People Gotta Eat

WORD THAT THE mafia was involved in the San Gennaro fest came as a surprise to no one. And the struggle to get the mob out of the religious-festival business has been going on here in town for about a decade. In the mid-90s, then-Mayor Giuliani launched the campaign to oust them, at one point even threatening to shut down the festival completely if any and all links to organized crime weren't broken. Now, under a new mayor, the fight goes on.

In recent months, several members of the festival's board of directors have been forced to step down after their connections to the Genovese family were revealed. One has since been replaced with a federal investigator, another by the former Assistant U.S. Attorney who undertook the fight 10 years ago.

Our question is, what's the big deal? Federal prosecutors charge that the mob controlled the food and beverages supplied to the festival. Yeah, and they did a damn fine job of it, too-a much better job than if it were left in the hands of the city (or a couple of lawyers).

When this fight to remove the mob from the festival began a decade ago, one of the vendors was interviewed on the news. He said, in essence, that the mob makes the festival possible, makes it run smoothly, and that if you were to remove their influence, you might just as well kiss the Feast of San Gennaro goodbye.

The festival is one of the most popular events in the city every year. There's music and games and food. Just strolling down the street is a trip in itself. It's bright and brash and loud and cheap. People have a good time. The mob's been doing a great job of running the festival for decades now, and we think they should be allowed to continue doing so.

Sure, we're told that mobsters are criminals and bad people and killers, and that may well be true-but they also put on one hell of a party.