As they celebrated the milestone of their 50th wedding anniversary in Venice, Italy, in June 2023, Tony Smarrelli, 74, and his wife, Francine, 75, made an important decision. The retired elementary teachers, originally from Syracuse, New York, resolved to leave the US and move to Italy for good. That same year, the Smarrellis, both of Italian desce...

On October 12, 2024, the Columbus Monument in downtown Syracuse turns 90 years old. Most readers are familiar with the protracted legal battle over Mayor Ben Walsh’s decision to remove it amidst a national reckoning with public monuments in 2020. What less people are aware of is the historical context in which it was built. The story begins in 1910...

“The Goonies” star Robert Davi is coming to Syracuse for a special Columbus Day event. The Italian-American actor and singer will speak at this year’s Columbus Day Luncheon on Monday, Oct. 14, at 12 p.m. in the Oncenter Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center Ballroom. The event will also honor Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile and the neighborhood h...

February 2024 Christopher Columbus' legal defense in American courts: thanks to George Bochetto

New York’s highest court dealt a blow to efforts trying keep the Columbus monument in downtown Syracuse. The Court of Appeals Thursday denied the Columbus Monument Corporation’s appeal of a lower court decision that cleared the way for the city to remove the statue. Mayor Ben Walsh says the ruling is consistent with the city’s firm belief that remo...

Many times we have described the historical and cultural reasons why attacks on Columbus are based on falsehoods, unacceptable and wrong. The Italian American comity is defending itself and the symbol it has chosen, in different ways. One of these ways is the legal way. Those who removed the Columbus statues and cancelled Columbus Day, not only obe...

An appellate division of the New York state Supreme Court has denied a motion to rehear arguments aimed to prevent the city of Syracuse to remove or alter the Christopher Columbus monument located for several decades in downtown Syracuse.  The same court over the summer had reversed an Onondaga County Supreme Court judge's 2022 ruling, stating ther...

When: Friday, December 08, 2023 , 8:00pm-10:00pm - Where: Palace Theatre, 2384 James St, Syracuse, NY Sal "The Voice" Valentinetti - Christmas Comes to Town - Friday, December 8th, 2023 Doors open at 7pm. Show starts at 8pm Sal "The Voice" Valentinetti, Heidi Klum's unforgettable 2016 Golden Buzzer recipient and finalist of America's Got Talent, is...

As the fight continues over the future of the Christopher Columbus statue in downtown Syracuse, supporters of keeping the statue turned out for a rally in front of the statue at Columbus Circle on Saturday morning, Oct. 7. Multiple people at the rally spoke in favor of the statue. People against the Columbus statue also attended and held a banner r...

The Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) is excited to announce the upcoming staged reading of “Maria Teresa Vaglio: An Italian Mystery” by Donna Inglima. This immigrant story, charged with humor and emotional pain, explores themes of abandonment, family dysfunction, and the resilience of the human spirit. This biographical upstate NY story takes the a...