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You're working with the MacDougal Area Neighborhood Association and on the other hand, you've got the coffee house operators in liaison with the VID.

Oh, yes, definitely. They considered me a traitor. So did the VID. The VID could not understand how I could work with what they considered to be these conservative Italians -- these people never vote for us. I mean the VID is: how can I put it? They're so dogmatic, so vile. (laughs) They hated me on that issue. But the fact is: they were also a little pragmatic, and they loved it that these people would vote for me. The Italians voted for me in the races I ran in, and the Italians, who would never come up to the VID, related to me as district leader. And the VID liked that in a way.

One day I asked these people to a VID party -- not the MacDougal group but some other Italians that I had helped to keep their homes against landlord oppression and so forth. We had a party which we called Neapolitan Night up at the VID, and maybe 75 Italian ladies and their husbands came, and they brought food. It's the only time any substantial group of Italians ever came in to the VID -- that one night, Neapolitan Night -- and they did it to honor me, which was very nice. I really loved it.

But I'll tell you how MacDougal Street's problems were suddenly disposed of, some in part due to our efforts but mostly