ome of the Waldensians who came as part of the mass migration from Italy to New York beginning in the late 19th century were likely speakers of an Occitan variety from what is now the Italian province of Piedmont, though some likely also knew Piedmontese and other languages. One of the only Waldensian churches in the U.S. was located here in a former synagogue on 82nd Street, until the building was sold to a different synagogue in 1993. According to linguist Penelope Eckert, many of the city's French restaurants were once staffed by immigrants from Ercé in the Gascon-speaking Pyrenees (Gascon is often considered a variety of Occitan).