630WPRO news anchor Gene Valicenti - in a mood of utter disgust- gave his listeners a personal vicarious, very unpleasant experience of Providence's famous Federal Hill neighborhood this morning " ( April 1, 2022 ) . The old colorful Italian neighborhood is now long gone and blighted. The city government has let it go to hell. Gene suggested that the whole area between Broadway and Atwells Ave. -most of Federal Hill - is a disgrace to Providence, shaming its mayor Elorza. As a senior citizen Italo-American I remember the Federal Hill my Italian immigrant grandparents , Ludovico and Adrianna Ruggieri raised their three fine boys , Nicholas , Louis , Domenic - all of whom became successful in life. My grandparents lived for nearly 50 years at 62 Gesler St. My older brother Rick and I stayed with them for days in the summertime ( circa 1957- 1962 ) . In the morning Grandma Ruggieri took us to an early mass at Holy Ghost Church, where I had been baptized , on the way back stopping at an outside FRESH FRUIT stand and another place where they killed rabbits and chickens on the spot . Later Rick and I would go the Angelo Zuccolo Pool . Back then the diving area was more than 10 feet deep and rather bravely I dived off the diving board in to the blue pit below. One night Grandpa took us to see two horror movies at the Columbus Theater on Broadway- " The Amazing Colossal Man "and " The Fly " -which I heard gave Grandpa nightmares. Then there was that sinister mysterious CLUB down the road near Palmieri's Bakery. Some guy named " Raymond " was undisputed BOSS of Federal Hill there. He kept " peace " in the neighborhood , I learned. " MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS ", we were warned. On a clear hot summer night the smell of baking bread came through the window screen in the bedroom where Rick and I slept. There was always a lit holy candle. A statue of Saint Anthony in a glass dome. Grandma explained that her Saint Anthony had once worked a miracle saving the second floor apartment from a fire. She showed me a singed cloth with an outline of the statue. She went downstairs to console a man named Amando whose old mother was dying in a hospital bed with her devoted son always by her side. When Federal began its long decline in the late 1960s Grandma and Grandpa Ruggieri moved in to our house at 315 California Ave. in Washington Park, Providence. I was just 21 when my mother and I went along with Grandma's last ride in an ambulance. She died at age 74 , my age now . Grandpa live on with us for a few more years. He always cried when he heard Puccini 's La Boheme playing on the radio . Nostalgic for the Old Country- glorious , sunny, musical ( Grandpa played the clarinet ) Italy which he knew he would never see again. As they say : " You can't go home again ".
😃👍Absolutely LOVE you💚r story! I was a Federal Hill kid in early 70s after our parents divorced .I have AloT MORE to say 😃 on this great and cozy neighborhood that I still love w all 💜 heart. I will b back, tomorrow or Saturday w my lil story! Hope you read it! Absolutely Love yours I sha LL return when I have time to write my lil Fed Hill story , in next day or 2 ! Please stay tuned! ♥️🤍💚..👍🌃🌜✨🌠🌛
I’m not Italian, but I grew up at Atwells Ave./Mt. Pleasant Ave., 1967-89, and most of my friends and neighbors were Italian. I have so many fond memories, (like you) of eating at their houses, going to Federal Hill and seeing the store with the rabbits and chickens you mentioned, (DePasqual Sq.?) and seeing Raymond leaning on the parking meter, smoking a cigar/cigarette, the fish monger, fruit carts, (Who also took bets for Patriarca) The bakery’s, Angelo’s restaurant, Casserta’s Pizza, the yearly feast! I loved that ALL of my Italian friends parents and grandparents had grape vines and gardens, with beautiful tomatoes! Some of them made wine every year, but it was the family closeness that I appreciated! (I didn’t have that, but my friends families always seemed to include me in a lot of their family occasions! (I was too young to realize what they were doing, but I’m forever grateful for their love and kindness, and think about them often, when I visit Providence every September! I now live in Toronto, Canada, married for 33 years! God bless you and your family!😇🙏🏻❤
It would have been better if you narrated the tour, like “The Office”, all the spots where hits took place, (Willie Marfeo, Mousie Rotondo, Tiger Baletto, Kevin Hanrahan, Bobo’s/Acorn etc.
I've been living at Atwells Ave for 15 years, yes 90% of people living there are Italians but they're nice and always having fun I remember an episode from the sopranos when tony mentioned the mafia from Atwells in providence lol
Nice. Take a tiny sliver of that, throw in a few steep hills, and you have Little Italy here in Cleveland. A lot of the buildings are very similar, including that church off in the distance at 9:20.
Hey, my old apartment building 1985-1988 on Dean Street at 1:52. Thanks for turning left. And I notice R.O.W. traffic still let you go first. Haha. And my second apartment at 40 Bond St (Bldg on the right)1988-1992 @ 14:10. Of course, I could have used Google street view, but this was better.
Dammit these videos making me miss my home city..I lived in Federal Hill on DePasquale back in like 05..I swear I'm gon move back soon... Paused at 7:07 see those 3 windows on that first floor use to live there ..its where I made 2 of my 3 daughters at..memories..smh
The area isn't what it used to be. Still some good restaurants Angelo's makes the best braciola, Venda Ravioli has great Italian food and products, and Caserta makes a great pizza.
The demographic in the neighborhoods has changed fantastically in 40-50 years. And since the jobs have been shipped to China and other places, the neighborhoods have deteriorated badly.
When the video first starts ..you see the gateway arch with the Pineapple over the top..Well that's Atwells ave..Basically that whole street is where you might see some wiseguys...goodfellas ya know..but all that area is Federal Hill..I paused the video so I dont know if he goes all the way thru or turns off... good food great restaurants all up and down the block..basically lil Italy but its mixed racially living wise these days in Prov.. way way way back in the day it was mostly all Italian living there
The whole street was a mob headquarters. Every spot. And extended outwards to all cities... Johnston... Cranston... North Providence...etc. look up the book "what price Providence"...
i lived in penn street when i visited my girlfriend back in 99 for some months. was looking hard to find it here but couldnt. did i miss it? i would so love to see it again, even if its just on youtube!
