The above photo shows the old Italian Harlem section of Pleasant Avenue and 115th Street looking east circa 1939. Most of the tenements facing west would still be standing at the time (and are intact today on Plaeasant Avenue) and the construction in the background would eventually become the Benjamin Franklin High School. The large Italian community has since moved out to the suburbs but do return once a year to visit the old neighborhood during the Giglio Festival in August and once more fill the avenue up with vendors:
LINK. Archival photo courtesy
NYPL
The vendor must be very religious as his pop corn has been ‘poped’. Blessings be upon you, my son.
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