Bensonhurst
The largest of all Italian neighborhoods to have ever existed in the United States, Bensonhurst is situated in Southern Brooklyn and is bordered by Homecrest, Borough Park, Midwood, Maplewood, Dyker Heights, Gravesend and Bath Beach. Bensonhurst stretches from 65th Street and 15th Avenue to Bay Parkway and 65th, all the way to 86th and Bay Parkway to 86th and 15th Avenue. Bensonhurst saw two of the most recent waves of Southern Italians happen in the 1960’s and 1980’s. Bensonhurst was always a common destination for Southern Italians, especially Sicilians, since the neighborhood became an Italian neighborhood in the early 1900’s. Prior to being an Italian enclave, Bensonhurst was predominantly Irish and Jewish. Bensonhurst was home to Santa Rosalia Italian National Parish, which was recently demolished (2021). Bensonhurst does however still host the annual Santa Rosalia Feast and Santa Rosalia Soccer Tournament, for family and friends to come together to celebrate, play, complete, and enjoy all together. The other two Italian national parishes in Bensonhurst are still thriving, Saint Dominic and Saint Athanasius. Other churches within the bounds of Bensonhurst that have had massive Italian congregations but never the designation of Italian National Parish are Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Mary Mother of Jesus. Bensonhurst still has many Italian and Italian American families living within it but the neighborhood has become more diverse in the last two decades.