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A Visit to Rome’s Little Italy District By Suzi Anderson, planetutica.org
Rome’s “Little Italy” is newly expanded, historic and rapidly growing. The Little Italy district includes the Savoy Restaurant, a third generation Italian landmark owned by the Destito family and The Plaza Restaurant, opened in 1907, celebrating 100 years in business this year.
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PlanetUtica.Org’s Suzi Anderson outside Rocco Gualtieri’s Italian Market, located in Rome’s Little Italy” district.
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Certainly, the “crown jewel” of Rome’s Little Italy district is the historic and updated Gualtieri’s Italian Market, which was recently restored by Rocco Gualtieri and reopened with the assistance of Rome’s Main Street Alliance project.
I consider myself to be a lucky woman. I'm from a family with strong ties and recently I was able to spend time with Ron, my oldest nephew, when we paid a personal visit to Rocco Gualtieri's Italian Market part of Rome, New York's newly designated “Little Italy”. Walking through the front door of this third generation family-owned business is like stepping into the past. David Gualtieri and his wife Carla are the present day shop keeps and owners. Their business partner is David's godson, Greg Sacco along with his daughter, Christa.
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Rocco Gualtieri with a photo of the Italian Market as it looked three generations ago. See Below for Close-Up
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Much of the décor is as it was in the original store; there are original ironworks located at the cashier’s counter, Rocco Gualtieri's original bank safe was modified to fit in place in one of the walls (reminding us of a time when the store was also a bank), and above our heads spans a replica of the original tin ceiling (see below for close-up). To authentically replicate the tin ceiling’s design, a piece of the original tin ceiling was shipped to Ohio and reproduced for the current store.
The store is filled with wonderful, authentic Italian foods including barrels filled with olives and dried beans, shelves lined with oils, tomatoes, herbs and spices and a variety of dried pastas. The mouth-watering deli has a wide variety of Italian meats and aromatic, delicious cheeses.
David comes from a family that has always worked hard. David's grandfather, Rocco Gualtieri, came to America in 1901 with Mary Angela. In 1902 they bought their first piece of property on Rome’s Dominick Street. He turned it into a store, selling imported delicacies to the Italian community. He was a busy, multi-talented man. He also served the community as a travel agent, a banker and provided assistance with legal matters. Whenever you visit Rome, NY, please pay a visit to Little Italy and the newly updated and historic Gualtieri's Grocery Store.
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Thousands Gather in Central New York to Protest War in Iraq By Don and Diane Stebbins, planetutica.org
We were among the approximately 3000 people who gathered in Syracuse this past fall to express our outrage at the continuation of the occupation of Iraq. The Syracuse Peace Council which was one of the event’s organizers (along with Iraq Veterans Against the War NYS) reported in their Peace Newsletter “strong participation from students, organized labor, military families and veterans.” People expressed anger at being told a “myriad of lies concerning the reasons for the war and the lack of progress since the war started over four and a half years ago.”
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Thousands Gather to Protest Ongoing War in Iraq photo by Don Stebbins
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The marchers represented a cross section of American society and even included Iraq war veterans and the families of military personnel currently in Iraq. The Iraqi war veterans, in particular, expressed the hope that the war would end soon, so that others would not have to face what they described as “a tragic situation where friend and foe become indistinguishable.”
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Respected Human Rights Activist, Fr. Fred Daley (formerly of Utica) speaks about the war.photo by Don Stebbins
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Relatives of men and women stationed in Iraq anxiously reported that they simply “hope and pray every day for an end to the hostilities.”
Several speakers lashed out at the illegality of the war and the disastrous agenda of the Bush administration. Roman Catholic priest Father Fred Daley, formerly of Utica’s St Francis de Sales in Utica, reminded the religious community of their obligation to work for peace with a passionate speech decrying the lack of opposition to the war among the various clergy and churches in the upstate New York area.
Pride and (Slow) Progress in Central New York By Ron Klopfanstein, planetutica.org
People around the country celebrate June as Gay Pride Month. In our area Mohawk Valley Pride organized a ceremony raising of the Gay Pride rainbow flag outside Uticas City Hall on June 2nd. The event was attended by over 150 people.
The president of Mohawk Valley Pride, Cindy Stacy told PlanetUtica.Org that the days events, particularly the opening statements by Rev. Lynn Ashley of the Barneveld Unitarian Universalist Church reminded attendees why it is important for everyone to come together. Rev. Ashley illustrated how the symbols of the movement both celebrate the progress that has been made in achieving visibility and equality as well as the discrimination overcome in the past and still fought in the present. One of her most moving examples was the pink triangle which during World War II was used to mark gay prisoners in Nazi death camps and is now a symbol of defiance and survival. She also talked about the meaning of the rainbow flag and how it was first displayed in San Francisco in the 1970s and has also been proudly on display at Uticas annual Gay Pride Parades.
Another reason to celebrate came earlier this year when Governor Eliot Spitzer, fulfilled a campaign promise to introduce a bill to legalize same sex marriage. On June 19th New York State Assembly successfully voted 85 to 61 to pass A.B. 8590, the Assemblys bill that would provide same-sex couples with the equal right to marry under state law. According to the Human Rights Campaign blog this groundbreaking bill was supported by Democratic Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito; however other local Assemblymen David R. Townsend, William Magee and Mark Butler voted against the bill.
Although the bill isnt expected to be brought to a vote this year by the Republican-controlled New York State Senate; it represents a ground breaking achievement and fulfills the new governors boldest campaign promise and appropriately coincides with the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia which ended the ban on interracial marriage in the United States; and recognized that marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man" at the heart of the 14th Amendment protections.
Unfortunately this important civil rights bill faces resistance from local state senators such as Joseph Griffo (Republican), who covers much of Central New York. Senator Griffo wrote in an email to PlanetUtica.Org that he does not believe that recognizing marriage by same sex partners is appropriate. Traditional beliefs that define a family structure as based on marriage between a man and a woman, he insisted, are part of the bedrock values in the communities I serve as a Senator.
Senators David Valesky (Democrat) and James Seward (Republican) who also represent portions of Central New York in the state senate did not reply to requests by PlanetUtica.Org for comments.
As Gay Pride Month continues the fight for equality will continue; members of the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) community will up for their rights to simply live as Mohawk Valley Pride President Cindy Stacy describes, out proud! and they will carry the fight for full marriage equality into New York States future.
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