Little Spain

Little Spain was a Spanish-American neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan during the 20th century.^[1][2]

History

"Little Spain" was on 14th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.^[3] A very different section of Chelsea existed on a stretch of 14th Street often referred to by residents as "Calle Catorce," or "Little Spain".^[4] The Church of Our Lady of Guadelupe (No. 299) was founded in 1902, when Spaniards started to settle in the area.^[5] Although the Spanish business have given way to such nightclubs as Nell's and Oh Johnny on the block between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the Spanish food and gift emporium known as Casa Moneo has been at 210 West 14th since 1929. In 2010 the documentary Little Spain, directed and written by Artur Balder, was filmed in New York City. The documentary pulled together for first time an archive that reveals the untold history of the Spanish-American presence in Manhattan. They present the history of the streets of Little Spain in New York City throughout the 20th Century.^[6] The archive contains more than 450 photographs and 150 documents that have never been publicly displayed.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Other important commerces and Spanish business of Little Spain were restaurants like La Bilbaína, Trocadero Valencia, Bar Coruña, Little Spain Bar, Café Madrid, Mesón Flamenco, or El Faro Restaurant, established 1927, and still today open at 823 Greenwich St. The Iberia was a famous Spanish dress shop.

The heart of the Spanish American community in that area were the two landmarks: the Spanish Benevolent Society and the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, founded at the turn of the 19th century, being the first parish in Manhattan with mass in Latin and Spanish. Just like with other immigrant neighborhoods of Manhattan, such as Little Italy, Little Spain celebrated a feast day; that of St. James. It was held in June, and was held until the mid-1990s. During this festival, the saint's image was the symbol of the feeling of the Spanish community and paraded down the street 14, which was cut to traffic for a week. In this time, food festivals were taking place shows of typical Spanish folklore.

Virginia Admiral and her son, Robert Mario De Niro Jr., moved to a top floor studio at the 219 West 14th Street, owned by the Galician entrepreneur José García. According to investigations, Robert De Niro was living during the 1950s at the heart of Little Spain after the divorce of his parents.^[14]

References

External links

• Little Spain at the Internet Movie Database
• LA VANGUARDIA.
• El Mundo.
• Official Web Presence of the Spanish Benevolent Society.

Neighborhoods in the New York City borough of Manhattan
Alphabet City Astor Row Battery Park City Bowery Carnegie Hill Chelsea Chinatown Civic Center Columbus Circle Cooperative Village Diamond District East Harlem East Village Ellis Island Essex Crossing Financial District Five Points Flatiron District Garment District Gashouse District Governors Island Gramercy Park Greenwich Village Hamilton Heights Harlem Hell's Kitchen Herald Square Hudson Heights Hudson Square Hudson Yards Inwood Kips Bay Koreatown Lenox Hill Le Petit Senegal Liberty Island Lincoln Square Little Fuzhou Little Germany Little Italy Little Spain Little Syria Lower East Side Lower Manhattan Madison Square Manhattan Valley Manhattantown Manhattanville Marble Hill Marcus Garvey Park Meatpacking District Midtown Manhattan Morningside Heights Murray Hill NoHo Nolita NoMad Penn South Peter Cooper Village Pomander Walk Radio Row Randalls Island Riverside South Roosevelt Island Rose Hill Silicon Alley SoHo South Street Seaport South Village Stuyvesant Square Stuyvesant Town Sugar Hill Sutton Place Sylvan Tenderloin Theater District Times Square Tribeca Tudor City Turtle Bay Two Bridges Union Square Upper East Side Upper Manhattan Upper West Side Wards Island Washington Heights Waterside Plaza West Village World Trade Center Yorkville
Community boards: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Coordinates: 40°44′21″N 74°0′4″W / 40.73917°N 74.00111°W / 40.73917; -74.00111