband of eight years, a Vietnam veteran, due to his drug abuse. She lost custody of her children during the split. She lived in South Beach, Miami for 25 years until the death of her second husband on November 5, 2005. The date is significant to Julie, because it’s the last day that she owned a home. People from South Beach advised her to move to New York City, in particular Washington Square Park.

But once she moved to the city, she preferred to alternate between Astor Place or Union Square. She said there were too many drugs at Washington Square Park.

Despite being homeless, she spent her days making what she calls “mandalas” — small paintings she says are inspired by her husband’s spirit.

“my late husband was very quiet, these channels, once he died this was born.“

The last time this reporter saw her, Julie said her goal was to raise $700 to move to Belize and buy a house. She hasn’t been seen at Astor Place since late July.
 

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By 2008, the Nuyorican Poetry Café had won more than 30 AUDELCO Theatre awards. As one of the East Village’s core artistic institutions, it was named New York Press “Best Spoken Word Venue” and received a host of similar honors.

But it was still losing money.

Then, it discovered Facebook, Twitter, and Google Adwords. Now, the café’s annual revenues have more than doubled since 2008. The assertive online presence has prompted a 30 percent increase in ticket sales, and a 50 percent increase for specific events that were promoted online.

“It’s really helping us with audience retention,” said Daniel Gallant, who is the café’s executive director. In addition to bringing in a new audience, social media is “keeping them around.”

These days, Gallant and his staff are online posting video clips, news articles and photos about the café. Now, he feels that social media is “more likely to draw them back, even if they didn’t think they were going to go back.

To find the Nuyorican online, visit its links:

Website (http://www.nuyorican.org/)
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/nuyoricanpoets)
Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/NuyoricanPoets)

The East Village and the Lower East Side, which make up a significant portion of the deli’s customer base, have undergone drastic changes in the past century During the economic downturn of the 1970s and 1980s, Russ and Daughters. Current manager Josh Russ said that “many of [their] costumers came from other neighborhoods in Manhattan and New Jersey” The store survived by relying on customers from a broader base. Now with changes in the neighborhood, Russ and Daughters enjoys a well heeled local customer base from the East Village and Lower East Side.

Russ and Daughters has survived, serving the community today in much the same way it did almost one hundred years ago
 

Artist: Shepard Fairey
Spotted at: Various Locations: 213 Bowery; 30 Prince St.; corner of Orchard and
Delancey streets; corner of the Bowery and Rivington Street

The mastermind behind stickers and stencils with the word, “Obey” is actually best known for his Obama “Hope” poster. His “Obey” campaign has also been featured on t-shirts sold at Urban Outfitters and on his own clothing line, Obey Clothing. The sticker sighted at The Little Cupcake Shop on 30 Prince St. went up
in early July.

Artist: JR
Spotted at: The corner wall at Houston Street and the Bowery

Since January, a giant pair of squinting human eyes surrounded by white tribal face paint has been looking down from this wall poster, which is entitled “Lakota, North Dakota.” It was made by French artist JR as part of “Inside Out Project,” which is funded by a $100,000 TED Prize that he won earlier this year.

Artist: Unknown and Various
Spotted at: Freeman Alley

This often-overlooked location hides a makeshift gallery of sorts. Leading to Freemans Restaurant, the alley is covered in graffiti similar to what’s on view at 190 Bowery but also serves up a mix of political commentary in the form of airbrushed figures and phrases. Follow up this stroll through the work of urban
illustrators with a bite from Freemans Restaurant!

Artist: Unknown and various
Spotted at: 190 Bowery

This towering triangular building sits snugly on the corner of the Bowery. A variety of street artists and taggers have left their mark on its façade over a long period of time. This building, which is known as a “mecca” for street taggers, showcases vibrant tags with the names of the artists in large bubbly letters that are so common to the urban art scene. By the way, building is owned by photographer Jai Maisel.

Artist: Gaia
Spotted at: 73 East Houston St.

Since early July, the side wall of Rag and Bone clothing store became the new
home to a mural of a fiery red rooster with piercing yellow eyes. This is the
third installation of the Houston/Project, which is the retailer’s open invitation
to all local artists to showcase their paintings on what used to be the community
landmark, Café Colonial.

The opening night turned out to be accompanied by torrential rain, so hard that they had to close the L train. Luckily I made it to the location without getting the video equipment soaking wet!

Working with video is a lot harder than simply taking notes during a spoken interview. There are so many more things to think about – placement of the mic, holding the camera steady and keeping the proportions on the screen in the right place, not to mention lighting and background noise.

I also have discovered that people speak differently when facing a video camera. They are a lot more nervous which can make for a more tedious editing process. Editing video is such detailed work; not being a particularly detail oriented person, I sometimes feel as if I am going to go crazy.

Ultimately, when it all comes together, it’s such a good feeling that it makes it all worth it and I feel so much satisfaction at what I’ve produced.” – Carolyn J Goettler

Carolyn and Karen, on location, at the Animation Block Party

“Covering the animation block party film festival was my first time reporting at a live event. When you do a feature, you always have the option to return and ask more questions or film things over again if you didn’t get it right the first time. At a film festival, what you leave with at the end of the day is all you’re going to get. This made the story a little more challenging but also made us more aware of every aspect such as the lighting and sound.

Other than the technical aspects, the experience of covering the festival was really fun. We found that everyone was excited to talk to us and felt welcomed by the organizers of the festival. We had a lot of people who made us laugh and seemed to warm up to the camera right away.

Our most challenging and funniest experience was interviewing people at the after parties. It definitely is not natural for someone to hold a camera with a blinding light in the middle of a bar but everyone had a good attitude and we got some really fun interviews.” – Karen Avidar

These days, with the hype fading away, it’s business as usual for Little Italy’s oldtimers.

“It is great that Eataly brings an awareness of this type of food to the city,” said Sal DiPalo, 53. “That awareness trickles down to small businesses like ours, it hasn’t hurt us because my customers ask me for items they learn about in that store.”

He is the fifth generation DiPalo behind the counter at DiPalo’s Fine Foods, the family’s 86-year-old delicatessen at 200 Grand St. between Mott and Mulberry streets.

Eataly, which is located at 200 Fifth Ave. (between 23rd and 24th streets), made news when it opened. Its investors include celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. The development houses six restaurants and retail counters that sell and serve the gourmet products and recipes prepared on the chefs’ Food Network programs.

While Eataly shoppers carry baskets filled with cold cuts, bread-loaves and coffee beans, diners indulge on antipasti at the standing tables in the centrally located restaurant La Piazza. It is a popular spot for young professionals to chat over white wine after work, and for friends to meet for dinner before a night out.

But while Eataly offers customers authentic prosciutto and fresh mozzarella, Sal DiPalo says that no one knows cottechinocotte the way he does.

DiPalo teaches the cultural significance of this Northern Italian sausage, which he always carries but is traditionally served on New Year’s with lentils that represent coins to provide good wealth in the coming year.

“We are friends with the chefs behind Eataly, they are not our competition,” he said. “In this business there is no competition. I can not service this whole city.”

And from here on out, nothing is going to bring down Little Italy, said Frank Pepe, 55. For the past two decades, he has worked at Florio’s Ristorante (192 Grand St.). The 50-year-old family business was initially a pizzeria that sold slices out the window.

“These places have survived a century, do you think Eataly will be here in 100 years?” he said. “I sure believe Florio’s, Angelo’s, and Vincent’s of Little Italy will still be.”

Little Italy will always have a unique place on New York’s landscape, said, Ernest Magliato of the Sons of Italy. In his opinion, the neighborhood is “unconcerned because only in Little Italy does it feel like you’ve stepped out of Manhattan and into Italy.”