From The Peopling of New York City

Frequently, I made trips to my grandmother's apartment, residing in Downtown Manhattan.
We were a stone's throw away from the Gowanus Expressway, Brooklyn Bridge, Seaport,
Wall Street, and Chinatown/Little Italy. Holding my grandfather's hand firmly on a Saturday afternoon, observing every tree, building,
and street we passed, consists of my favorite memories. The city is my playground and my extremely
hard-working grandfather made my life as a New Yorker possible for me, my father, and the family.

     Originally, my great-grandfathers, my grandmother's father, and grandfather's father, both came
 to settle in America, more importantly, on Mulberry Street, in New York. 

     My father's great-grandfather was a wealthy and respected tutor in Aversa, Italy. His son, a 
prominent tailor, married, left his wife and two children in Italy, and came to America in the year of 1911. 
However, the relatives monetarily supporting the sojourn lost much money and their store as a result of the Great Depression.
My great-grandfather, was now working in a factory, pressing men's apparel. By the end time the year 
1913 arrived, my great-grandmother and her two children arrived in America. My grandfather worked two jobs, 
one as a Postal man and the other in shipping, preventing him from watching 
his three sons mature. He was the sole provider for my father's family. 

     My grandmother's father also came from Naples, Italy, and opened many restaurants internal and external the city. 
However, he sold the restaurants, and now, all my family has left of those restaurants is cloth napkins, china, cutlery, and photographs.
 
     My grandmother and grandfather did not live far from each other on Mulberry Street, met at the young age of 19,
 wooed, married, and had three sons. They did not move far from Mulberry Street, just past current-day Chinatown, to Pearl Street. 

     Today, I venture into the city with my father, and observe the tenement buildings my father's friends and he lived in.
 I embrace my heritage, which I feel is mine through the struggles my family has encountered as immigrants.