Mystery on Staten Island
In Dan’s video you can follow our drive around Staten Island with Roger’s Effehi, a United Cars taxi driver from Nigeria, in search of where my great-grandfather and his family lived at the end of the … Read more
Immigration Stories
Posts in Immigration Stories
A 45-year search for my great-grandfather ends with a taxi ride around Staten Island
Columbus Day, what better day to recall the story about Mark Twain and his prankster pals hoodwinking an Italian tourist guide, who believed American travelers wanted to know the tiniest tidbit about “Christo Columbo.” When the … Read more
Occupy Wall Street: Scenes from a sleepy protest
One thing about the Occupy Wall Street protest in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park: Don’t visit too early. Like, before 2 p.m. We made that mistake last week and arrived around 11 a.m. Everyone was still sleeping, … Read more
Immigration: The key to Buffalo’s success and Cleveland’s decline?
Villified today by some as America’s enemies, immigrants and refugees actually may be saviors of the nation’s disintegrating cities. The Rust Belt cities of Cleveland, Ohio, and Buffalo, Ny., among the poorest in America, have in … Read more
Are Italian-Americans black or white?
I kept thinking about race as we walked along Taylor Street in what’s left of Chicago’s Little Italy. Where Italian businesses once stood, LA Tan, Yummy Thai, CousCous and an Irish bar, Drum & Monkey, now … Read more
