by James Estrin

Strolling along Mulberry Street in Little Italy during this year's Feast of San Gennaro, visitors passed stands selling zeppole and sausage and peppers as vendors hawked "Fuggedaboudit" T-shirts and "Godfather"-themed trinkets. But when they reached St. Patrick's Old Cathedral at the corner of Prince Street, the atmosphere changed, the booths thinned and visitors encountered large banners with historical photographs of the neighborhood hanging on the church cemetery walls.

For modern-day viewers, the simple images of Italian immigrants and their families are a window into the struggle and joys of the residents of Manhattan's Little Italy in the early- and mid-20th century. But for Msgr. Donald Sakano, they have a somewhat deeper function.

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Source: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com