Well, you're right: Philadelphia, it is. In my post I alluded in p.s. to Manhattan as the poem's sights and sounds felt like Manhattan in August to me, but I had meant to google Di Piero before writing and then forgot ... .Now that you've set me straight (although indeed the descriptors could as easily apply to NYC, i believe - and I thought "Havana tropicals" referred to Cuban immigrants, but Philly probably has its share too)..

There's even - it turns out - a noted 9th Street Italian market in Philly -- <link>

which is pretty clearly (in whatever form it took in his youth) the specific location the poet is drawing from here ... Reminds me that Philly is one of the few large cities in this country I've never explored, only ridden through on Amtrak from NYC to DC ...