Actor Steve Schirripa on “Talking Sopranos” and the Perfect Meatball
Actor, author, and podcast co-host Steve Schirripa of “Talking Sopranos” discusses dining out in New York City with The Sopranos cast, the surprise success of his podcast, and his ideal meatball. The Sopranos premiered on cable television in 1999 and ended in 2007 after a six-year run, yet it continues to be one of the most revered television shows...
Caro Lucio ti Scrivo - Biografilm Festival
When: Thursday, March 04, 2021 - Organized by : ICI - Entrance : Free - Book Now! Biografilm Festival International Celebration of Lives is the international film festival entirely dedicated to biographies and life stories. The Institute is pleased to present some of the films that have been featured in the Festival editions, starting with Caro Luc...
Sculptor of NYC’s famed ‘Charging Bull’ statue dies at age 80
The sculptor of New York City’s famed Charging Bull statue — a big Financial District tourist draw and symbol of Wall Street power — died Friday at age 80, Italian media reported. Arturo Di Modica died in Vittoria, his hometown in Sicily, said the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Di Modica had been fighting cancer for many years, and his condition...
John A. Toscano, March 20, 1927 – February 11, 2021
Along with hundreds of thousands of other Italian immigrants, John Toscano’s mother and father made the arduous and dangerous journey across the ocean to America. Settling with their friends and families in the Bedford- Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York where his parents, Luigi Toscano and Mary Cosentino, would meet. In 1917 they would marry...
A barber whose Buffalo life was one long Valentine's Day, with 'Mariu'
For 60 years, Carmen Iacono had a particular routine for Valentine’s Day. He would bring an early morning card to his wife, Maria, as she rose from sleep, then return 12 hours later, after a long day of cutting hair, to hand her flowers and a heart-shaped box of candy. If the day fell on a rare evening off from work, the couple might go for dinner...
Let us look at the Columbus legacy with a good mind and a healing heart
Last year, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh invited community members and others to participate in a dialogue about the Columbus statue and monument. One of the outcomes was a decision to remove the statue. I strongly agree with the mayor’s decision to remove the Columbus statue. This decision has upset some Italian-Americans in our community, understandab...
Puglia: Better Than The Caribbean!
When: Thursday, February 25th at 7:00 pm - What: Puglia: Better Than The Caribbean! Presented by Anita Sanseverino and Lou Barrella Puglia, until recently, was one of Italy’s best-kept secrets. Puglia has everything: castles, fortresses, lighthouses, an abundance of seascapes in rainbow colors, beaches and rock formations that resemble moonscapes,...
Syracuse’s Columbus statue group escalates political war against Ben Walsh
A group of politically powerful Columbus statue supporters have ramped up their fight against Mayor Ben Walsh, who last year announced he will remove the Christopher Columbus statue from downtown Syracuse. The Columbus Monument Corporation sent letters to leaders of every permanent political party in Syracuse in recent weeks. Those letters outlined...
Councilmember Merante opposes NYS Legislaton to Change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day
A resolution sponsored by Councilman Anthony Merante and Councilmember Mike Breen, Minority Leader which was initially introduced at the Yonkers City Council Rules Committee Meeting on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 and was brought to a vote at the City Council Meeting today, Tuesday, February 9, 2021. The resolution was send back to rules over a disagr...
Garibaldi Meucci Museum: a Staten Island tribute
In New York City, it is easy to find oneself rambling through a forest overgrown with forgotten history. Buried in that vast wood, far from Florence and tucked away in an outer borough, is a striking, but often overlooked, intersection between two legendary Italian lives: the Garibaldi Meucci Museum. A gemstone set in the history of the Risorgiment...
Italian-Americans say CUNY must uphold their affirmative action status
Italian-American activists are demanding that the City University of New York reaffirm its decades-old pledge to give the group preferential treatment in staff recruitment, hiring and promotions. The Italian American Legal Defense and Higher Education Fund is accusing CUNY officials of failing to honor a settlement that treats Italian-Americans as...
Downtown Brooklyn civic group repeats calls to remove Columbus statue
They want Columbus out of America’s Downtown! A local civic group’s meeting over the fate of a Christopher Columbus statue in Downtown Brooklyn turned into a ruckus back-and-forth, with attendees on both sides slinging charges of racism and discrimination — before the panel ultimately decided to reaffirm their demands to remove the explorer’s effig...