A Manhattan resident sends us this impressive photo of the "aftermath" of the Festival of St. Anthony of Giovinazzo over the weekend. Presented in part by the Church of the Most Precious Blood (which is also the focal point for the bigger Feast of San Gennaro), the annual Little Italy street festival sells a lot of street meat to raise money for the church. And, as you can see here, when the festival wraps up, any leftover meat is given to the poor dumped on the sidewalk for the rats. St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost keys and decomposing swine, would surely be proud, and the festival's organizer declares that any "yuppies" who don't like it can go swill their white whine somewhere else.
Organizer Jerry Scivetti talked to the Post in response to complaints from local residents like Jay Hammer, who griped, "San Gennaro has their own people, they do a good job cleaning up. But these guys, Jesus." Reached for comment about the mess, Scivetti tells the tabloid, "We've been here for 65 years. These young yuppies can't get used to it."
The tipster who sent us this photo, taken at Mulberry and Spring Streets the morning after the festival, asked that we only identify him as "Eric S" because he doesn't "want any oversized food vendors to come looking for me with baseball bats." That strikes us an unfair characterization of Italian-American food vendors—sure, maybe they'll smash a chair over some yuppie's head if they're asking for trouble, but why bloody a good bat during softball season?
