Tony Danza Is Grand Marshall For Little Italy's 89th San Gennaro Feast And Other Goodies

Little Italy, Manhattan, September 12, 2015 -
The Grand Procession of the feast of San Gennaro, just like the feast itself, is normally a colorful parade with food kiosks, games, floats, marching bands, musical entertainers and the statue of San Gennaro through the streets of Little Italy from September 10 thru the 20th.




This year's event is even more colorful than usual as the Grand Marshall

is Brooklyn-born boxer and actor Tony Danza. Standing on an authentic gondola mounted on a float from Italy with the Italian American Museum in the background, Tony ‘hammed’ it up by using the paddle as a prop for the crowd and their photos.

Tony Danza and the parade was only one event of the series of daily events on Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan this year.

The Italian American Museum was well represented as Dr. Scelsa, founder of the museum, manned the cart on Mulberry Street with souvenirs for sale to passers by.

'Tre Bella' was one of the many musical acts to appear at the bandstand at the San Gennaro at the Feast in Manhattan's Little Italy. This trio can really belt out some tunes!

As usual, a good time was had by all as everyone got to sample a small part of Italian and Italian American culture.

Photos and text by Joseph M. Calisi (c)2015 All Rights Reserved

Photo captions:
Grand Marshall Tony Danza and his gondola lead the parade. The Italian American Museum is in the background in the top photo

Dr. Scelsa, founder of the Italian American Museum mans the souvenir cart on Mulberry Street

Tre Bella sings their little hearts out to entertain the crowd.

A Ferrara pastry shop employee dips strawberries at the San Gennaro feast in New York's Little Italy.

PRAY TO SAN GENNARO – MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD CHURCH IS CLOSING

Little Italy, Manhattan, December 2014 -  All the prayers of the faithful may not help this time as the church of the patron saint of the annual San Gennaro feast in Manhattan ’s Little Italy is closing its doors and will be merged with the original St Patrick’s Old Cathedral at 263 Mulberry Street, several blocks to the north. The move is a byproduct of the regional consolidation being done by the Catholic Church to conserve resources in part by low attendance in churches and low priest availability. The absorption plan was disclosed by the New York Diocese on November 2nd by Cardinal Dolan but only now are the details emerging.

 

Of the 80 parishes in Manhattan , 29 of them are south of 14^th Street – a veritable glut of empty churches on Sundays considering the old constituency just isn’t there anymore. At the turn of the 20th Century, a little less than 2 million lived in this part of Manhattan – a great number were immigrants. The churches were crowded then and the focal point of religious life.

However, the old crowd returns for events but the pews remain empty at other times. This is a church where generations of parishioners were baptized, received first communion and got married. Now all that remains to be had is a funeral mass, this time for the closure of the church.

As you could imagine, the San Gennaro congregation isn’t happy with this development.

The church opened its doors in the 1880s and was a focal point of Italian immigrants taking up residence in the area.

This development is further evidence of the shrinking of Manhattan ’s Little Italy in recent years.

It's Mid-September Which Means It Is Time For The Annual San Gennaro Festival

Little Italy, Manhattan, NY,September 11-21, 2014 -

There’s nothing like it for the length of time and the multitude of crowds from miles around that it attracts. Two million people are expected to visit the San Gennaro festival in 'La Piccola Italia' which spans Canal and Houston Streets on Mulberry Street from September 11 thru the 21st.

San Gennaro is the Patron Saint of Naples, Italy and everyone else has adopted him in their hearts. The official Saint’s Day is September 19th when a procession emanates from the Most Precious Blood Church after a celebratory mass. True to Italian tradition, the statue is carried in the streets with a band leading the parade. San Gennaro was martyred for his faith in 305 A.D.

Ever since the first one was held on September 19, 1926 by newly arrived immigrants from Naples as a one day feast, it has grown to 11 days that generates over $1.8-million to worthy organizations in all five boroughs and the tri-state area to help the needy, the young and causes such as services for children and education in the Little Italy community. The Feast of San Gennaro generates more money to charity than any other festival does.

No visit to Little Italy is complete without a visit to the Italian American Museum that sits on the site of the former Banca Stabile on the corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets. The founder, Dr. Joseph Scelsa has turned the disused storefront into a vibrant repository of Italo-American culture as well as from ‘the old country’. What’s new is exposition space that doubles as a presentation room. Another new offering are classes of the Italian language that will be held in the exhibition space. Artifacts found in the Museum include the original vault of the Banca Stabile bank as well as various exhibits.

The organizers, the Figli di San Gennaro, Inc. (Sons of San Gennaro) have established the following special

events as focal points of the annual feast.

Highlights

Thursday, September 11, Opening Day

2 - 3 pm - the 13th Annual Cannoli Eating Competition is held from

6 - 7 pm - Blessing of the Stands of vendors, shops and other venues along the feast route with a procession

Saturday, September 13

2:00 PM – Grand Procession parade with the Statue of San Gennaro led with Grand Marshalls

Friday, September 19 - Official Feast Day

6:00 PM — Celebratory High Mass honoring San Gennaro in Most Precious Blood Church, the National Sanctuary of San Gennaro

7:00 PM — Religious Procession with the Statue of San Gennaro carried through the streets of the Feast.

Sunday, September 21 is the Annual Feast of San Gennaro Blood Drive