Mid-September's ten-day Festa di San Gennaro is a wild and tacky celebration of the day of the patron saint of Naples. Italians from all over the city converge on Mulberry Street , Little Italy's main strip, and the area is transformed by street stalls and numerous Italian fast-food and snack outlets. The festivities center around the Church of the Most Precious Blood , just off Canal at 109 Mulberry St, and provide a rare chance to see this quaint church and its courtyard, normally closed up and protected from the public gaze.

Few of the restaurants around here really stand out, but the former site of Umberto's Clam House , on the corner of Mulberry and Hester streets, was quite notorious in its time: it was the scene of a vicious gangland murder in 1972, when Joe "Crazy Joey" Gallo was shot dead while celebrating his birthday with his wife and daughter. Gallo, a big talker and ruthless businessman, was alleged to have offended a rival family and so paid the price. Umberto's Clam House has since relocated to 386 Broome St.

Mulberry Street

• Mulberry Street

Explore Mulberry Street

• Old St Patrick's Cathedral

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