San Gennaro Festival Draws Crowds to Little Italy, now through Sept. 21

The annual San Gennaro Festival got off to a slow start this year, because its opening day was 9/11, but it picked up momentum as the warm weather drew the crowds later in the week.

”Thursday was slow, Friday was better, and Saturday is going great,” said John DeLutro, who has been running Caffé Palermo for 50 years. And he’s been rapidly branching out as he is part of a coalition trying to buy the first vacant property on Mulberry Street in 100 years at the corner of Grand Street.

A tenant made structural changes, causing a partial building collapse on the site at 188 Grand St., and now DeLutro is among those trying to buy the block from the Stabile family. He said he might move his cafe into retail space on the ground floor once a deal is done. But that will have to wait. “I don’t know development, I know cannolis,” he said.

DeLutro, widely known as “Baby John,” is also known as the “Cannoli King” of Little Italy, On the night Straus News visited, he was all business, still stirring pasta at an outdoor stand.

“Get a picture of this line,” he said on Sept. 13 as customers queued up outside his stand, whose sign urges “Buy a bowl. Pick your pasta.”

Waiting patiently in the line was Elias R. and his girlfriend Jessica, who actually had the surname Gennaro. “My great-grandparents are from Naples,” she said. “I felt I had to come.”

Elias said, “I’ve been to San Gennaro before. You can’t beat the pepperoni, the pasta, and the zeppoli.”

Scotti Fontes was a little farther down the line. He said he was born in Portugal and lives here now but it was his first time at San Gennaro. “It’s fun,” he said, although he was a little disappointed to find out the drinking age was 21.

He was accompanied by two sisters one of whom is his girlfriend, Pardoulno Pol. “There’s a lot of people,” Pardoulno said.

Like many festivals, its roots are a religious celebration.

The gambling and games of chance that once dotted the booths are gone. But San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, is believed to be a protector of the people, and they still attach money to the statue during the festival to bring luck and raise money for charity—and in recent years to raise money try to save the church. On Sept. 13 there were floats as the statue of San Gennaro was moved from its perch at the Shrine at Most Precious Blood on Baxter St. in a colorful procession up Mulberry Street accompanied by floats and marching bands.

On Friday, Sept. 12, there was a Solemn Mass. Joe Piscopo, actor and a former regular on Saturday Night Live, was the grand marshal.

A stage on Grand Street welcomes musicians from all over the tri-state area for performances for the whole family, every night until 10 p.m.

There is an element of concern hanging over the festival and its parish church. The Shrine at Most Precious Blood, had been getting administered by outside parishes because it no longer had enough parishioners to warrant keeping a priest assigned to it. Initially, it was merged with the Basillica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. Then it was “de-merged” and it was left to Immaculate Conception Parish in the East Village to administer it.

The archdiocese already sold off the rectory, which would have been the home of the parish priest had it not been for the shortage of priests and the dwindling number of parishioners. Little Italy has shrunk as Chinatown has grown. And the parishioners who once filled Most Precious Blood and other churches downtown are long gone. Anxiety ran high among the handful of aging parishioners when it was “de-merged” from the Basilica at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral and was assigned to be administered by Immaculate Conception because. It stopped holding a weekly Sunday Mass and only opened during the festival.

But that recently changed again. “Most Precious Blood was remerged with Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral,” said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesperson for the archdiocese. And while it still does not have a parish priest, Mass is being celebrated on Sunday once again. “There is a weekly Mass held there each Sunday,” said Zwilling.

So for now, the show goes on. Among the attractions: on Sept 16 at 6 p.m. Sylvester Stallone will participate in a panel discussion with cast members of Tulsa King, the Paramount crime drama series now in its third season. On Friday, Sept. 19,you can catch the Gigilo Band from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Grand St. At 6 p.m., Most Precious Blood will hold a Solemn High Mass. So there is still plenty of action.

If you’re interested in catching some of the food, music, and fun, here’s the full events calendar.