State of Affairs
The period is the early 1900s, when living conditions in Italy had grown atrocious. Many Italian immigrants came for better living and working conditions from an economically-strained nation that struggled to deal with overcrowding, disease, starvation, internal colonization and over taxation. But it must be noted that nearly every activity revolved around the family. Robert Orsi, author of a very good book The Madonna of 115th Street, emphasizes that the primary decision for coming to the New York was a family decision to save their loved ones from their petrifying status. There was also the practice of sending money back for their families in Italy.

The First Immigrants
The first Italians to U.S.A. arrived in 1878 via steamboat, from Polla in Salerno, and settled in the vicinity of 115th Street, Jones Wood, where they, like other emigrant groups, experienced hostility in New York (Professor Meyer, Para 1). In response to this, they came together and formed strong, self-sufficient communities. They had their own banks, merchants and also specialty shops selling Italian goods.

Between 1920 until WWII, Italian Harlem was located in current day East Harlem between 96th Street and 125th Street and from Lexington Avenue to East River. It was home to an estimated 89,000 first and second generation Italian Americans. The greater portion of the Italians in East Harlem came from southern Italy, from places like Geneva and Naples.

Struggles
Italians faced much hardship at jobs. They worked under horrifying conditions for wages as low as $1.50 for ten hours of labor, not to mention that many jobs lasted for less than a few weeks. At times, Italians wouldn't get paid, and the fear of losing the only income to support their families forced them into a docile acceptance of suffering. This angered worker organizations because Italians were used frequently as strikebreakers.

Additionally, catholic churches did not accept Italians freely. There were instances when Italians were attacked and beaten as they left churches. While this seems to be extreme, for the most part, Italians could not be assured safety in Catholic churches because it was run by the Irish, who in turn were unhappy with the increased competition for jobs brought on by the Italians and other immigrant groups. The first Italians in East Harlem were strike-breakers hired by Irish American Contractor, J. D. Crimmins, to work on the First Avenue Trolley Tracks when strikes occurred, angering the Irish workers greatly.

The Irish-Italian borders were often areas where clashes between the Italian and Irish were severe. Italians had to face gang violence, second-rate treatment among other working peoples, particularly under Irish establishments, and also non-acceptance by the Catholic Church. All these activities were factors resulting in the mind-set to respect neighborhood boundaries on a subconscious level.

Read more about Italian Harlem -- or Next (Jewish Harlem)