Pitta & Baione LLP and the Feast of San Gennaro

Per Cent’Anni!

For generations, the Feast of San Gennaro has brought families, businesses, visitors, and neighbors together on the streets of Little Italy.

For Pitta & Baione LLP, that tradition is personal. The firm’s roots in Lower Manhattan and Vincent Pitta’s connection to Mulberry Street make the Feast more than an annual event. It is part of the history of a neighborhood the firm knows well and continues to serve.

September 2001

September 2001: The Feast that Was Canceled

The 2001 Feast of San Gennaro was scheduled to begin on September 13.

Restaurants had stocked their kitchens. Businesses and vendors were preparing for the crowds that would arrive over the following 11 days.

Then came the attacks of September 11.

The Feast was canceled, and access to much of Lower Manhattan was severely restricted.

Food that had been prepared for the festival was then redirected toward the people who needed it.

Restaurant owners, workers, and residents in Little Italy helped feed first responders, recovery workers, and others working downtown in the aftermath of the attacks.

Accounts from that period describe neighborhood restaurants continuing to support the people working around the World Trade Center site well beyond the immediate days after September 11.

Instead of serving festival crowds, the neighborhood used its kitchens to help care for a city in crisis.

That history has particular meaning for Pitta & Baione LLP.

The firm’s work centers on people affected by September 11, including responders, survivors, residents, workers, and business owners from Lower Manhattan.

The story of the canceled Feast is more than a footnote in San Gennaro history. It is part of the broader story of how Little Italy and the surrounding neighborhoods responded when New York needed them most.

The documentary

The 2026 documentary, The Forgotten Feast, which was directed by Rosemarie Sparacio and produced by Keep Good Company with support from Pitta & Baione LLP, is available to watch for free on YouTube and has been included in the official video library of the Italian-American Museum.

Watch the Documentary: “The Forgotten Feast”

From the premiere

Italian American Museum · September 2026

Giving Back to the Neighborhood that Gave to All

Pitta & Baione LLP has supported the Feast of San Gennaro for years. For the centennial, the firm took a more active role: serving as Official Law Firm Sponsor and sponsor of the Grand Street stage, helping neighborhood clients work through permitting issues, organizing a dedication to the anniversary of September 11th during the concert program, and supporting the organizers’ work to carry the Feast into its next hundred years.

The restaurant owners, workers, and residents living and working in that area in the weeks and months following the attacks did not know that the air they were breathing was dangerous. Many of the people who cared for this city are the people our firm represents today, because caring for it made them sick.

II.

The premiere

The Documentary Premiere at the Italian American Museum

The Forgotten Feast premiered at the Italian American Museum, presented by Dr. Joseph Scelsa, in partnership with Appetito Magazine and the Billion Oyster Project.

The Billion Oyster Project restores oyster reefs across New York Harbor, waters that were badly polluted in the aftermath of September 11th. Oysters filter the water around them and build habitat for marine life, and the reefs are slowly helping the harbor recover. It is the same work the film describes on land: a city repairing itself, quietly, over years.

At the screening

The screening brought together several community leaders and residents, including:

The board of Figli di San Gennaro
Tom Hart, President of 9/11 Health Watch and of IUOE Local 94
Actor and singer Dominic Chianese
Photographer Susan Meiselas, President of the Magnum Foundation and author of the book Tar Beach: Life on the Rooftops of Little Italy
Meiselas’ co-author, Angel Marinaccio
Journalist Andrew Cotto

Susan Meiselas has lived in Little Italy for decades. She took the well-known photograph of Ground Zero and recently gave Vincent Pitta a print of it, which you can see on our firm’s Instagram.

Meiselas and Marinaccio’s book documents the neighborhood from above: the rooftops where families gathered, hung laundry, kept pigeons, and watched the city. Angel gave Vincent a signed copy at the premiere.

a2c4a7a6040013b605aa9771246f95facb59aa0b (1) — A presentation at the premiere

922471995831806c4d8fed9f2a812c8b952f4af2 — In the museum gallery

1e2a1e3532799036cf0316abb18474ffbc901433 — The premiere audience

Music for the evening

Piano Mike joined the evening as well.

He is known across the city for his performances at the Oculus, where the World Trade Center has profiled him for the music he brings to the space.

III.

The 2026 Feast

The 2026 Feast of San Gennaro

Pitta & Baione LLP has supported the Feast of San Gennaro for years. For the centennial, the firm took on a larger role.

Sponsorship

Pitta & Baione LLP has served as the Official Law Firm Sponsor of the Centennial Feast and sponsor of the Grand Street stage. It has also meant helping neighborhood clients work through permitting issues, organizing a dedication to September 11 during the concert program, and supporting the organizers’ work to keep the Feast going for another hundred years.

Artists We’re Sponsoring

Sal “The Voice” Valentinetti

Friday, September 25 — Grand Street Stage

Sal Valentinetti performs with the NYPD Jazz Band, joined by friends, with Paul Costabile as master of ceremonies. A Long Island singer in the Great American Songbook tradition, he built a national following on America’s Got Talent and has stayed close to the Italian American community that raised him. Sharing the stage with the NYPD band on the Feast’s centennial, in the year New York marks 25 years since September 11, gives the night a particular weight.

Dominic Chianese

Friday, September 25 — Grand Street Stage

Dominic Chianese is a proud Neapolitan and a longtime friend of Vincent Pitta. Known to most audiences as an actor, he is also a singer and musician who has performed the Neapolitan songbook for decades, the music that came over with the families who started this Feast in 1926. He attended the premiere of The Forgotten Feast, and returns to Mulberry Street this month to perform.

Feast Schedule

September 17–27 2026

Days

Blocks

Little Italy

Mulberry Street

Free

Admission

The Feast of San Gennaro returns to Little Italy from September 17 through September 27, 2026, marking the festival’s 100th anniversary.

This year’s celebration includes religious observances, processions, live entertainment, and events throughout the neighborhood.

2026 Centennial Stage Lineup

Grand Street Stage · Sponsored by Pitta & Baione LLP

Thu · Sep 17

The Johnny Mandolin Show with Marie Anello; Jim Caruso’s Cast Party Celebrates the Great Italian/American Songbook with Billy Stritch

Fri · Sep 18

Mike Sergio; Midnight Dream; Sal Viviano sings The Standards—Italian/American Style; Ricky Tinelli

Sat · Sep 19

Giglio Band; Joe Causi / WCBS-FM live broadcast

Sun · Sep 20

Vanessa Racci; Frank Moyo; Amanda Pascali; Matteo DeSantis

Mon · Sep 21

Teo the Romantic Tenor & Ana Bella; Gian Faraone; Just Friends; MORE Opera

Tue · Sep 22

Eric DeLauro & Broccoli Rob; Cory Pesaturo; Francesca Cavaliere & Theresa Sareo; Great Italian American Karaoke Show

Wed · Sep 23

Louis Vanaria & JoAnn Roberts; Jessa V; Neapolitan Night with Jenna Esposito

Thu · Sep 24

Bianca & Vittorio; Nicolas King; Angelo Venuto, Lisa Messina & John Micalizzi

Fri · Sep 25

Christian Sparacio; Dominic Chianese; Chase Manhattan; Ginger Winn; Sal “The Voice” Valentinetti & Friends perform with the NYPD Jazz Band; with Master of Ceremonies, Paul Costabile

Sat · Sep 26

Aaron Caruso; Walter Ricci & Livio Cori

Sun · Sep 27

City Rhythm Orchestra; Jenna Esposito

View the Full Official Feast Calendar

sangennaronyc.org

IV.

Our Little Italy story

Pitta & Baione LLP’s Little Italy Story

For Pitta & Baione LLP, supporting the Feast of San Gennaro is rooted in a longstanding connection to Little Italy.

Managing Partner Vincent Pitta was born on Mulberry Street and spent the first months of his life in a fifth-floor walkup at Mulberry and Broome, above his grandfather’s store.

Those neighborhood ties remain part of the firm’s identity today.

Pitta & Baione LLP represents members of the 9/11 community, including people who lived, worked, and owned businesses throughout Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of September 11. That includes people from neighborhoods surrounding the World Trade Center, including Little Italy and Chinatown.

Supporting the Feast brings those parts of the firm’s story together: family roots on Mulberry Street, a relationship with Lower Manhattan that spans generations, and continued work on behalf of the people who call these neighborhoods home.

bfc5ef18796ac94af7358caf99f235f56be16c43 — Mulberry & Broome — in front of the walkup where Vincent Pitta spent his first months, above his grandfather’s store.

My maternal uncle Philly (“Philageel”) Scala in the mid-1950s was a member of the winning 5-person “heavy on the bottom, light on top” team that competed in climbing the greased pole at the Feast, an annual event that was held on Hester Street between Mulberry and Baxter Streets. The event was banned by New York City in the 1980s. At the top of the grease pole was the bounty–salami, provolone, and envelopes filled with cash. Johnny Mathis, who at the time was a young and upcoming singer, was walking through the feast and happened upon the presentation of the winner’s trophy, sponsored either by the Piels Brothers or by the Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Company, and which gave yearly bragging rights to the event winners. After the trophy presentation event, my uncle, who had matinee idol good looks, invited Johnny Mathis up the street to my grandmother’s 2nd-floor apartment for a plate of spaghetti with white clam sauce. I couldn’t make that story up if I tried. A hundred years on, the Feast is still located on the same street of dreams, rekindling cherished memories, like mine and my family’s.” – Vincent Pitta, Pitta & Baione LLP Partner

Vincent Pitta Pitta & Baione LLP Partner

1926 and on

Over a Century on Mulberry Street

The Feast of San Gennaro began in 1926, when Neapolitan immigrants living around Mulberry Street organized a one-day celebration in honor of San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples.

San Gennaro, also known as Saint Januarius, served as Bishop of Benevento and was martyred in 305 A.D. Devotion to him remains deeply rooted in Naples, particularly around September 19, the traditional anniversary of his martyrdom.

That devotion traveled with Italian immigrants to New York and took root in Little Italy.

What began as a neighborhood religious observance grew over time into an 11-day festival that has become one of the area’s defining traditions.

Traditions that endure

Tradition Remains at the Heart of the Feast

September 19 is observed as the feast day of San Gennaro, and religious processions carry the statue of the saint through the neighborhood.

The Feast also includes longstanding ceremonies such as the Blessing of the Stands.

Around those religious traditions grew the street celebration familiar to generations of visitors: restaurants and vendors, live music, food, contests, and crowds filling Mulberry Street.

Sausage and peppers, zeppole, cannoli, and other Italian American foods have become closely associated with the experience of the Feast, alongside the neighborhood restaurants and businesses that line the route.

Little Italy has changed dramatically since 1926, but the Feast continues to bring people back to the same streets each September.

VI.

Scenes from San Gennaro

The Feast is best understood from the street.

Religious processions move through Little Italy. Musicians perform beneath the lights. Restaurants open onto the sidewalks. Families return year after year, while visitors experience the neighborhood and its traditions for the first time.

This gallery captures moments from Pitta & Baione LLP’s years at San Gennaro

Tap any photo to view it larger

Then and now

Proud to Serve the Communities that Built New York

The Feast of San Gennaro is a story about tradition, neighborhood, and people returning to the same streets generation after generation.

Those streets are part of Pitta & Baione LLP’s story, too. The firm is proud to support the Feast and to continue advocating for responders, survivors, residents, workers, and families affected by September 11 throughout Lower Manhattan and beyond.

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