File #: Res 0930-2025    Version: * Name: Celebrating the Feast of San Gennaro and the Ferragosto Festival annually in September to honor the contributions of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans to the cultural, political, and economic fabric of the City of New York.
Type: Resolution Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
On agenda: 6/11/2025
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution celebrating the Feast of San Gennaro and the Ferragosto Festival annually in September to honor the contributions of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans to the cultural, political, and economic fabric of the City of New York
Sponsors: Amanda Farías, David M. Carr, Oswald Feliz, Farah N. Louis
Council Member Sponsors: 4
Attachments: 1. Res. No. 930, 2. June 11, 2025 - Stated Meeting Agenda

Res. No. 930

 

Resolution celebrating the Feast of San Gennaro and the Ferragosto Festival annually in September to honor the contributions of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans to the cultural, political, and economic fabric of the City of New York

 

By Council Members Farías, Carr, Feliz and Louis

 

Whereas, Saint Gennaro, the Bishop of Benevento in Italy, died in the year 305 after being tortured and beheaded at the hands of those who enforced the persecution of Christians that was ordered by Roman Emperor Diocletian; and

Whereas, The story of Saint Gennaro says that a Neapolitan woman put some of the blood from his severed head into a vial for safekeeping and that this blood re-liquefies each September 19 on the anniversary of his brutal death; and

Whereas, Saint Gennaro’s body is preserved in Naples, where he is the city’s patron saint and where the Neapolitans pray to him in times of emergency, such as for protection from deadly natural disasters; and

Whereas, When Italian immigrants came to Manhattan’s Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century, many who came from Naples made their home on Mulberry Street; and

Whereas, In 1926 for the first time in America, Italian immigrants and Italian Americans in that neighborhood honored their Neapolitan traditions by holding a one-day block party in remembrance of their patron saint; and

Whereas, The Feast of San Gennaro has continued each year ever since, growing into an 11-day celebration covering 11 blocks of Manhattan’s Little Italy neighborhood and attracting visitors from across New York City (NYC) and beyond; and

Whereas, The Feast of San Gennaro, which marks a time of joyful gathering in the crowded streets, amidst strings of lights and delicious foods sold in booths and neighborhood restaurants, also serves as a way to raise funds for schools and charities that benefit the children of the NYC Archdiocese; and

Whereas, In 2025, the Feast of San Gennaro will be held from September 11 through September 21; and

Whereas, Earlier in September each year on the Sunday after Labor Day, the Bronx’s Little Italy, with the support of the Belmont Business Improvement District, hosts the Ferragosto Festival on Arthur Avenue near East 187th Street to celebrate Italian culture, offering live entertainment and the Italian food that Arthur Avenue is famous for among all New Yorkers; and

Whereas, The Ferragosto Festival was first brought to the Bronx over 25 years ago by local small business owners, many of whom still ran family businesses that started more than a century ago; and

Whereas, The history of Ferragosto dates back to the Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus in 18 BCE, when he established feriae Augusti (“the holidays of Augustus”) to give agricultural workers a day off after months of harvesting; and

Whereas, Feriae Augusti was born from an earlier festival dedicated to Conso, the Roman god of earth and fertility, which had marked the end of agricultural work for the season; and

Whereas, Originally celebrated on the first day of the month named for Emperor Augustus, the holiday was eventually moved by the Catholic Church to August 15 to coincide with the day that honors the Assumption of Mary into heaven and was recognized as a Holy Day of Obligation by the Western Church as early as the 7th century; and

Whereas, Today in Italy, Ferragosto is celebrated as an August break when many shops close and many Italians head off to the beach or mountainside for recreation and relaxation; and

Whereas, In 2025, the Ferragosto Festival in the Bronx’s Little Italy will be held on Sunday, September 7; and

Whereas, NYC is home to just over 500,000 individuals who identify as Italian, according to 2020 data compiled by NYC Planning’s Population FactFinder; and

Whereas, Residents of Italian ancestry are the largest European ethnic group in NYC, and NYC has the third-largest population of residents of Italian ancestry among cities outside of Italy; and 

Whereas, Since NYC’s earliest days, but especially since the 1880s, Italian immigrants and Italian Americans have contributed significantly to the landscape of NYC, including churches, language, the arts, sports, restaurants, bakeries, and more; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York celebrates the Feast of San Gennaro and the Ferragosto Festival annually in September to honor the contributions of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans to the cultural, political, and economic fabric of the City of New York.

 

 

LS #19291 and #19292

5/7/2025

RHP