Public Employee Press

Celebrating Italian Heritage

Union members joined their family and friends and came together for an afternoon of great food and entertainment at the 12th annual Italian Heritage Celebration Nov. 3 at Russo’s on the Bay in Queens.

Traffic Employees Local 1455 President Michael DeMarco, chair of the DC 37 Italian Heritage Committee, welcomed the members at the annual extravaganza.

“We’re very proud of our Italian-American heritage and the contributions that we have made to this city, to this state and to our country,” said DeMarco.

DeMarco also complimented the hard work of the committee members who coordinated the yearly dinner-dance. “They do a fantastic job, year after year, of organizing this event,” he pointed out.

Maf Misbah Uddin, DC 37 treasurer and president of Local 1407, spoke on behalf of Lillian Roberts, who was not able to attend. “Everyone always looks forward to celebrating with this committee, because they put on one of the best celebrations in DC 37,” said Uddin.

During the early 1900s New York experienced a wave of immigration as millions of Italians arrived in the city and went to work in the garment trades and the construction industry, where they helped start and build powerful trade unions.

In the 1930s, when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia worked to base city hiring less on politics and more on qualifications, many second generation Italian-Americans entered the city’s civil service system and in many instances helped found locals of DC 37.