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...
Francesca Alderisi (FI) incontra a New York il nuovo Console Generale d’Italia Fabrizio Di Michele
“Dopo un anno lungo e sfidante in cui ho voluto garantire la mia costante presenza in Senato nei momenti più delicati della pandemia, con grande emozione riprendo finalmente gli incontri nella ripartizione in cui sono stata eletta. Nel pieno rispetto delle normative vigenti, ricomincio dagli Stati Uniti, Paese in cui la nostra comunità è storicamen...
Marino Lodge In Port Washington Hosted Installation Ceremony
On March 17, the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America John Michael Marino Lodge No.1389 in Port Washington hosted the Installation Ceremony of its 2021-22 Lodge Council. It was the first time in the 95-year history of the Lodge that the installation ceremony was held utilizing Zoom technology vs. an in-person ceremony. Peter Prudente was inst...
Welcome to Fabrizio Di MIchele, the new Consul General of Italy in New York
Fabrizio Di Michele is an Italian diplomat with 26 years of experience in the field of international relations. Born in Palermo on May 16, 1969, he graduated in Political Science from the University of Florence in 1992, and joined the Italian Foreign Service in 1995. Between 1995 and 1997 he worked at the Secretariat of the General Directorate for...
Chef Lidia Bastianich shares her story, from childhood in Italy to TV host and restauranteur
Famed chef Lidia Bastianich is best known for her delicious Italian meals seen in her best-selling cookbooks or on her hit PBS cooking show “Lidia’s Kitchen.” While the beloved chef can share her story from her own elegant New York City restaurant, Felidia, it all began from modest means as child in Italy. Over a mouth-watering meal, Bastianich tol...
Gino Cafarelli’s Athena Visits the Marina Inspired by His Daughter
Athena Visits the Marina is the first children’s book written by Gino Cafarelli, a multitalented Italian-American actor and filmmaker from Queens. He was inspired to write the book by his daughter Athena, who was born with a hearing loss and now shares her name with the book’s title character and protagonist. The book tells the story of Athena, a l...
Magazzino Italian Art: sull’Hudson tutto scorre con l’arte di Costantino Nivola
Cold Spring è una cittadina immersa nel verde a novanta chilometri da Manhattan (NY). Ed è il luogo scelto dai due coniugi Nancy Olnick e Giorgio Spanu – appassionati di arte italiana, soprattutto di arte povera – per realizzare la sede della loro Fondazione, il Magazzino Italian Art, un edificio interamente dedicato a esposizioni, ricerca, studio...
The Miracle In The Bronx: A Forgotten Event In A Forgotten Italian Enclave
On Palm Sunday during Lent, after one of the most difficult years for the world since World War 2, I decided to write a blog post about a long forgotten miraculous event that occurred on October 29th of 1945. The world was still in turmoil from World War 2 just ending a couple of months earlier. A nine year old boy, one of eighteen children born to...
Dr. Joseph Scelsa on Radio Kingston
Dr. Joseph Scelsa is one of the most respected and recognized figures in the Italian American community who has written essays and publications, sits on the boards of some of the major Italian American organizations, and is the recipient of multiple recognitions, and accolades. In 1999 he organized the exhibition “The Italians of New York: Five Cen...