Giglio Feast Every July a few typically sleepy residential streets in Williamsburg erupt into a festival of lights, food, music, and parades. This is, of course, the annual celebration sponsored by Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, also known as the Giglio Feast. Since so many of us have enjoyed the sights and sounds (and funnel cakes) of this week-long event, it is only prudent that we take a moment to look into the origin and history of this Italian-American tradition. Since 1954 the Feast has been combined with a second traditional feast honoring Our Lady of Saint Carmel. Celebrated in July, the feast lasts for 12 days and includes religious ceremonies, a street fair, games, food and fundraising for the church. One of the important activities of the Feast is the “Questua” a tradition that begins at 5am, when loaves of bread are picked up from a local bakery. Over the next twelve hours volunteers walk for miles through the street, distributing bread to local families. The following day is Giglio Sunday, which begins with another procession to pick up important Feast participants and ends at the church for a special Giglio Mass. After a breakfast, it’s time for the lifting and procession of the Giglio. The Giglio Feast celebrates a selfless act of bravery by Bishop Paolino, who lived in the small Italian city of Nola in the early 5th century. The city was invaded by pirates in 410 AD, and although the Bishop escaped, he returned to find that many of the city’s young men had been sold into slavery. The Bishop offered himself to the pirates in exchange for the release of one of the men, the son of a local widow. The pirates accepted and took the Bishop prisoner instead. The tale of his courage reached the ears of a Turkish ruler, who was so moved by his sacrifice that he arranged for the Bishop’s freedom. When he returned to Nola he was greeted by the townspeople carrying lilies. Gigli, Italian for lily, traditionally represented love and purity and came to symbolize the Bishop’s selflessness. The procession of lilies became an annual event in Nola, with local merchants competing for the most elaborate display. Over the years the Giglio has evolved into a 4 ton, 65 foot high pyramid of papier-mâché, styrofoam and flowers depicting saints, angels and on the top, Saint Paolino. The Giglio rests on a platform that also supports several musicians and their instruments. In front of a cheering crowd, 112 men lift and “dance” the Giglio to music provided by the band, including the Feast’s traditional song, “O' Giglio 'e Paradiso.” In addition to cheering on the lifters, Giglio Sunday attendees can expect a street fair with games, rides and food. This is a time for tradition, community and fun; a time for people who have moved away from Williamsburg to come home.

ca. 1975 George Washington at Valley Forge is the name of the sculpture by Henry Shrady that stands in Brooklyn near the approach to the Williamsburg Bridge. It commemorates the months Washington and his army spent in a camp northwest of Philadelphia over the course of a deadly winter. Washington did, of course, also spend some time in Brooklyn during the Revolutionary War, although Shrady opted, perhaps understandably, not to memorialize Washington escaping capture following his defeat in the Battle of Brooklyn. Although it might not have seemed like a statue-worthy moment, that escape, made possible by dense fog and strong winds over the East River, is what allowed Washington to continue to lead the Continental Army to eventual victory.

Williamsburgh Trust Company Building (later Holy Trinity Cathedral) Historic District ARCHITECT: Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell DATE: 1905-06 STYLE: Neo-Classical Completed in 1906, the Williamsburgh Trust Company Building is a monumental Neoclassical style bank building recalling Williamsburg’s industrial prosperity of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Designed by Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell, major Brooklyn architects who designed some of the borough’s most significant early-20th-century banks and park structures, it initially served as headquarters of the Williamsburgh Trust Company. It is a superlative example of the luxurious “banking temples” constructed in Manhattan and Brooklyn starting in the late 19th century, featuring classical porticos with acroteria on its two street facades, as well as a saucer dome recalling that of the Pantheon. Originally intended to stand in isolation, the building is remarkable for its four fully developed classical facades as well as its unusual facing material of white terra cotta. The building was acquired by the City of New York and from 1916 to 1958, it served as Magistrates’ Court for the Fifth District of Brooklyn. The building’s cross-shaped plan and central dome made it attractive for conversion to an Orthodox church, and in 1961, it was acquired by the Holy Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in Exile, which renovated it to serve as its Holy Trinity Cathedral. Since then, the church has diligently and sensitively maintained the building, enabling this lavish structure to endure as one of Williamsburg’s most prominent and imposing landmarks.

Children at play outside No. 213 North 7th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, April 26, 1915.

North 7th Street, west from Union Avenue, during construction of the BMT Canarsie line, October 20, 1920. Construction derricks are visible in the distance, as excavation for the Canarsie line moves through Williamsburg. North 7th Street bisected the ninety-degree angle formed by Metropolitan (left, our of frame) and Union (right) Avenues, prior to the construction of the Brooklyn—Queens Expressway. The buildings in the foreground have been razed; today, the site is Macri Triangle Park.

The former Novelty Theatre on Driggs Avenue, 1917. The theater was demolished in 1919, with an apartment building named Novelty Court built in its place. It was there that NYPD whistleblower Frank Serpico was shot in suspicious circumstances during a 1971 drug bust. Serpico, portrayed by Al Pacino in the film of the same name, was a vocal critic of the widespread corruption in the department.

Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. August 9, 1935. The Lombardian Romanesque Roman Catholic Church was completed in 1870. Originally a German parish, the church was purchased by a coalition of Lithuanian Catholics in 1914. Today, the church provides English, Lithuanian, and Spanish-language services.

Now lined with trendy restaurants, fun bars, and interesting stores, its easy to imagine that Metropolitan Avenue is part of a new New York, but its history stretches back much further. Metropolitan Avenue was laid in 1813 following an American Indian Trail. It runs nearly eight miles between Brooklyn and Queens, connecting the East River with Jamaica Avenue.

261 Bedford Avenue, ca. 1923. Though called the Greenpoint Bathhouse in a number of sources, this building is firmly located in Williamsburg. Design by Henry Bacon, architect of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C., the structure was opened in 1922. Saved from demolition in 1983 by an intrepid city Parks and Recreation Commissioner named Henry J. Stern, the facility remains a community pool and recreation center. The ceiling above the pool is a striking peaked skylight surrounded by a pressed copper ceiling. The entire building, including the natatorium, had a major renovation in the late 1990s.

“George Washington at Valley Forge,” at Continental Army Plaza at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge. The plaza has been decorated by the Mayor’s Committee to Welcome the British and French War Commissions. May 1, 1917. The bronze statue by Henry Mervin Shrady was cast at Roman Bronze Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and installed ahead of the park’s opening in 1906.