[NYC-L] Fwd: NYTIMes article

[Jeton Ademaj]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/nyregion/thecity/06alba.html


June 6, 2004
BELMONT
Albanian? Now, That's Italian
By LIONEL BEEHNER

ROUND a table dotted with espressos, a 34-year-old Albanian construction 
worker named Bajram Camaj was enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon with three 
well-built men with olive skin and thinning, slicked-back hair.

Sitting outside their regular hangout, the Gurra Cafe, one of the few 
Albanian-style restaurants tucked among the garble of Italian bakeries and 
cheese stores that line Arthur Avenue, they chatted about food, girls, 
growing up in Kosovo and the recent war in the former Yugoslavia. The 
conversation about the war quickly segued into a discussion of "The 
Sopranos."

"If you want the real stuff," said Mr. Camaj, nibbling at a plate of dried 
meat and Albanian cheeses, "you have to watch 'The Godfather.' "

Elvir Muriqi, a 25-year-old boxer who this day was wearing a skintight shirt 
and mounds of shiny jewelry, and, were it not for his goatee, could 
stunt-double for Sly Stallone, chimed in. "Italian culture, the food, it's 
very comfortable," said Mr. Muriqi, who emigrated from Kosovo to the United 
States in 1996. "My managers are Italian. They're my second family."

In most neighborhoods, the arrival of a new ethnic group brings noticeable 
and sometimes disruptive changes. But in Belmont, the traditionally Italian 
neighborhood where the music of Caruso still streams from local restaurants 
whose owners go by nicknames like Uncle Nunzio, a recent influx of younger 
Albanians has blended in with surprising ease. Like the Italians who 
preceded them a century ago, they are not only opening Italian-themed 
restaurants; they also employ Italian help and have adapted Italian customs 
like sitting for hours in cafes nursing little cups of strong coffee.

"You can't even tell Italians from Albanians; we all look the same," said 
Hilmi Haxhaj, a 39-year-old building superintendent from Kosovo who lives on 
nearby Pelham Parkway. Some of Belmont's younger Albanians also speak a 
little Italian, particularly Italian slang, and often give one another 
Italian-sounding nicknames, slapping an 'o' or an 'i' onto their first or 
last names; Gjevat, for example, becomes Gjevato.

Although Albanians have already begun gobbling up businesses and properties 
long owned by Italian immigrants, most local restaurants that have changed 
hands, like Giovanni's and Tony and Tina's pizzerias, have retained their 
Italian names, not to mention pasta-heavy menus, red-checkered tablecloths, 
etchings of Sicily on the walls and other trappings of Italian restaurant.

The only hints of Albanian ownership are the occasional bust of the Albanian 
war hero nicknamed Skanderbeg, pictures of Mother Teresa (also an ethnic 
Albanian) and the ubiquitous double-headed eagle (Albania's national symbol, 
which looks a little like the Ferrari logo).

Albanians and Italians, separated only by the narrow Adriatic Sea, share a 
long, if checkered, history. As far back as the 15th century, Albanians 
began flocking to Italy's shores, leading to tension but also cultural 
similarities between the two countries. Even today, a few residents of the 
Bronx's Little Italy resent their Albanian neighbors for assimilating too 
much.

"A lot of them try to pass for Italians," said a local barber who would only 
speak anonymously, citing relatives who have ties to organized crime. 
"Because the two countries are close, Albanians always follow Italians 
around. Maybe it's because we took care of them during the time of 
Mussolini."

But most of the longtime Italian residents sympathize with their Albanian 
neighbors. Many of the Albanians are fellow Roman Catholics who fled via 
Italy during the 1980's as the country's Communist dictatorship began to 
unravel. En route, they picked up the traits, cooking styles and language of 
Italians. They settled in Belmont in part because, as one Albanian put it, 
the place felt "comfortable."

Peter Madonia Sr., 80, who used to run the Madonia Bakery, which employs a 
team of mostly Albanian cashiers and bakers, says Albanians make great 
customers (though they prefer their bread with softer crusts) but even 
better businesspeople. "They're not afraid to own businesses or buy 
property," he said. "They advance themselves."

But no one seems worried that the Bronx's Little Italy will turn into Little 
Albania. "We've got better food than anybody else," said Uncle Nunzio, a k a 
Nunzio Sapienza, over a cup of coffee from the corner of Emilia's, the 
restaurant he owns. "After all, who ever heard of someone going to Albania 
looking to eat?"

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