There is no Little Italy in Rochester.
There never has been.
And any use of that phrase -- Little Italy -- in reference to Rochester is a fraud upon the great history of the Flower City's Italians.
It's not my place to say -- I'm of Irish heritage and from the Southern Tier -- but so noble and great is the Italian story in Rochester that to distort it or mischaracterize it in order to make a buck is a crime against reality and heritage.
I mention this because of an ongoing effort by a promoter to have the state recognize and fund his declaration of a "Little Italy" along Lyell Avenue. He tried a similar scheme in the nearby town of Gates, declaring a strip mall Little Italy. When that was rejected by town officials and local businesses, he picked up his concept and moved it into the city of Rochester.
Sadly, some in the city government fell for it.
Because yesterday the city-backed request for state funds went through and the promoter is going to get $20,000 to promote his project in a neighborhood with which he has no real connection.
And he's doing it in the name of someone else's heritage.
And he's apparently doing it to enrich himself. When he ran for political office in the town of Gates, he listed his Little Italy promotion non-profit as his employer.
But his efforts to put his money-making scheme to work on the back of someone else's history is offensive to the history of Rochester and its neighborhoods.
The area he has unilaterally declared Little Italy has been known for decades as the Lyell-Otis Neighborhood. It is identified that way in city programs, on maps and in people's hearts.
Yes, in the 1900s it was one of the centers of Rochester's Italian community -- thanks to the nearby St. Anthony of Padua parish. The church used to have a dazzling parade on Lyell Avenue on the patron saint's feast day.
Lyell Avenue also had many Italian businesses. But that was a long time ago. Today, there is one Italian restaurant left. The rest of the street has no lingering Italian connection, and is home to many people whose heritage is African or Hispanic.
Today, there is nothing about Lyell Avenue that suggests anything resembling a Little Italy. In fact, the imposition of such a title is probably disrespectful to the current people of the avenue.
Like it is disrespectful to Rochester's Italian history.
Which was also centered on the other side of the river, in the once officially designated Mount Allegro neighborhood. In fact, that neighborhood and its Italians were the subjects of a national bestselling memoir written by Rochester scholar Jerre Mangione.
Mount Allegro was at least as important as Lyell Avenue in the history of Rochester Italians. But with the passing of time and the changing of demographics, Mount Allegro -- like Lyell Avenue -- is now home to almost no Italians or Italian businesses.
That's natural and good.
But no one is pushing the last century's Italian heritage on the Latinos of Clinton Avenue today, and nobody should be pushing a made-up name on the people of Lyell Avenue either.
This is a con. It seeks to distort the reality of Rochester's history and lexicon. Gates was smart enough to show it the door.
I hope the city of Rochester is as well.
Before any more state money is foolishly thrown around.