The Krewe of Oshun parade is the very first float procession in New Orleans’ official Mardi Gras season. As the 2025 Carnival season approached, the Krewe found itself with fewer riders than expected, and unable to make its advance payments to Rizzuto.
By contract, Rizzuto said, the krewe was required to pay for the parade in full before he delivered the floats. Yet, he said, he didn’t want to see the small, 30-year-old organization fail. In a telephone interview Thursday, Rizzuto said that two weeks before the parade, he agreed to allow the Oshun parade to proceed, with the proviso that he become krewe captain.
Rizzuto, who already serves as captain of the Krewe of Mid-City and co-captain of the Krewe of Pygmalion, said that he didn’t need the headache of managing another parading group. But he believed he knew how to increase membership in the krewe, and ensure that he eventually got paid for previous services.
Cue the scene:
Now the guy's got Paulie as a partner. Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with the bill? He can go to Paulie. Trouble with the cops, deliveries, Tommy, he can call Paulie. But now the guy's gotta come up with Paulie's money every week, no matter what. Business bad? "Fuck you, pay me." Oh, you had a fire? "Fuck you, pay me." Place got hit by lightning, huh? "Fuck you, pay me." Also, Paulie could do anything. Especially run up bills on the joint's credit. And why not? Nobody's gonna pay for it anyway. And as soon as the deliveries are made in the front door, you move the stuff out the back and sell it at a discount. You take a two hundred dollar case of booze and you sell it for a hundred. It doesn't matter. It's all profit. And then finally, when there's nothing left, when you can't borrow another buck from the bank or buy another case of booze, you bust the joint out. You light a match.
Or something like that. Look, he even charged a vig.
Or something like that. Look, he even charged a vig.
Oshun’s former captain, Dominique Thomas, characterizes Rizzuto’s motives differently. In a telephone interview, she said she considers his insistence on being captain as a power grab that will result in changes to krewe traditions. Thomas said that Rizzuto solidified his control of the krewe by seating a new board of directors.
Thomas accuses Rizzuto of using unfair tactics to take control, including imposing interest fees on the money owed him and suggesting that the former Oshun board members might be personally responsible for the krewe’s debt.
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