Two Bridges Neighborhood Council will host its 10th annual Marco Polo Festival with a gala dinner at 6:00 PM on the evening of October 11th at the Golden Unicorn Restaurant, East Broadway and a grand pageant through the streets of Chinatown and Little Italy Saturday, October 20st. This year’s dinner festivities will once again include the bestowal of the Marco Polo Silk Road Ambassador Awards, where exceptional local leaders are honored in recognition of their outstanding contributions towards the promotion of harmony, goodwill, and cooperation of the two communities of Chinatown and Little Italy.

The Honorees are: Mr. John C. Liu, 43rd New York City Comptroller, 2013 NYC mayoral election candidate, 2018 NY State Senate Candidate, and Posthumously: Jerry Gottesman, Edison Properties, and Annette Criscitelli, DaNico Restaurant. Also to be acknowledged for many years of service to the Chinatown community: Fr. Raymond Nobiletti, now retired pastor of Transfiguration Church, and a scholarship endowment will be bestowed on the students of the Manhattan School of Technology and its able principal, Carlos Romero, for cultural exchange programs.

The pageant, which will feature giant marionettes of Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, begins at 12 PM in front of the Chinatown Consolidated Benevolent Association on Mott St., and will wind its
way through Mott and Mulberry Streets to Grand Street followed by a cultural program and performances the rest of that afternoon.

Both the Honoree Dinner and Street Pageant are intended to commemorate more than a century of coexistence of these two immigrant communities, and a celebration of the rich literary, cultural and artistic heritage of their respective Asian and Southern European origins. Marco Polo (1254-1324), the famed Venetian merchant-traveler to the court of Kublai Khan, is chosen as a symbol for this special occasion.

CHINATOWN AND LITTLE ITALY BACKGROUND: Chinese and Italian immigrants came to the district between the 1850’s and 1870’s, settling in wards previously occupied by the Irish, Germans, Russian and Polish Jews, and African Americans. They began bringing their culture to the streets of New York City and established themselves among Mott & Mulberry Street, and intersecting cross streets. Today, these areas are visibly occupied by the same societies, preserving the same traditions and architectural presence.

ABOUT THE CHINATOWN-LITTLE ITALY HISTORIC DISTRICT: Two Bridges Neighborhood Council is the official sponsor of the Chinatown-Little Italy Historic District and is New York City’s only National Register Historic District that recognizes two unique cultural communities. This single district, encompassing the historic cores of both Little Italy and Chinatown, acknowledges the long and ongoing relationship of these two vibrant and dynamic immigrant neighborhoods. The Marco Polo Festival, held annually since 2009, symbolically celebrates this special district by invoking the story of the Silk Road, where the ancient markets of Europe and Asia met, marking a new beginning of world commerce and cultural exchange.

ABOUT TWO BRIDGES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Two Bridges serves the residential, commercial, and cultural life of Manhattan’s Lower East Side through community-based programs and strategic partnerships. Our service area includes the economically, culturally, and ethnically diverse neighborhoods of Two Bridges, Chinatown and the Lower East Side. The Marco Polo Festival is funded in part by Con Edison and the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs to whom we are very grateful.