{"id":63884,"date":"2025-12-08T04:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T04:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/63884\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T04:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T04:48:08","slug":"gibson-hosts-celebration-of-italian-heritage-at-fordham-university-to-mark-italian-heritage-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/63884\/","title":{"rendered":"Gibson Hosts Celebration of Italian Heritage at Fordham University to Mark Italian Heritage Month"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy S\u00cdLE MOLONEY <\/p>\n

\t\t\"\"<\/a>BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT Vanessa Gibson hosts \u201cA Celebration of Italian\u00a0Heritage\u201d at Fordham University\u2019s McShane Campus Center in honor of\u00a0Italian\u00a0Heritage Month on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, and is pictured here with the evening\u2019s honorees and guests.\u00a0
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Bronx Borough President<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: As we approach year-end, here are some of the stories we couldn\u2019t get to earlier this year, with our sincere apologies for the delay.<\/p>\n

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson hosted \u201cA Celebration of Italian\u00a0Heritage\u201d at Fordham University\u2019s McShane Campus Center in honor of\u00a0Italian\u00a0Heritage Month on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The annual event recognized what Gibson said is the \u201cenduring cultural, civic, and economic contributions of the Italian American Community to The Bronx.\u201d<\/p>\n

The evening, emceed by Marissa Santorelli, reporter for News 12 The Bronx, featured musical selections by Luigi Trombetta, and remarks from Amanda Caputo, assistant director of community affairs at Fordham University, deputy consul Alessandra Oliva of the consulate general of Italy in New York, and by Gibson, highlighting the shared values of family, faith, and community that unite Bronx residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom entrepreneurship and education to cuisine and family traditions,\u00a0Italian Americans have helped shape the cultural fabric of our borough for generations,\u201d said Gibson. \u201cTheir influence can be felt in every corner of our borough, and I am proud to recognize this year\u2019s honorees for continuing that legacy of pride, perseverance, and community,\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s honorees included Francis Palazzolo, artist in residence and activity coordinator at BronxWorks; Carolina DiFuccia, owner of G&R Deli; Peter Magistro, president and founder of Bronx Pro Group; Joseph DiCrescenzo, principal of P.S. 048, the Joseph R. Drake School; and Josephine Florio, owner of Delilio Pastry Shop.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT Vanessa Gibson hosts \u201cA Celebration of Italian\u00a0Heritage\u201d at Fordham University\u2019s McShane Campus Center in honor of\u00a0Italian\u00a0Heritage Month on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, and is pictured here with the evening\u2019s honorees and guests.\u00a0
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Bronx Borough President<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Youth Award was presented to Alivia Toapha, a student at Preston High School, and a special presentation was delivered by Nancy J. Indelicato, board member of the Italian\u00a0Heritage\u00a0&\u00a0Culture\u00a0Committee of New York.<\/p>\n

Magistro thanked Gibson for what he said was her \u201cconstant service to our wonderful Bronx.\u201d He continued, \u201cThank you for continuing to celebrate the diverse heritage of The Bronx that is an important part of building community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, DiCrescento said it was an \u201cabsolute honor\u201d to join Gibson for what he said was \u201can incredible evening celebrating the vibrant Italian American community.\u201d He added, \u201cThank you, Borough President Gibson, for your continued leadership and for bringing our Bronx family together in such a meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT Vanessa Gibson hosts \u201cA Celebration of Italian\u00a0Heritage\u201d at Fordham University\u2019s McShane Campus Center in honor of\u00a0Italian\u00a0Heritage Month on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025.\u00a0
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Bronx Borough President<\/p>\n

For his part, Palazzolo thanked the residents who live in Bronx shelters, safe havens, and homes who he said have been open to trusting and collaborating with him. \u201cAs an artist, I greatly appreciate the support and belief in my social practice that my BronxWorks colleagues provide, particularly Aaron Ciprolina and Gianna Dell\u2019Olio, and especially Noel Concepcion, the vice president of Homeless Services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Palazzolo continued, \u201cI am immensely grateful to the Bronx borough president, Vanessa Gibson, for honoring my work, especially as one of the many Italian Americans having a positive impact in The Bronx. Her passionate dedication provides me with further inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sponsors of the night`s event included Ponce Bank, MetroPlus Health, and the Belmont Business Improvement District.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT Vanessa Gibson hosts \u201cA Celebration of Italian\u00a0Heritage\u201d at Fordham University\u2019s McShane Campus Center in honor of\u00a0Italian\u00a0Heritage Month on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025.\u00a0
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Bronx Borough President<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Assemblyman John Zaccaro Jr. (A.D. 80)\u00a0 hosted the inaugural Italian\u00a0American\u00a0Heritage Dinner at the Bronx Zoo\u2019s Schiff Hall on Friday, Oct. 24, celebrating Italian\u00a0culture\u00a0and\u00a0heritage in the local community and honoring who he said are\/were the many great Italian Americans past and present.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Italian community has been at the heart of The Bronx for generations,\u201d the assemblyman said. \u201cFrom the South Bronx to the North Bronx, Italian families have left their mark on our neighborhoods, and we are proud that the traditions of yesterday continue to thrive today.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By S\u00cdLE MOLONEY BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT Vanessa Gibson hosts \u201cA Celebration of Italian\u00a0Heritage\u201d at Fordham University\u2019s McShane…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-63884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}