Monday, March 5, 2012

Italian pedestrian plaza in Whitestone?

Buongiorno Crapper ("Signore Merda?"):

Here's a link to an article (in Italian) from America Oggi dated February 7 (your computer can do a rough translation).

Article says scheduled for June 2013, the triangle of land bounded by Frankie Lewis, 23rd Avenue and 163rd Street (mistakenly written as 163rd Road) will be turned into Piazza Italia complete with a Romanesque entry arch and bricks in the pavement with the names of Italians who have contributed to the nation. Permits were granted for "the community" to go ahead with the deal. Article says that these came from the DOT (and not Parks) - hmnnn? Public land given away here? Check it out. I only read about this in America Oggi nowhere else.

Ciao, Giorgiotheatheist

47 comments:

Joe said...

But why ?
Isn't Whitestone mostly Irish and Hispanic ?
Even for Italian the description appears to be a tacky crappy euro looking thing.
These jackass people need to leave things alone this isn't Europe.
I'm half Italian and been to Italy, a good 3/4 of the population is perverts, swingers, bad drivers and pickpockets.
Why a tribute to this ?

-Joe

Anonymous said...

be careful, my barber is located there. they are the best......

Anonymous said...

Uhh Joe you have no idea what the demographic is of whitestone, you should do some research before you open you big pizza mouth

Anonymous said...

Weird? How about the Greek Plaza in Astoria on 30th Ave. Neighborhood park was taken from us.No uproar or comments on that ?

Anonymous said...

how much muney is this costing the taxpayers? who is responsible for getting the funding to make this happen and exactly how much muney is it costing? where is the muney coming from? Read that article and it mentioned the whitestone bundler as being the main guy,isnt his wife hallorans neighbor? smell something fishy, and it aint baccalla!

Anonymous said...

So the Malba/Whitestone/Beechurst "boys" want to erect a "goombah arch" to commemorate Italians who prefer concrete over trees...in the quest to outdo each other by flooding the nabe with oversize tasteless Mc Mansions.

Ba fa'n coolo!

Mangia mi catzzo!

Maybe Joey "d'or" Franco will contribute the money....LOL!

Anonymous said...

Mamma mia...a pizza plaza?

Why not a peperoni park?

Hey the Bowne Park bocce court needs an espresso cafe.

FluShing Rezident said...

Yes - let's celebrate those great Italians that are always telling their kids to "..get their effing asses into the car!" at Marinos.

Or the jackass I saw pull another guy out of the car for a beating on Bayside Lane - yes - again right near Marino's!

Who are we celebrating - Tony Soprano?

The Italians in this area are a bunch or violent, uneducated, uncouth bullies!

Their culture is NOTHING to celebrate! Perhaps the Italians in Italy are more civilized.

Anonymous said...

Look at it this way....
the next season of the Sopranos can be filmed right here.

Episode #1:

A late night visit to Charlie "the chicken's" waterfront compound in Malba...to fit a 3'x 6' concrete Block under the boat dock he's building.

Is anyone encased inside it?

Duh...we dunno!

Alfredo C said...

Wow so much hatred of Italians and Americans of Italian origin, I am surprised. After all I expected the public be more educated, and not believe the Sopranos, Jersey Shore stereotypes.

This goes to show how we need this Piazza along with other venues to educate the public on all the Italian Americans have achieved in this country.


Goes to show you that the Anti Italian American sentiment is still out there amongst a handful of ignorant, racist, bigots.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the Italians in Italy are more civilized.
---------------------------

They are, by a wide margin. I lived in Tuscany for a while. Entirely different class of people. They are embarrassed when some of these wops here in the US claim to be "Italian"

Topo Gigio, the Italian Mouse said...

Eddee...keez mi gudnite.

Anonymous said...

Alfredo,

These barbarians are just jealous.

I always said this site is anti-Italian.

I wonder if there would be an uproar if they did a Plaza in Rockaway celebrating Irish heritage or in Glendale celebrating German heritage.

Anonymous said...

First of all, Whitestone is very Italian -- as is large parts of North Flushing. Census data is your friend.

Second, it is a tiny triangle that can barely hold a few people. We really are going to get outraged over this spec of land being made into an Italian-American memorial?

Save me this holier than thou indignation when hundreds of businesses in Flushing blatantly break New York State law with Chinese and Korean only signs to "reflect" their ethnic population -- and no one does a thing.

Please...first it's bacci-ball gate and now it's Italian-plaza gate.

Anonymous said...

Alfredo, we Irish in Rockaway are a simple folk, we would be happy if the Mayor simply left us alone to drink a beer on the beach. Our memorials are left to the fallen in war and in tragedies. If the Italians want an arch to celebrate there heritage in this country so be it, they have done enough to earn it.

Anonymous said...

After all I expected the public be more educated, and not believe the Sopranos, Jersey Shore stereotypes.
----------------------------

Meanwhile, the people who embrace those stereotypes the most are the Italians themselves. They take pride in what others would see as an embarrassment. They all like to pretend they have an uncle who has 'connections' and all pretend to know how to speak Italian. Meanwhile they haven't had a relative step foot in Italy in six generations.

Anonymous said...

Is Frankie Lewis a clever new way of saying Francis Lewis?

Anonymous said...

What's the point of an Italian park in Whitestone or an Athens Square in Astoria? In a generation or two their children will move on to other places.

Harlem is no longer all black, LES is not so Jewish either. All neighborhoods are temporary in America.

Anonymous said...

we students of Bob (Gigante) Grant,of Bob Grant On Line,should notify him of this italian ethnic bashing.Each Columbus day he would vocalize the tribute to Italians who have contributed much to society.
it should be played on this site for honest balance.

all groups have negatives amongst the group.

Joe said...

Dont tell me about pizza I'm am former pizza maker whos started making pies at age 9 at my uncles joint on Knickerbocker.

All the pizza I tried in Queens in the past year sucks ! Some of it is actually worse then frozen supermarket brands
Here is 2 examples: The once great Icons like Joe&John and Coratos pizza in Ridgewood. BOTH SUCK now serve dried up reheated slices from pre-cooked pies on racks.
And WORSE --spicy like spanish food (or battery acid take your pick). No different then the sh*t they serve in Souther California.
This "spanishfied" Italian cooking is now going on all over Queens. This proposed "stucca-caca" in Whitestone is likley a sham for contractors and some concrete & masonary companys.
We all know who will be doing the cooking and pizza making.
A park is MUCH better

Ned said...

Whitestone Barbie
- This Italian Princess Barbie comes with teased black hair, 12 gold chains, 7 gold bracelets, 8 rings and 1 ankle bracelet.
She gets lost easily and has no full time occupation or secondary education.
Included are a permanently attached cell phone, hooped earings, black Hummer & Starbucks cup. Accompanying Ken doll has been replaced with a black haired Tony doll with hairy chest, gel and hairdryer kit.

-Ned

Anonymous said...

After all I expected the public be more educated, and not believe the Sopranos, Jersey Shore stereotypes.
----------------------------

Meanwhile, the people who embrace those stereotypes the most are the Italians themselves. They take pride in what others would see as an embarrassment. They all like to pretend they have an uncle who has 'connections' and all pretend to know how to speak Italian. Meanwhile they haven't had a relative step foot in Italy in six generations.

Really?

I as an Italian American am ouraged by the way these idiots act on Jersey shore and most Italians I know hate it as well because it makes us look stupid. just beacuse some dopey tennagers embrace this way dont sterotype all of us. My hero isnt the sopranos or jersey shore. My hero is my Father and Grand father who fought for this country, and other true Italian Americans that gave their life for this country like John Basilone. BTW take a look at the list of Firefighers that died on 911, pleanty of how you say goombah names on there buddy.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's nice to see a group other than Asians - oh, excuse me, some QC readers prefer to call them Asiatics - get criticized on Queens Crap.

Topo Gigio, the Italian Mouse said...

Ed-deeee!...I'm still waiting for you to keeeez meeeee gudnite!

Anonymous said...

all you people don't see or are diverting for a pupose, is that the city council has allocated millions for this project and the money is being stolen from under our noses by one or two people!!

halloran himself has allocated half a million and was overheard bragging about getting the rest of the council to kick in another 2 million!!

that is the point. whitestone is full of italians and greeks so what if a triangle is designated "piazza italia" the point is to follow the money!!

while we are at it my group gave 200 for the welcome to whitestone sign which according to the people in charge had everything donated that sign costs no more that 1,500 why the 5,000 price tag??

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! CONNECT THE DOTS!!!

Alfredo C said...

While I agree with the commentator "Alfredo c" I must say the way this post has envoked so may negative, racist, and ignorant comments is disturbing. Whitestone has a very large community of Americans of Italian descent, so a piazza or a square or anything that honors the accomplishments of Italians and especially Americans of Italian descent. Is a good thing.

Why the hostility people?

If done properly this could be a very positive thing. Every ethnic group has it's bad, but also their good. Unfortunately most commentators on this particular post decided to focus on the negative stereotypes.

I hope this Piazza is done properly and for the entire community.

Joe, I don't know if you were being fecisious or are just a fraud. Where in Italy have you been and when? For the record, two out of the three churches in Whitestone have Italian mass, so the numbers must warrant it!

I just hope this is done right. Maybe the next project will be to fix Little Bay soccer fields, and make the six acre lot into the fields I have proposed.

georgetheatheist said...

Bambini, you're all missing something.

Who are Mario and Giovanna D'Elia and Carmello Cavaliere? How come they get to call the shots? Where was the public hearing for this project in Whitestone? If it wasn't for the mention in America Oggi, almost a month ago, you'd all be faced with a fait accompli. Did the area elected representatives or the community papers put you wise to this? That's right, in 2012.

Anonymous said...

Our group gave 200 for the welcome to whitestone sign which according to the people in charge had everything donated that sign costs no more that 1,500 why the 5,000 price tag?

Our group also gave $250.
What was donated? Where did the $5000 price tag come from? Why don't the elected officials request an accounting?

After all if money was donated for a particular purpose and was not used for that purpose it should have been returned. If it was not that is theft! Our elected officials should request an
accounting of expenses and who donated what. They should then publish it in one of the local papers for the
community to see.

Knowing the people involved in this piazza a very close eye must be kept on the financing and expenditures. A very close eye!

Joe said...

"vocalize the tribute to Italians who have contributed much to society".
----------------------
WRONG !
Im an audio Engineer who happens to know Bob Grant, Sliwa and Hannity. I even engineered some of his broadcasts at WOR. From what I get Bob "gives tribute" to Italians in the PAST who "ONCE" have contributed much too 18th and 19th century AMERICAN society"
Not some Bayside or Whitestone Pol, contractor or resteraunt owner with hands (and money) in each others laps

Let snot forget other American born Italians of today (including members in my own family & extended family)
Showing off and living way beyond their means, always out to make a quick $$ buck to pay for it all. This usually at the cost of making other hard working people miserable.
The Grandparents would have smacked them in the head or disowned them had they been alive today.
Every time I have had to battle someone wanting to put some fucco-caca some underhanded sneeky Greek or Italian under age 50 is almost always involved.

This proposed structure in Whitestone sounds fishy. More like a group of special interest political hacks and local mobbed up brazen contractors looking to build "a tribute to themselves"
I bet they already have the fonts and names picked out and NOT ONE OF THEM was born in Whitestone or Italy.
That makes them no different the Bloomberg mob in my opinion.

My grandparents names are etched on Ellis and Liberty Island. They came here to BECOME AMERICANS not to build monuments to themselves, cheat or force crap down people throats. They wanted NOTHING to do with the "old country" and its politics or architecture the day they became Americans

-J

Anonymous said...

mario and giovanna delia are asstoria insiders who have been playing this game a very long time and have moved their circus tent to a new neighborhood with the same players

they are the malba bundler and wife for their councilman

as a matter of fact her office was right next door to the same councilman until the heat got too hot and she decided to move her office to a smaller space at what rumor has double the rent

under the old school board system many a rumor abounds about a pay to work scheme that netted them thousands if not millions family rumor is that my uncle paid to get a job when his wife had their second child and he needed the raise

mario was and might still be the president of the borgetto club in asstoria and rumor also has it he owns the building

why do they get to call the shots? all they money being bundled along with the illusion of bringing in votes to the councilman

yes this was a fast one about to be pulled over the eyes of the people living in whitestone

follow the money

these people have hid behind schools and school children for years and made a pretty penny from it as well

there are no public hearings in community board 7 when the council decides they want something

how much money did it cost the taxpayer

how much money did the council provide for this

according to another article i read in the whitestone times and later published on this blog halloran admitted to allocating some $500,000 to this and upon further research the queens delegation also provided monies some of which was funneled thru other legitimate groups and then to be redistributed for the piazza how true who knows but worth looking into no


Giorgio sei bravo

vive la merde

Anonymous said...

Boy this thread goes off topic easily...

As someone who lives very close to this "plaza" (i.e., tiny triangle the community maintains that no one even notices because it is so small), you are all making a mountain out of a molehill.

First, the permit probably came from DOT because it is a TINY TRIANGLE in the middle of a STREET. It is not a park.

Second, no one even knows who is paying for the bricks or the "arch." Mind you how an "arch" is going to be built is a mystery to me because the triangle has a body's width size slat of concrete running through it and an "arch" at the entrance would look ridiculous. But, who knows.

Finally, for all those bitchin' about the baci courts and the cost, I actually saw this weekend in Bowne Park how all the land to the west of the court was soaked in water from the rain -- looked like a swamp. Pretty obvious that some drainage work, as the estimate noted, needs to be done. Now, I do agree the cost seems very high, but I do think the argument that it's not just a simple job is likely accurate (from what I saw first-hand this weekend),

Anyway, I look forward to the Italian plaza and all the bitchin' and moaning on here ain't going to stop it! Bigger issues people!

-GLB

Anonymous said...

They gotta (or is it gotti) mark their turf like a canne (pooch) pisses on a lamp post.

Welcome to Bianca Pieta (Whitestone) casa di la famiglia.

You should see the "castles" the former citizens of Borchetto Sicily are building.

Remember the good old days when the mobsters lived in Bay Ridge?

Now they live in Whitestone, Malba and Beechurst.

C'mon cut the BS and admit it.

The Borchettanos have already taken over St. Lukes church.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for it.

Let's do guided bus tours of the new "Mob Land".

Put up a "Hollywood" type sign on the shore welcoming the river tours to Whitestone landing.

Then we can all grab lunch at Joey "d-or" Franco's White House.

Dan Halloran will be tending bar.

Anonymous said...

Puh-leeze...
a plaza to commemorating high Italian culture?

It's not that the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo Buonorotti, Marconi, etc live there.

A bunch of wanabee Sforzas and Medicis...
pasta twirling principos and principessas...recently elevated peasant stock...that inhabit the region.

Anonymous said...

all the hate you spew only makes us that much stronger. I think most of you are jealous that we are proud to be American first but are also proud of and hold on to our lineage and roots as well, which apparently most of you have forgotten. and is sad because that is waht makes America great. We are ALL Americans first. Spew on jealous haters.

Anonymous said...

Haters just jealous cause Whitestone and Bayside are still beautiful parts of Queens and better than the cesspool Corona and Downtown/West Flushing became when the Italians left.

Anony2 said...

Jeez, I'm starting to think Paul Castellano was on to something when he made the Italian anti-defamation league!

This tiny little tribute to the Italians seems more like a "take this!" to the Asians that are quickly surrounding the neighborhood from all sides. Has anyone taken a look at the houses along the water in CP and Whitestone? They have created an entirely Asian community complete with free shuttle buses to downtown Flushing. We have a few square miles left that are still diverse (not colonized.) This is a stand to say we can't be colonized!

A Jewish tribute would vandalized, and everyone would scream special interest, plus who would back it? The Greeks have Astoria (for now.) What other non-Asian or non-Hispanic group is densely populated enough in the neighnorhood to warrant a tribute to their heritage? Only the Italians.

Look up a 1960 phone book and look all the names in Clearview and the surrounding area. Entirely Italian and Jewish. Heck, take a 1980 phone book and it was still the same!

Anonymous said...

RE: joe..."you drunken slut" as per quote from Dan Aykroyd,SNL

the Bob Grant tape of tribute to Italians who made world wide contributions to our society would enlighten the poor souls who choose to ridicule and slander on this site ?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful my cooletto!

Beauty is in the eye (or the ass) of the beholder.

Look at all of that "beeeautiful" (LOL) fartchitecture...cassas di cacinas...pallazzos stu cazzos...that uglify Malba, Whitestone and Beechurst.

Just a bunch of walyos putting on airs.

Anonymous said...

I'll take Douglas Manor or Forest Hills Gardens over Whitestone any day.

Those areas are realy beautiful not like a bunch of right off the boat Italian hillbilly's idea of a dream nabe.

Anonymous said...

Corona was always a cesspool even before the Italians lived there.

It was always a nondescript working class neighborhood.

And Italians never really dominated west Flushing.

Get your info right "chitrool".

Anonymous said...

I'm Italian American and proud of my roots but ashamed and disgusted by the "yos" who destroyed all of those gracious old Malba homes to build their mafioso fortresses.

These "gavones" give us real Italians a bad rep.

And I don't need some ginzo wedding palace inspired pedestrian plaza to remind me of my rich heritage.

Anonymous said...

#34...Marconi etc.....the U.S.Supreme Court ruled that his document patents for the invention of the radio were invalid, and named NICOLA TESLA (a serbian) as the inventor of the radio.
TESLA also invented Alternating Current, used by a majority of the world.

Anonymous said...

We shouldn't have a park specifically for one type of nationality. Every type of person is going to demand his own piece of concrete decorated in their "style". How do you say no to them? You give to one, you have to give to all.

Anonymous said...

#36...it was Joe Columbo who began the italian/american anti-defamation league. he was hosting a rally at Columbus Circle ,when he was shot and comatose for while ,before dieing. his shooter( a black man) was immediately assassinated also.

it is reported that the bosses did not like the publicity he was bringing to them.

Anonymous said...

Back in the day, that area
was formerly Luchese territory.

Now the Gambinos have moved in and want to glorify themselves.

Cappo di cazzo...what a bunch!

Anonymous said...

Que bella cosa...fit for mafiosa.