In addition to the various theories posted in that thread (most of which probably have something to do with it), "less assimilated" may also mean "more religious" for the area's Italians just as that correlation holds with our Jewish populations.
Dyker Heights is still quite Republican, as it is still heavily Italian and also fairly wealthy. In Bensonhurst, now, the old generation of Italians is being slowly replaced by a mostly Chinese immigrant (/"moving on up" from Sunset Park/Chinatown) population, and they've voted about 50/50 for Obama, more Republican downballot. Presumably with those numbers, the Italians in Bensonhurst are strongly Republican.
But less strong than another Italian stronghold, the South Shore of Staten Island.
...
As for NJ, 60/40 seems like a good guess. The heavily Italian inner suburbs seemed to be better McCain territory than the non-Italian inner suburbs, even after controlling for the non-white vote. (I don't know enough about fine-grained ethnic patterns in further-out rings to pass judgment.) Though it's not like Tammany where there's no space in Dem politics for Italian names– plenty of those around too. Including, unsurprisingly, the current mayor of my hometown, where Italians are a sizable but falling chunk of a population that has been getting slowly less white over the decades.
