After World War II , many residents of the Lower East Side began moving to Brooklyn , Staten Island , eastern Long Island , and New Jersey . Chinese immigrants became an increased presence after the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 removed immigration restrictions , and the Manhattan Chinatown to Little Italy 's south expanded . In 2004 , Tonelli said , " You can go back 30 years and find newspaper clips chronicling the expansion of Chinatown and mourning the loss of Little Italy . " Prior to 2004 , several upscale businesses entered the northern portion of the area between Houston and Kenmare Street . Tonelli said " Real-estate prices zoomed , making it even tougher for the old-timers — residents and businesspeople alike — to hang on . " After the September 11 attacks in 2001 , areas below Houston Street were cut off for the rest of the fall of 2001 . The San Gennaro feast , scheduled for September 13 , was postponed . Business from the Financial District dropped severely , due to the closure of Park Row , which connected Chinatown and the Civic Center ; as a result , residents in Little Italy and Chinatown suffered . Tonelli said the post-9 / 11 events " strangely enough , ended up motivating all these newfangled efforts to save what 's left of the old neighborhood . " In 2004 Tonelli said " Today , Little Italy is a veneer — 50 or so restaurants and cafés catering to tourists , covering a dense neighborhood of tenements shared by recent Chinese immigrants , young Americans who ca n't afford Soho , and a few remaining real live Italians . " This sentiment has also been echoed by Italian culture and heritage website '' ItalianAware '' . The site has called the dominance of Italians in the area , " relatively short lived . " It attributes this to the quick financial prosperity many Italians achieved , which afforded them the opportunity to leave the cramped neighborhood for areas in Brooklyn and Queens . The site also goes on to state that the area is currently referred to as Little Italy more out of nostalgia than as a reflection of a true ethnic population
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Little Italy, Manhattan