Genoa, waterfront people. The streets (vicoli) of the area just up from the water front, in Genoa, are frequented by colorful characters, some of them not recommendable, like boozers, pimps and prostitutes, who survived a proposal by the city to ban their street presence When the famous Italian anarchist singer song writer and poet Fabrizio De Andre became intrigued with the area which is facing the port of Genoa in the early seventies, he got to know his residents too, all kind of sleazy types, and amongst them, the sex trade workers, who are still around: backed by the citizen themselves, they survived a proposal by the city to ban their street presence as unlawful, thus sealing their status of romantic institutions as forged by the musician.