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The Guardian recently called Vittorio de Sica’s 1970 film “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis” a “forgotten Italian masterpiece.” And yet, the lushly beautiful film, about a privileged Italian Jewish family on the eve of World War II, has long been on Jewish critics’ lists of best films about the Holocaust. Based on a novel by Giorgio Bassani, the fi...

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I was surprised to see throughout Syracuse many posters with a particularly interesting message containing two demands. The first one was to celebrate diversity; he second, to replace the Columbus statue. But how can we celebrate diversity by removing a preeminent symbol of diversity?  The Syracuse Columbus statue was paid for with the donations of...

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It may be a cliché, but many still believe it. They call it the American Dream and the US is in fact the goal destination for many young students, artists, musicians or dancers pursuing their boldest ambitions. Riccardo Passera, an eighteen-year-old dancer from Milan is one of them. My friendship with Riccardo began at Les Galipettes nursery school...

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When the New York Yankees acquired Joey Gallo at the 2021 MLB Trade Deadline, the storylines wrote themselves. Here was a lifelong Yankee fan (and, yes, an Italian) returning to his roots to take on the short porch and mash. Unfortunately, Gallo’s grace period in the Bronx was quite short, proving he would struggle to get by on emotional attachment...

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If you’ve visited Montauk in the past few years, you may recognize the name “Primavera Pizza” as you drive by the new red sign on Main Road in Mattituck. While it’s swapped one waterfront community for another, Primavera Pizza is indeed the same authentic New York pizzeria that used to service Montauk. “Montauk is a really small community,” said ow...

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Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro today announced his retirement from the FDNY, effective on February 16, 2022. Commissioner Nigro is the fourth longest serving Fire Commissioner in FDNY history, and one of only six individuals to hold every rank in the Department. “Dan and I have had an amazing relationship over our l...

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The New York City Foire Department is mourning the loss of Firefighter Christopher P. Viviano, 53, from COVID-19. Firefighter Viviano was a 22-year veteran of the Department. He joined the FDNY in August 1999 and was assigned to Ladder Company 157 in Brooklyn. In his outstanding career he was cited once for bravery. “Firefighter Viviano is the 16th...

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Giuseppe Varotta, 5, disappeared on May 24, 1921. Six days later, a woman with a pleasant face and two suitcases arrived at his family’s tenement home on E. 13th St. in Little Italy. Antoinette Varotta, the missing boy’s mother, told neighbors that the woman was a cousin who had come all the way from Detroit to help with cooking, cleaning and carin...

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1989. The Berlin Wall fell. Brazil had its first election in nearly three decades. Ana Oxa sang Ti lascerò at Sanremo. And, in the center of Florence, the Mazzanti family opened a small wine bar with snacks. Unknown to them, they would leave a legacy that would travel far. The family’s primary idea was to serve square sandwiches with fresh, seasona...

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"They interviewed me after ringing the bell and asked me what it meant. I gave the example of Michelangelo, who said that in the piece of stone he already had the artwork, it was a matter of removing the excess matter. Here, today we have removed a part in excess, but the work of art will be reaching millions of people who have to fight against obe...

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