Love Songs for My Father – Catherine Gigante-Brown
I grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with my father telling me tales of his childhood in nearby Borough Park. Only a few miles away from each other, the neighborhoods—and our stories—were worlds apart. Yet in many ways, they were very similar. My father grew up in a brick house surrounded by family during the Depression. I grew up in a brick house surr...
Sons of Italy completes $100,000 park donation
At the last Board of Selectmen meeting in February, Sons of Italy President John Romano presented a $50,000 check donation to the Town of Wilmington for the Yentile Farm Recreational Facility. This was the second installment of the $100,000 that the organization committed to contribute toward the building of the park and its structures. The park...
Inside Out: Advice from 101 year-old: ‘Get up, get dressed, put lipstick on, do what you have to do’ -- and have a Coors Light
Maintaining a positive attitude and letting things roll off your back — although not always easy — and not taking life too seriously seems to be one of the common denominators among those who’ve achieved longevity and living healthy, productive lives. At 101, Antoinette Inserra’s advice is to “Live your life day by day and if something comes up tak...
Nina Balducci, Who Shaped a Famed Grocery Store, Dies at 91
If you grew up as part of Nina Balducci’s clan, the rhythm of the week was set by meals orchestrated with equal parts panache and tradition. Friday night supper, in keeping with her Roman Catholic faith, was fish. Saturday was steak night. Sunday was pasta and red sauce. And always there was bread, whose wrapper was stamped with the green Balducci’...
Philip Foglia, NYC champion of Italian-American causes, dead of coronavirus
Philip Foglia, an Italian-American civic leader who spear-headed campaigns to honor Mother Cabrini and preserve Christopher Columbus statues in the city, died Tuesday after contracting the coronavirus. Foglia, 69, was raised in the Belmont section of The Bronx, known as the borough’s Little Italy. “Phil was a great man, a man of integrity. He was a...
Italian American Baseball Foundation and with Italian Enclaves together to help Brooklyn
Yesterday the IABF along with Italian Enclaves donated and delivered thousands of surgical mask and gloves to several Brooklyn hospitals, police precincts, Fire Houses, EMT’s and nursing homes. Proceeds for this donation came from our recent GoFundMe campaign. Thanks to our good friend Ray Guarini for his help in initiating this campaign and delive...
Checking in With Legendary St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca During Pandemic
This is the story of the power of a wave and about checking on your elders. I have known Lou Carnesecca for 40 years and speak to him on the phone often. But during this Coronavirus pandemic, I thought it would be more important to visit Lou personally. So with my wife by my side, I headed to his home in Queens and took the Hall of Fame coach, who...
Bronx pizza legend had dying wish for daughter to take over
There was something about the way Joseph Migliucci kneaded his dough that made it just a little more tasty than other pizza crusts at Mario’s Restaurant on Arthur Avenue, an establishment named for his father. Mario Migliucci had taught the skill to his son in a family business that marked its 100th anniversary in 2019. When Joseph Migliucci, 81, k...
Remembering the life of Monsignor Richard Guastella, a coronavirus victim, who transformed St. Clare and Holy Rosary churches
Monsignor Richard Guastella, pastor of St. Clare R.C. Church in Great Kills, a faithful visionary with deep borough ties who is credited with transforming two parishes during his 48-year priesthood, died early Thursday morning in Staten Island University Hospital, Prince’s Bay, after battling COVID-19 for a little over a week. He was 73. Born in th...
Negli Usa sotto pandemia arriva Manzoni in inglese
Nei giorni della pandemia l'America scopre Alessandro Manzoni: la prima traduzione inglese in quasi mezzo secolo dei capitoli sulla peste dei Promessi Sposi è stata messa online dal sito LitHube e la loro attualità è risuonata piùforte che mai nella conversazione virtuale tra Stefano Albertini, il direttore della Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò della...
Here Are The Italian Restaurants Who Feed Our #Healthcareheroes: Grazie!
When the owner and restaurateur, Adam Elzer, heard about the lack of meal options for healthcare workers amidst restaurant closures, he began to organize. Last week, Sauce Pizzeria marched past a milestone, delivering 2,500+ thin-crust pizzas to nurses and doctors around New York City. “These meals are our way of giving hope, love, compassion, and...
Eastchester Mourns Passing of Councilman Bellitto
As all of Westchester prays for our first responders and medical staff and personnel as they serve and protect us through the Coronavirus, the recent passing of Eastchester Town Councilman Glen Bellitto shows us that we are all vulnerable. Bellitto, 62, died from COVID-19 on April 2. He was a lifelong resident of Westchester, born and raised in Yon...