New York now has its “Little Paris”
View of the financial district in lower Manhattan (illustrative image).
Getty Images/Hemis.fr/Maisant Ludovic
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
We know Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Odessa... Why not a Little Paris?
In any case, it is the initiative launched by French women on the spot.
They hope to create a neighborhood that could bring together many French businesses and introduce French culture to New Yorkers and other tourists.
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With our correspondent in New York,
Loubna Anaki
In a small street in southern Manhattan, green and blue plates, similar to Parisian street signs have appeared.
They display two words: “Little Paris”.
Renaming this little piece of neighborhood is the idea of Léa Perret and her associates, who run Coucou, a French school located here.
for Léa Perret, "
the idea was to really give the Francophiles and Francophones of New York, both the French community and also the American community, which is very fond of French things, a neighborhood in which to meet and appreciate all that French culture has to offer
”.
Especially since the district already has several French shops, restaurants, cafes, ready-to-wear stores.
And what's more, it doesn't really have its own identity.
“
When we try to explain to people where we are located, we're not exactly in Soho, it's a little further west;
we are not exactly in Nolita, it is further north;
we are not in Little Italy either, it is in the east;
and we are not in Chinatown which is to the south.
We are in a small enclave
,” explains Léa Lester.
A boon for traders
An enclave whose traders support this initiative which could energize the district and attract other stores, as Andrea Szot of Café Maman explains.
"
It's a great idea to have a hub for everything French for people who visit the city and can see our Little Paris,
" she says.
Maybe some will even be French and feel a bit at home.
»
For the moment, the name Little Paris is not official, but the initiators are counting on word of mouth and are already preparing a guide to the neighborhood's addresses for July 14th.
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