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On March 3, 2020, Joseph Alfred Ferraro passed from this life. He began this life’s journey on Feb. 3, 1942, in Greenwich, CT, as the firstborn son of Santa (Carlucci) Ferraro and Alfred Ferraro, who have predeceased him. Joe grew up in Greenwich playing in his beloved Bible Street Park amidst a large extended family and working for his father in t...

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The annual festa to honor Santa Maria Maddalena, like almost all public events this summer, won’t be held because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Andrew Consiglio, president of the Santa Maria Maddalena Society. “We’re just having a Mass … and then some of the members are going to the society” to have a cup of coffee, he said. The society...

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The city Monday moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed by local Italian-American residents over the future of the Christopher Columbus statue that once stood in Wooster Square Park, claiming the group has no standing to bring the case. The Italian-American Heritage Group of New Haven, represented by attorney Patricia Cofrancesco, filed suit against the c...

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We the Italians hate racism and condemns with all possible severity the murder of George Floyd by four policemen who abused their authority and disgraced the uniform they wear. That said, and reiterated with all possible strength and conviction, we stand with those wearing a uniform, which in the vast majority defend the weakest and protect the inn...

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This very timely book chronicles the plight of Italian immigrants who braved long journeys, prejudice, and enormous sacrifice for the hope of a better future for their families. All of us can relate to its universal message of heroism in facing seemingly insurmountable odds. The families referenced, and the Hartford location are but a microcosm of...

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My column last week about replacing the statue of Christopher Columbus in Wooster Square Park with one of Frank Pepe and his wife Filomena drew passionate rejections, hearty endorsements and some imaginative other proposals. “I am deeply disturbed by your suggestion of a statue of Frank Pepe to replace Christopher Columbus,” wrote a man with family...

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A state lawmaker and other members of a historically Black fraternity are calling on city officials to rename Hartford’s Columbus Boulevard after Frank T. Simpson, a local civil rights leader. “As nationwide calls for the removal of statues glorifying colonialism and white supremacy have now reached our city, which is evidenced in the recent...

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This week began with the city’s abrupt decision to remove the Christopher Columbus statue from Seaside Park and ended with an uncertain outlook for the future of the likeness of the controversial explorer. “It needs to come back out. It doesn’t belong to the city. It belongs to all residents of Bridgeport,” City Council President Aidee Nieves ackno...

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Police in Waterbury are looking for a New York man who tried to sell the broken-off nose that was once attached to the Christopher Columbus statue in front of city hall. In a news release, the department named 22-year-old Brandon Ambrose, of Port Chester, as a suspect. The Columbus statue was discovered decapitated shortly after 5:30 a.m. on July...

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In 1933, a poor Italian-American teenager led the dramatic New Haven garment workers strike that lifted thousands of women into the middle class. Jennie Aiello wasn’t the only leader of the New Haven garment workers strike of 1933. But she was certainly a key to its success. On a cold day in April, Jennie slid down the clothing chute from the secon...

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