I make it a point of not missing the annual Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, and this year was/is no different as it's a street photography cornucopia. I grabbed my Fujifilm X-Pro2 and X-Pro3, and joined the crowds over two days...walking up and down Mulberry street a few times, snapping to my heart's content. No one minded...not even the carnival worker who-presumably because of the two cameras dangling from my neck- yelled "Hey rich guy!!! let me see what you can do with this basket ball!!! "
Since its founding in 1926, the festival – named for the patron saint of Naples in Italy – has grown and transformed beyond what was just a small neighborhood block party some decades ago, according to several longtime vendors. Favorite games like roulette and the grease pole climb have disappeared due to gambling laws and insurance. Food stalls sell tacos, boba tea, and cornbread alongside Italian-American staples like sausage spirals and cannolis. And Little Italy has significantly shrunk as gentrification takes hold.
According to The Gothamist, several of the vendors were people of color – like Black, Mexican, Salvadoran, Yemeni, or Asian, selling everything from barbacoa to street art. I conversed with an Indian woman who had set up an immaculate tented booth to apply henna on hands and arms of young women.
Photographs of 9.17.2022:
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