By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The city could soon put to rest a debate over the fate of Little Italy's annual San Gennaro Feast, and the final answer may come down to how much money the city will have to shell out on security, Mayor Bloomberg said Wednesday.
Bloomberg told reporters Wednesday that the city would make a final decision "in the next couple weeks" about the controversial proposal to shrink the 85-year-old September festival. The festival is at the center of an emotional battle between the neighborhood's long-standing Italian-American community and NoLIta boutiques, who say the event's noise and smell hurt sales at their high-end stores.
"When there's two different points of view you try to balance what you do," Bloomberg told reporters when asked about the controversy, first reported by DNAinfo.
"One of the concerns we have is obviously the economics of providing security at all of these. That's why we shortened the length of parades. But we did not get rid of parades," he said.
Still, Bloomberg refused to give any hints about how he'll side.
"In this case I don't know what’s going to happen," Bloomberg said. "We want to read very carefully what the community board said and what both the supporters and those who are not the supporters want to say and then we’ll make a decision in the next couple of weeks," he said.
Community Board 2 passed a resolution in January requesting the festival, which traditionally runs along Mulberry Street between Houston and Canal streets, be cut short at Kenmare Street, drawing outrage from event organizers and longtime residents.
The full festival has received endorsements from Borough President Scott Stringer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Councilwoman Margaret Chin.
Bloomberg recently found himself in hot water with the city’s Irish community when he described "people that are totally inebriated hanging out the window waving" at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
