Seventh Avenue, formerly known as the First Ward, is a neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey's North Ward. It was famously the heart of the city's large Little Italy.
In its heyday, Seventh Avenue had a population of thirty thousand, eleven thousand of whom were children, living in an area of less than a square mile. The center of life in the neighborhood was St. Lucy's Church, founded by Italian immigrants in 1891. Throughout the year, St. Lucy's a...
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Seventh Avenue, formerly known as the First Ward, is a neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey's North Ward. It was famously the heart of the city's large Little Italy.
In its heyday, Seventh Avenue had a population of thirty thousand, eleven thousand of whom were children, living in an area of less than a square mile. The center of life in the neighborhood was St. Lucy's Church, founded by Italian immigrants in 1891. Throughout the year, St. Lucy's and other churches sponsored processions in honor of saints that became community events. The most famous procession was the Feast of St. Gerard, but there were also great feasts for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Our Lady of Snow, the Assumption, and St. Rocco.
Joe DiMaggio loved the restaurants of Seventh Avenue so much that he would take the New York Yankees to Newark to show them "real Italian food." Frank Sinatra had bread from Giordano's Bakery sent to him every week until his death, no matter where in the world he was. New York Yankees catcher...
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