In May 2001, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gary Garibaldi, then president of the Wooster Street Professional Association Inc., an organization whose members include local business owners and professionals, for the daily newspaper America Oggi.
Garibaldi, who was 82 years old at the time, had been born and raised in New Haven’s Little Italy. He had witnessed the changes and evolution the neighborhood had undergone over the years, and he still lived with his family on Wooster Street.
Sitting on a bench in the small square next to the arch, we talked at length. Later, as we approached the iron monument, the new symbol of Wooster Street in the historic district, I asked him how the idea of building the arch had originated and what it was meant to represent.
Before answering my question, Garibaldi wanted to explain that the Wooster Street Business and Professionals Association had been established with the goal of revitalizing the area.
By then, very few Italian families still lived on Wooster Street, while shops and restaurants continued to operate, even though the neighborhood had lost much of its original population. As a result, the area had gradually fallen into decline, making a major revitalization effort necessary.
Indeed, with the help of New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, they managed, within a year, to renovate the sewer system, repave the street, improve the public lighting, and rebuild the sidewalks.
As our conversation continued, Garibaldi finally answered my question about the origins of the arch.
He told me that the idea had come up during a meeting, when he and his colleagues recalled the beautiful, majestic arches in St. Louis, Providence, Rhode Island, and Baltimore. That was when they decided to build one in their own Little Italy as well.
“It will serve to welcome visitors, but above all, it will be a memorial dedicated to all the Italians who, at the beginning of the last century, came to America and settled here on Wooster Street with their families,” Garibaldi told me.
In a relatively short time, they managed to raise the necessary funds and bring the project to completion.
The bronze-finished iron arch, decorated with miniature tree designs, was officially unveiled on July 16, 2000. It rests on two red-brick pillars, which bear plaques displaying the names of those who contributed financially to make the project possible.
Among the many shops on Wooster Street there are many Italian pizzerie: Zeneli, Pepe, Sally and Consiglio.
Gary Garibaldi was born in New Haven on Christmas Day, 1918, shortly after the end of World War I. He was a combat veteran of World War II. In 1943 he landed at Paestum with American troops, taking part in the invasion and the Salerno campaign, the subsequent Italian campaign, and, beginning that same year, the campaign in France. Garibaldi died in 2009.
