In May 2001 I had the pleasure of interviewing, for the newspaper America Today, Gary Garibaldi, then president of the Wooster Street Professional Association Inc., an association of which are part of local traders and professionals.
Garibaldi, in the 1980s, was born and raised in the Little Italy of New Haven. He had witnessed the changes and evolution that the neighborhood had lived over the years and still lived with his family in Wooster Street.
Sitting on a bench of the square adjacent to the arch, we talked for a long time. Next, approaching the iron monument, the new symbol of Wooster Street, historical district, I asked him where the idea of erecting that arch was born and what it represented.
Before answering my question, Garibaldi wanted to explain to me that the Wooster Street Business and Professionals Association had been established with the aim of revitalizing the area.
The Italian families who still lived in Wooster Street were very few, while the shops and restaurants continued to be present, although the neighborhood had lost most of its original population. As a result, a progressive deterioration of the area had occurred, making it necessary to undertake an important redevelopment work.
In fact, with the help of the mayor of New Haven, John DeStefano, in a year they managed to renew the sewers, the road, public lighting and the sidewalks.
Continuing our conversation, Garibaldi finally answered my question about the origin of the arch.
He told me that the idea was born during a meeting, when he and his colleagues remembered the beautiful and majestic arches of St. Louis, Providence (Rhode Island) and Baltimore. This is how they decided to make one in their Small Italy.
“It will serve to welcome visitors, but above all it will be a memorial dedicated to all Italians who, at the beginning of the last century, came to America to settle here, in Wooster Street, along with their families,” Garibaldi said.
In a short time they managed to raise the necessary funds and complete the project.
The bronzed iron arch, decorated with drawings of miniature trees, was inaugurated on July 16, 2000. It is supported by two red brick columns, on which plates are affixed with the names of those who contributed economically to the realization of the project.
Among the many public exercises in Wooster Street are the famous Neapolitan pizzerias: Zeneli, Pepe, Council and Sally in Pizza.
Gary Garibaldi was born in New Haven on Christmas Day in 1918, shortly after the end of World War I. He was a veteran fighter of World War II. In 1944 he landed in Paestum with the American troops, taking part in the invasion and campaign of Salerno, the subsequent Italian campaign in France. Garibaldi died on 15 December 2009.
In the photo collage are: the former Consul d’Italia of Connecticut Alfonso Panico and Gary Garibaldi, President of the “Wooster Street Business and Professional Association. ”
L’articolo The “Memory” arch in Little Italy, on Wooster Street in New Haven proviene da IlNewyorkese.
