Filmmaker David McDonald reanimates legendary club-owner Joe Zelli in The Royal Box
When Almanac Weekly last caught up with Columbia County-based filmmaker David McDonald in early 2019, he was looking for backers to make a movie out of his screenplay Ella the Ungovernable. It was a juicy story about the horrific period in 1933-34 when 15-year-old Ella Fitzgerald was an inmate at the New York Training School for Girls in Hudson whe...
Yum! Annual Italian Feast in Verplanck Returns for 99th Year
After being cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, the longest running Italian feast in the Hudson Valley is returning to Verplanck next week for five days of fun and food. The 99th Annual Our Lady of Mount Carmel Italian Feast will take place from Wednesday, July 14 through Sunday, July 18 on Eighth Street and Highland Avenue where the smell of sa...
Outdoor Italian film festival to unfold this summer on the lawn at Casa Belvedere
The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere will present Cinema Sotto Le Stelle 2021 — its 11th annual Outdoor Italian Film Festival — that’s back this year on the lawn with the “beautiful view” of New York Harbor. The films will be shown most Tuesday evenings from July 13 through Sept. 28, with screenings to begin at 8 p.m. — around sunset....
A dedicated community keeps bocce rolling in Lockport
Bocce is the game that moves as you play. If you’re Italian and you live near or in Lockport, you know about bocce, a slow-moving sport similar to lawn bowling and curling. And you know Bill Rosenberg, president of the Short Street Bocce Club, who said today’s heavy hitters are Bob’s Barber Shop (men) and the Lake Ladies (women), not to be confused...
Lyell Avenue, a very 'Little Italy,' and a neighborhood at a crossroads
The Edgerton neighborhood on the western banks of the Genesee River between Lyell and Driving Park avenues is a study in contradictions. On one hand, Lyell Avenue is haunted by boarded-up storefronts, open-air drug deals, and prostitution. On the other, signs that residents are making the best of a troubled neighborhood are everywhere. Southeast As...
Williamsburg's Giglio Feast to return this week
Williamsburg’s storied Giglio Feast will make its return this week, after being cancelled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 12-day feast, officially known as the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel after the eponymous neighborhood church, will begin on July 7 and run through July 18. “Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast, the best feast in Bro...
Yorktown Feast of San Gennaro to Return
The Yorktown Feast of San Gennaro will return this year from Wednesday, Sept. 15 to Sunday, Sept. 19, with the procession to be held at 6:30 p.m. on opening night. Tom Pomposello Jr. and Michael DiCostanzo, who co-founded the Italian heritage festival in 2015, said they are “excited to get back to the feast and celebrate our heritage, culture, and...
Cinema Sotto Le Stelle - Casa Belvedere
CINEMA SOTTO LE STELLE - MOVIES UNDER THE STARS The Annual Outdoor Italian Film Festival organized by The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute Tuesday, July 13 - Tuesday, August 31 2021 FULL LIST AND SCHEDULE Special Opening Night Team Marco Tuesday, July 13 at 8 pm – Watch the movie...
Welcome to Basilicata
2 lectures on this quiet and seductive Italian Region by Sandro Naglia July 9 – 23 2021 at 6 PM EST First session: July 9, 6 PM EST “Basilicata: from North to South” (A general introduction to the geography and history of the region, followed by an itinerary from North to South) Second session: July 23, 6 PM EST “Basilicata: from East to West” (A...
The Giglio is Back: OLMC Feast Gets Green Light for July Return
Giglio Season is underway at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, putting to rest any worries that this beloved Italian-American feast, now in its 134th year, might suffer a second pandemic-era setback. Last year, parish leaders were forced to cancel their Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & San Paolino Di Nola to comply with health and s...
Services for Joseph Gallo, 91, former Sayville Little League president
Former Sayville Little League President Joseph P. Gallo, a paratrooper during the Korean War, died on Saturday, June 26. “JP” Gallo lived in Sayville for 55 years before moving to Bayport with his wife Joanne in 2014. Born Nov. 4, 1929, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to Italian immigrants, he was the youngest of seven children. After serving in the U.S. Ar...
Savoy Foundation grants $50,000 to the New York foundling's summer camp program for inner-city youth
The American Foundation of Savoy Orders (Savoy Foundation), as part of its “Chivalry for Children’s Causes™” mission, granted $50,000 for The New York Foundling’s 2021 in-person outdoor summer camp program for inner-city youth in upstate New York. The NY Foundling CEO and President Bill Baccaglini accepted the Savoy Foundation’s grant check on Apri...