E. 187th Street between Arthur and Hughes, The Bronx

1 There’s intrablock intrigue on this strip of the Belmont neighborhood. At the Hughes end is neighborhood landmark Egidio Pastry Shop (622 E 187th St, 718-295-6077), owned by Carmela Lucciola. She used to run the place with her husband, a former Fordham University professor, but won it outright after their bitter 1996 divorce. More than a year ago, she says, her ex-husband opened a rival pastry shop down the block, Palombo’s (2400 Arthur Ave, 718-329-8800), one of six locations in the Bronx. Does she sneak out of her shop to avoid running into him? No way. “I don’t even look over there,” she says.

2 Famous people who grew up in the neighborhood: Joe Pesci, Chazz Palminteri, Dominic Chianese (who sings at church feast celebrations) and Dion DiMucci (of Dion and the Belmonts). Famous people recently seen in the neighborhood: Liza Minnelli, Conan O’Brien (probably getting his last good meal before heading to L.A.).

3 Only place to get a slice on the block: Full Moon Pizzeria (600 E 187th St, 718-584-3451). Try the white pizza with sliced tomato ($4.25).

4 At Casa della Mozzarella (604 E 187th St, 718-364-3867), owner Orazio Carciotto can be found with his hands in a vat, making the shop’s namesake cheese. He’s been there since 1986, when he immigrated from Italy, and his cheese is tasty enough to have landed him an appearance on Throwdown! with Bobby Flay. He also sells imported Italian meats and a wide selection of antipasti and cookies. As for the key to great mozzarella, “Maybe I learned secrets in Italy,” Carciotto says, smiling. “I don’t want to say.” Although he also wouldn’t tell us exactly what his rent is, Carciotto says it has tripled since he started working at the shop.

5 Thus far, the economic downturn has had little impact on local business, merchants say. “People still have to eat,” Carciotto tells us. “And if they’re cutting back on restaurants, they’ll still need cold cuts, cheese and cookies.” Rev. Rapaglia, meanwhile, says the collection plate hasn’t taken a hit yet.

6 A street medallion at the intersection of Arthur Avenue and East 187th Street depicts the Italian flag in colored concrete, and reads LITTLE ITALY OF THE BRONX—THE GOOD TASTE OF TRADITION. It was commissioned by the Belmont Local Development Corporation in the mid-’80s and cost $130,000.

In Egidio Pastry Shop there’s an enormous oven where countless cakes, mini zeppole and cannoli shells are made. It’s also where, according to Lucciola, one of the world’s largest single-sheet cakes was baked to honor Pope John Paul II.

Ciccarone Park (E 188 between Arthur and Hughes) opened in 1934 and was built by city parks commissioner Robert Moses. The park was paid for with funds for war memorials, which were available to any site or monument that honored a fallen soldier. (Vincent Ciccarone was an Italian immigrant who died from wounds suffered in World War I.) The park underwent $2.7 million in renovations 2007—adding a new playground and fitness facilities, including bocce lanes. Look out for tournaments in the warmer months.

If you see a man walking the block in traditional clerical garb, that’s probably Rev. James Miara of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (187th St at Belmont Ave, 718-295-3770), the spiritual epicenter of the neighborhood. Rev. Miara leads the traditional Latin Mass (Sundays 8:30am), which the church has been holding for more than a year. His garb is slightly different from the vestments worn at a modern Mass. For example, Miara will wear a four-cornered black hat, called a biretta, and a band around his wrist, called a maniple. The rites are also different, according to Miara’s colleague, Rev. Eric Rapaglia. “It’s more vertical than horizontal,” he says, meaning the emphasis is on connecting with God.

The “Little Italy of the Bronx” is no longer home to just Italian-Americans. Albanians, Filipinos and Turks also inhabit the area, but “the largest number are Latinos,” Rapaglia says. A sign of the neighborhood’s Albanian culture can be seen on Arthur Avenue, just south of 186th Street, where, in a municipal parking lot, there is a mural honoring popular Albanian local Anton Nikci, who died in 1994.

The church was built by Italian immigrants in 1906 and doesn’t have traditional parish boundaries—it’s meant to serve Italians everywhere. There is a plaque honoring Bishop Joseph Pernicone, who was pastor here from 1944 to 1966. He was the first Italian-American bishop in the U.S., says Rev. Rapaglia, and he is still remembered fondly by the older members of the neighborhood. “He had the respect of the ‘goodfellas,’_” says Rapaglia. “With quote marks around the good.”

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