Mulberry Street is the heart of Little Italy; in fact, at this point it's virtually the entire neighborhood. In 1932 an estimated 98% of the inhabitants of this area were of Italian birth or heritage, but since then the expansion of Chinatown to the south have encroached on the Italian neighborhood to such an extent that merchants and community leaders of the Little Italy Restoration Association (LIRA) negotiated with Chinatown to let at least Mulberry remain an all-Italian street. In 1926 immigrants from southern Italy celebrated the first Feast of San Gennaro along Mulberry Street -- a 10-day street fair that still takes place every September. Dedicated to the patron saint of Naples, the festival transforms Mulberry Street into a virtual alfresco restaurant, as wall-to-wall vendors sell traditional fried sausages and pastries. The community's other big festival celebrates St. Anthony of Padua in June; the church connected to that festival is at Houston and Sullivan streets, in what is now SoHo.