By Angela Montefinise

At around 5:30 p.m. each Saturday evening, the doors of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Astoria open and a flood of Queens residents comes pouring out, discussing the news of the week in a variety of Italian dialects and accents, and all trying to get their points across.

They are leaving the church’s Italian Mass, which has been held at the 125-year-old church for the past 20 years.

Italian Americans in Astoria saved this statue of Columbus from being melted down during WWII by hiding it in Queens Borough Hall. Tribune Photo By Ira Cohen

Anna Cabelle, a 69-year-old Astoria resident who moved to Queens in 1946 from Sicily, spoke with a thick accent as she explained that she and her husband Anthony “come to Italian Mass as often as possible . . . . It’s nice to meet with the other Italians who still live in the neighborhood. A lot of them have gone. My sons have gone . . .  they live all the way east, you know.”

Cabelle said her two children — Anthony Jr. and Joseph — both moved to Douglaston after they graduated from St. John’s University. “They’re such smart boys. They went to school . . . college. They’re the first in our family. We’re so proud.”

The story of the Cabelle family is a common one in Queens, where thousands of Italians started as blue collar workers in Astoria, and ended up as white collar professionals in Bayside and Douglaston.

The borough’s Italian roots are planted firmly in Western Queens, where Italian meat shops and bocce courts still thrive. But strong Italian communities thrive in Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Glen Oaks, Floral Park and Bellerose, and “Italian” is the ancestry that more Queens people identify with than any other group.

Strength In Numbers

According to the 2000 Census, 187,540 residents of Queens identify themselves as Italian in ancestry, showing an increase in the number of Italians in the borough since 1990 and making the group the largest ancestral category besides “other” in Queens.

The Sorriso Italian Pork Store in Astoria is a reminder of the area’s old, Italian roots. Tribune Photo By Ira Cohen

Jerry Iannece, the chairman of Bayside’s Community Board 11 and legal counsel for the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Queens Incorporated, told the Tribune, “Italians have been very successful in this borough. We’re still very strong in numbers, we still wave the flag, we’re still very proud of our heritage . . . Italians are the largest ethnic group in the City, in the State and in the country. Most people don’t know that because it’s not a politically cohesive group. There are Italian Democrats, Republicans and so on. We don’t vote together, so we’re not looked at as a solid group. But we are.”

He added with a laugh that Italians “brought the world out of darkness more than one time,” with the Renaissance and several inventions, and said, “I happen to think we’re the most successful ethnic group on the face of the Earth.”

When it comes to the Italian neighborhoods in Queens, Iannece said, “I think if you look at the Italian areas of Queens, no matter where they are, you’ll see one and two family homes, kept very well, with very strong family units. That’s one thing Italians have definitely kept from their culture, the family unit. We still sit down every Sunday at the table and eat together. That part of the heritage will never disappear. As long as that’s the case, we’ll keep growing.”

Pride in Their Culture

Iannece, a lawyer from Bayside Hills who organizes the Queens Columbus Day Parade in Astoria every year and was the head of Italian American Students at New York University while in college, said he has seen a re-emergence of Italian pride. “Pride fluctuates. I think my parent’s generation — those that came in after the war in the 1950s —  were very in touch with their culture. Then the next generation lost touch for the most part. The only thing Italian about them was the vowel at the end of their names. Now, I think we’re seeing a reawakening of that Italian pride.”

He added, “People are getting in touch with their ethnicity and going to Astoria to eat and learning Italian. I see more going to Italy and learning their heritage. It’s great to see.”

An example of new Italian pride can seen in Vincent Marchenzo, a 19-year-old Whitestone resident who was also leaving Italian Mass at one recent Saturday evening. He said his parents never learned Italian, and said, “They say they’re Italian, but really, they just cook spaghetti and say they’re Italian.” Marchenzo learned Italian from his grandmother who lives in Middle Village, and attends Italian Mass with her almost every week in Astoria.

He plans to visit Italy next summer, and said, “I feel a real pride in my heritage now. My parents go to Mass with me sometimes, and they are definitely proud of where they came from. But not as much as I am . . . I see a lot of other kids my age really proud of their Korean roots or their Chinese roots, but not as many in touch with Italian roots. Now, more are feeling that way. Especially in the last few years or so.”

Iannece said, “Italians came to Queens mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, but some as early as the 1930s, after living basically in Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx when they first came to America in the early 1900s. They congregated mostly in one or two family attached homes in neighborhoods like Astoria, Maspeth, Middle Village, Elmhurst and Corona. You know, close to Manhattan where many of them worked in factories. My mom was a seamstress and my dad was a waiter in a restaurant, and those types of jobs were very common.

Some of the borough’s best bocce courts can be found in the old Italian sections of Queens, like this one in Astoria. Tribune Photo By Ira Cohen

“The Italians came to Queens for a more suburban life, and as they settled into the borough, emphasized education and learning English. Their children went to school, and many of them went into the professions. They became lawyers and doctors, and the trend was that they moved east to Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Malba, Whitestone, and areas like that . . . As they moved up in the world and had more money, they moved into bigger homes in more rural areas. The numbers show that.”

According to census figures, in 1960 three-quarters of the Italian population of Queens lived in Western Queens. In 2000, three-quarters live in Eastern Queens. Iannece said, “Just like any ethnic group, the Italians moved on into nicer neighborhoods. My family moved to Bayside Hills. Many families moved to Nassau County or Long Island. You see that with a lot of groups.”

Although most of the borough’s Italian Americans live in Eastern Queens, there are still symbols of the first Italian settlements in Western Queens, including a statue of Christopher Columbus on 33rd Avenue and Astoria Boulevard, right under the Triborough Bridge.

According to Iannece, the cast iron statue was built just before World War II by Italians living in Astoria, but could not be erected because the residents couldn’t afford money for the statue’s base.

Once World War II broke out, the government was melting down statues to make bullets, and since the Columbus statue didn’t have a base, it was a prime candidate to be destroyed.

The Italians in the area decided to hide the statue in the basement of Queens Borough Hall so it wouldn’t get melted down... and they succeeded.

The statue survived the war, the Italians raised enough money for the base, and the statue still stands. Iannece said, “That’s a great story, and it shows the resilience of the Italians. They got together and didn’t let anything happen to that statue.”

The Queens Columbus Day Parade is held near the statue every year in Astoria, and Iannece said, “Every time I look at that statue during the parade, I’m proud. I think everyone is.”

Italians may have been unified behind the statue, but at times, differences between Italians caused conflict in early Italian neighborhoods.

Iannece said, “People from Northern Italy looked down on people from Southern Italy, and people from the Mainland looked down on people from Sicily. Sure, that stuff happened. There was some jealousy and some biasness. Even people from town to town. But I don’t see too much of that now.”

Carlo Bucich, the president of Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League and an active member of the Italian Federation, agreed that bias isn’t common anymore, and said, “There was some friction when Italians who spoke different dialects couldn’t communicate, but that’s not an issue anymore.”

Still, Bucich laughed when his friend Joe DiPietro – president of Astoria Italia Soccer – told the Tribune that his home in Sicily was right near a mountain.

Bucich, who’s from Istria, said, “That’s all you got down there, is mountains.” He added, “There’s still a lot of pride in our own town and culture. We joke around, but there’s no division anymore. Maybe when Italians first came, but I don’t see it anymore.”

Bucich is part of the Istria Club in Astoria, and is proud of fellow Istria native Lidia Bastianich, a professional chef with her own cookbooks and television show. Bastianich lives in Douglas Manor and is a member of the Istria club, and Bucich said, “It’s true, many Italians left Astoria and went to Douglaston. But we like it here.” DiPietro added, “I’m not leaving. We got roots here.”

Throughout Astoria and other sections of Western Queens, the “roots” DiPietro is talking about are evident at stores like Sorriso’s Italian Pork Store, with its hanging salami and prosciutto, and Forno Italia, with its brick oven pizza and handmade mozzarella that has been distributed around New York longer than any other City distributor’s mozzarella.

There are bocce courts on Steinway Street between Ditmars Avenue and 23rd Avenue. Old World Italians are always playing bocce and cards, and can be heard discussing the latest news in Italian.

During a recent visit there, the Tribune was told by 72-year-old Vito Rippenegro that, “the games here are the best.” He added, “I always play cards here with the boys. It’s a way to stay in touch with the neighborhood.”

Astoria native Thomas Bufonte agreed, and said, “Some of us still stay in touch with relatives in Italy and we hear what’s going on back there. It’s old fashioned.”

Rippenegro came to America in 1939, and lived in Flatbush for 10 years before his family moved to Astoria. He said, “I remember what it was like. All the kids in school spoke broken English. We all spoke Italian . . . Our parents all worked in Manhattan factories or in Brooklyn places. Everyone in the neighborhood was like a family. We all lived with people from the same part of Italy . . . I got married, my kids got the same thing. Education, education, education. Now they live out there in [Long Island]. I never could have dreamed they would have gone so far.”

“I’m proud to be Italian,” he added. “We’re the best bocce players anywhere.”

Although Astoria is usually home to the Old World Italians, it is also home to the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Queens Incorporated, which is an umbrella organization for other Italian organizations. It runs citizenship drives, announces job opportunities, holds English classes, offers cultural trips and several other things, not just for Italians, but for everyone.

Bucich said, “This is Italians giving back to the community that gave them so much . . . Now, different immigrants are coming here, and we’re helping them to succeed like we have.”

One thing that the Federation offers local institutions is a soccer field next door to the Astoria Con Edison plant.

The Federation lets local schools and soccer leagues use the field for free but recently closed the field so it can be completely rebuilt.

Bucich said, “The field is in terrible condition. Now, it’s getting redone. New grass, new everything.” Iannece said, “It’s going to be really nice. We’re excited about it . . . It just shows that we’re still going strong.”