One of eight children, Vincent Speranza was born in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in 1925 to Francesco and Francesca Paratori Speranza. Francesco immigrated from Palmi, Calabria, and Francesca from Sciacca, Sicily. When Speranza was 3 years old, they moved to Staten Island, where he grew up amid a large extended family.

Every Sunday at noon, the family took turns hosting a traditional spaghetti dinner with all the trimmings. “A real Italian spaghetti dinner on Sunday was two-and-a-half, three hours,” Speranza says. He graduated from PS 22 Grade School and Port Richmond High School.