Columbus Monument Corporation continues push to keep Syracuse statue
Former county executive Nick Pirro is the vice president of the Columbus Monument Corporation. The group is continuing to push back on Mayor Ben Walsh's decision to remove the statue, which Pirro sees as a symbol of Italian American pride. Who owns this area that the monument sits on and who owns the monument? That's a good question. We have not be...
Christopher Columbus Statue Vandalization ‘Unacceptable,’ Italian-American Organization Says
An obscene message was spray-painted on the base of the Christopher Columbus monument in Columbus Circle over the weekend. Authorities discovered the vandalization Saturday evening, less than three weeks after police took down the protective barricade that had surrounded the statue since last summer. A spokesperson for the Knights of Columbus’ nati...
Artistic ambassador Laura Mattioli
In the eyes of even the most adoring beholder, a stereotype exists that Italian visual art begins with a bang in antiquity, hits its peak in the Renaissance and ceases to be much of a factor by the mid-20th century. After all, the 1950s and ’60s were the era of Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, right? One woman has reformed that vi...
‘F—k Columbus’ graffiti found on Manhattan statue after cop barricades removed
Vandals scrawled, “F–k Columbus” on the base of the monument of the explorer in Columbus Circle — weeks after the NYPD’s controversial barriers around it were removed, law-enforcement sources said Sunday. The spray-painted obscenity was discovered by police about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, fewer than three weeks after cops had taken down the protective b...
Italy-America Chamber of Commerce: Town Hall Meeting with Consul General Fabrizio Di Michele
Tuesday, April 27, 11:00am. Town Hall Meeting with the newly appointed Consul General of Italy in New York, Fabrizio Di Michele. During this session IACC President Alberto Milani will welcome the new consul to New York's Italian business community and discuss ongoing initiatives, programs, and projects scheduled for the calendar year. Participants...
Italian Language Foundation Reaches Matching Grant Goal With Giambelli Foundation
The Italian Language Foundation recently qualified for a matching grant from the Francesco & Mary Giambelli Foundation, and matched a $125,000 donation from the Foundation. The Italian Language Foundation (ILF) is dedicated to the promotion and support of Italian language education nationally. It motivates and rewards students of Italian from middl...
Celebrate Antonio Meucci's Birthday With Us, Saturday, April 17th
Please join us for a celebration Honoring the Birthday of Antonio Meucci. Saturday, April 17th at 1:00 p.m Open Air Event on the grounds of the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, 420 Tompkins Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305 Winners of the High School Essay Contest will be announced, and students will receive their awards. There will also be a raising of the...
HBO Max ‘Gomorrah’ Star Cristiana Dell’Anna To Play U.S. Catholic Saint Mother Cabrini In New Indie Feature
Cristiana Dell’Anna, star of the HBO Max crime series Gomorrah, has landed the lead role of U.S. Catholic nun Frances Xavier Cabrini in Alejandro Monteverde’s true story feature retelling Cabrini. Production starts June 28 in Buffalo, NY and NYC. Mother Cabrini was an Italian-American Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sac...
Legendary Oyster Bay High School football coach Leonard D’Errico dies
Longtime East Norwich resident Leonard W. D’Errico, 91, a former Oyster Bay High School football coach and phys. ed. teacher, died on March 29 in the Briny Breezes retirement community in Florida. D’Errico was remembered by many as more than an all-everything football player and coach, named to sports halls of fame in three states. According to fr...
Local Tells the Story of 1980’s Long Island Through the Eyes of an Audacious Woman in Upcoming Film
Leah Claire Borrie, director, writer, and Long Island-native is revisiting her hometown to tell the story of BABYGIRL, a short film that depicts the true story of Adele Rizoli, an audacious Italian-American girl who, in 1981, escaped her loveless marriage to find her soul mate, only to discover he was the Mob’s most talented young assassin. Filming...
Gio Ponti’s Daughter Was an Accomplished Artist in Her Own Right
When she was 19 years old, Lisa Ponti’s father, the dexterous Italian design visionary Gio Ponti, published a collection of her poems, Gio Ponti Agli Amici (“From Gio Ponti to His Friends”), and gave them out as Christmas gifts. Interspersed with illustrations by Gio’s prominent painter and sculptor pals, including Giorgio de Chirico and Arturo Mar...
Inaugural Francesco Durante Prize
To honor the legacy of the late Francesco Durante, an annual prize of $1,000 was created for the best original essay in English or Italian submitted by an emergent scholar of Italian American literature or history, either from Italy or from the United States. Click here to register for the presentation on April 13 at 12:15 pm EST. The award is gene...