Born at 245 Elizabeth Street in Manhattan on Nov. 29, 1925, Setauket resident Rose Aragona Safina celebrated her 100th birthday last Saturday. A celebration was held at the Madiran Wine Bar in Setauket. Having experienced 100 years on an island that was constantly developing, there were many different eras through which she lived. Through it all, her Italian community ties remained strong.
Rose was born into a poor Italian immigrant family, having come from the island of Sicily. The Great Depression brought many hardships for her family and the larger Italian community in Manhattan, but “in the Italian section, everybody helped everybody else, like they were one unit,” she vividly recalled.
