Can you tell me that?

Sure, sure.

Generoso Pope, in the 30s, created the Columbus Citizens Committee.

And he was, for many years, he was the only Grand Marshal of the parade, and he started the parade.

But then in the 50s, a group of Italian-Americans came purchased the building on East 69th Street called the Columbus Citizen Foundation Townhouse, and they changed the parade in the sense of honoring a different Italian-American every year.

And that tradition continues.

And basically, the Columbus Citizen Foundation is a cultural and philanthropic uh, and, uh, support scholarships for, uh, students who, uh, who cannot afford to go to the schools that they wish, but have the, they don't have the financial means, but they have the, uh, educational criteria to do so.

In the 1890s,

Yeah

... you know, lies have been said.

And you say a lie enough time, unfortunately, people believe it, and that, that's, that's been our issue, uh, really.

And, uh, we, we gotta keep going and, uh, uh, and hopefully, uh, we will turn the tide even further going forward.

But, uh, God bless you, Joe, and I mean it most sincerely.

I'm not trying to be a nice guy.

Yeah.

Uh, with a great, uh, great program.

yeah

and have just known about christopher columbus and yeah we were lucky uh i mean uh i have to give credit i know you spoke earlier mentioned his name It was Andrew Cuomo who really helped get the statue at Columbus Circle on the map.

I mean, he helped me to have it part of the New York State and National Registries of Historical Monuments.

So I don't think anybody's going to touch it, but, you know, you never know.

unfortunately.

But I think the tide has turned.

I really do.

Is that

Your friend.

Your friend.

Friend.

Now, I've got to tell you that for many years, I was involved with the Columbus Foundation.

And I have to say that a great Italian-American... ray kelly was honored by the columbus foundation and this is a fact he was the only person in the history of my experience there that got a Standing ovation when he came up to make a speech.

Wow.

And that is the God's honest truth.

Can I

There's something with his lung.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, let's, uh, let's hope and pray that, uh, it's something that, that if caught way, ha- has time then he'll be fine.

I mean, he's another holy man.

But privileged to talk to you always, and especially on Columbus Day.

Uh, you've been the supporter of, of the, of Italian Americans your whole career, and, uh, I can't thank you enough.

Yes

[laughs]

... you know, I, I, that, that's one of my, uh, I'm very proud of that, and proud of being, uh, uh, you're not appointed, you're nominated.

And, um, and I've been on the board for about five years now, and will continue, I believe next year, until next year.

And, uh, I mean, there's so many things I can say.

Uh, you know, I, I, I believe that, uh, just keeping the, the, uh, the message alive, uh, and I think we've made a tremendous headway about the, the truth about Christopher Columbus.

And, you know, people say, you know what they say a lie enough times, uh, that people believe it.

And unfortunately, we have a woke community that, that, that just loves to keep lying about things.

Yes

Can you tell me that?

Sure, sure.

It, it's, uh, Generoso Pope in the, in the '30s, uh, uh, created the, uh, Columbus, uh, Citizens, uh, uh, Committee.

And, uh, he was the co- he was the...

For many years, he was the only Grand Marshal of the parade, and he started the parade.

But then in the '50s, uh, a group of Italian Americans, uh, uh, uh, purchased the building on East 69th Street called the Columbus Citizens Foundation Townhouse, and, and they changed the parade and, uh, in the sense of honoring a different, uh, Italian American, uh, every year, and that tradition is, is continued.

And basically, uh, the, uh, the, uh, Columbus, uh, Citizens Foundation is cultural and philanthropic, uh, and, uh, supports scholarships for, uh, students who, uh, who cannot afford to go to the schools that they wish, but have the, they don't have the financial means, but they have the, uh, educational criteria to do so.

[upbeat music] Crown Coins Casino.

Hey, Angelo, tell me your history, your family, if I may, because you're a world-famous restaurateur, but your family coming to America, Angelo, if I may.

Yes, sure.

My dad was born in a small town south of Naples called Bruciano.

He came here as a teenager.

He married the girl next door.

My mother was Sicilian, and they had a happy marriage.

God bless.

So I was very blessed and

And tell us how you feel and how a lot of your Italian friends feel.

Well, first and foremost, John, I must thank you and Margot for putting on the most incredible event.

I think people will be talking about it for years.

As far as 9-11 is concerned, it's been a tough couple of days just thinking about it.

25 years ago, but for me, it was like yesterday.

get that tragedy out of my mind.

And I hope that the young people who weren't alive at that time, and even those who were too young, will always remember what happened in our country at that time.

Any personal feelings on that?

And tell us how you feel and how a lot of your Italian friends

feel.

Well, first and foremost, John, I must thank you and Margot for putting on the most incredible event.

I think people will be talking about it for years.

As far as 9-11 is concerned, it's been a tough couple of days just thinking about it.

Twenty-five years ago, but for me, it was like yesterday.

to get that tragedy out of my mind.

Any personal feelings on that?

Well, Angelo, how do you feel about things going on right

now? The Italian-American community and people with common sense feel that words matter, and people talking about hate.

it only gets more hate so uh my my uh opinion is to reduce the talking and watch your words think about what you say before you say it because what you say matters and we've seen it in the city we've seen it in the country so i'm a big advocate for saying the truth and uh and not being alarmist and not talking about hate because as i said hate only brings on more hate it's inhuman it's not it's not what should be done in our country in our city or in the world what

How does the civilized world deal with the uncivilized world? By the way, a lot of it comes from lack

of education.

Well, you know, John, you just said it the way it is.

Uneducated people, people who are influenced by the politicians, by the haters, it's easy for them to do things that are against society, against a group of people.

And it's really very important that people realize that their words matter and that they cannot say things that are going to influence the people that are on the fringe.

How do you feel about things going on right now?

Well, thanks for this opportunity.

You know, the Italian-American community and people with common sense feel that words matter.

And people talking about hate, it only gets more hate.

So my opinion, and I think the opinion, as I said, of the Italian-American community and people who have common sense is to reduce hate.

the talking and watch your words.

Think about what you say before you say it.

Well,

Well, Angelo, give us your, your, your, your feelings from the Italian community, from yourself, Angelo Vivolo, on h- how you feel about things going on right now.

Well, thanks for this opportunity.

You know, [laughs] the Italian American community a- and, uh, people with common sense, uh, feel that words matter, and people talking about hate, it, it only gets more hate.

So, uh, my, my, uh, opinion, and I think the opinion, as I said, of the Italian American community and, and people who have common sense, is to reduce, uh, the, the talking and watch your words.

Think about what you say before you say it, because what you say matters, and, uh, a- and, and we've seen it, and we've seen it in the city, we've seen it in the country.

So, uh, I'm a big advocate for saying the truth and, uh, and not being alarmist and not talking about hate because, as I said, hate only brings on more hate.

It's inhuman.

They, those, those people in Palestine, the Hamas, have 14 children, and they say, "We'll give you $20,000 to, to feed the rest of your children if you allow us to take one of your, one of your ch- children to go out and, and do damage or kill Israelis."

And you were upset about certain things that are going on in the Italian community, Mr. Vivelo, and tell us about it.

Hey, John, thanks for having me on.

It was a difficult week.

We had... our mayor who neglected to include the Italian-American community in Little Italy and on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx in his new map of immigrant enclaves in New York City.

To date, it's a partial victory in that he's going to include, I understand, Little Italy.

But You know, he didn't include Arthur Avenue.

He didn't include Borough Park in Brooklyn with the biggest amount of Jews in the country.

Well, Angelo Vivolo, thank you for calling in this Sunday morning, and let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.

And you were upset about certain things that are going on in the Italian community, Mr. Vivalo, and tell us about it.

Hey, John, thanks for having me on.

It was a difficult week.

We had our mayor who neglected to include the Italian-American community in Little Italy and on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx in his new map of immigrant enclaves in New York City.

To date, it's a partial victory in that he's going to include, I understand, Little Italy.

But you know, he didn't include Arthur Avenue.

He didn't include, uh, Borough Park in Brooklyn with, uh, the biggest, uh, uh, the biggest amount of Jews in the country.

Well, Angelo Vivolo, thank you for calling in this Sunday morning, and let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.

And you were upset about certain things that are going on in the Italian community, Mr. Vivalo, and tell us about it.

Hey, John, thanks for having me on.

It was a difficult week.

We had our mayor who neglected to include the Italian-American community in Little Italy and on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx in his new map of immigrant enclaves in New York City.

To date, it's a partial victory in that he's going to include, I understand, Little Italy.

But you know, he didn't include Arthur Avenue.

He didn't include, uh, Borough Park in Brooklyn with, uh, the biggest, uh, uh, the biggest amount of Jews in the country.

Well, Angelo Vivolo, thank you for calling in this Sunday morning, and let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.

Thank you, Angelo.

I feel the same way.

I'm only saying the truth.

Thank you.

I'm only saying the truth.

That's beautiful.

I just got to say that this mayor is just incredible.

What do you guys do?

Angelo, you know, what do we do to make sure the city survives and the state survives?

Well, John, first, thank you for allowing me to be here with you.

Number one, if people had what you always talk about, common sense, we wouldn't be in this situation today with the kind of government that we're facing, especially here in New York City.

Look, we both love New York City.

We both hope it thrives.

But under the present leadership, I have my doubts.

We're chasing people out of the city, important people, people who can support the city, and that's really unfortunate.

And I guess it was a perfect storm.

What do we do to make sure the city survives and the state survives?

Well, John, first, thank you for allowing me to be here with you.

Number one, if people had what you always talk about, common sense, we wouldn't be in this situation today with the kind of government that we're facing, especially here in New York City.

Look, we both love New York City.

We both hope it thrives.

But under the present leadership, I have my doubts.

We're chasing people out of the city, important people, people who can support the city, and that's really unfortunate.

And I guess it was a perfect storm.

Angelo Vivolo, tell us about it.

Well, John, thanks for having me on this Sunday.

I can't tell you how delighted I am and the entire Italian-American community for the great support that President Trump and the decision that he made to bring the statue to the White House and have it on the White House ground.

This statue, as you know, as you said, was destroyed and put into the Baltimore Harbor.

And it wasn't an Italian-American who pushed it out.

It was just a great American.

who got it out of the water and had his son reconstruct the statue.

And I would hope that if there's a Democratic administration in the future, that they commit to leave the Columbus statue up.

Angelo Vivolo, tell us about it.

Well, John, thanks for having me on this Sunday.

I can't tell you how delighted I am and the entire Italian-American community for the great support that President Trump and the decision that he made to bring the statue to the White House and have it on the White House ground.

This statue, as you know, as you said, was destroyed and put into the Baltimore Harbor.

And it wasn't an Italian-American who fished it out.

It was just a great American.

who got it out of the water and had his son reconstruct the statue.

And I would hope that if there's a Democratic administration in the future, that they commit to leave the Columbus statue up.

And with us today is Angelo Vivalo and he's president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition of the Columbus Club and and well angelo vivolo can you believe

the year has gone by already unbelievable it's gone by so fast and so many things have happened and we're looking forward to uh 2026 for things to improve and uh one of the ways things can improve is that people realize that words matter and hate words matter and that what you talk about and say influences others uh to who create a hateful approach to different religions, and especially now, what's going on with anti-Semitism, especially now with Hanukkah.

And it's a tragedy.

It's really a tragedy.

And it's not only that words matter, it's people who don't speak up against hate.

That's just as bad.

We must all...

instead of closer together.

with us today is angelo vivolo from the columbus foundation we got an election in three days what are the italian people doing on this election i'm worried about new york angelo

John, this is the most crucial election in my lifetime.

And any possibility of voting for Zoma Mondami is a tremendous detriment to New York City, the city that we love.

Not only has he offended the Italian-American community by what he did in Astoria, by putting his middle finger up to the statue and promising to take the statue down, but he's an offense to all New Yorkers.

And I hope that New Yorkers use common sense, just do what you think is in the best interest of New York City, and we'll be fine.

He gave the middle finger to all Italians by doing what he did on Columbus Day?

Yes, he did.

Yes, he did.

What are the Italian people doing on this election? I'm worried about New York, Angelo.

John, this is the most crucial election in my lifetime.

And any possibility of voting for Zoma Mondami is a tremendous detriment to New York City, the city that we love.

Not only has he offended the Italian-American community by what he did in Astoria, by putting his middle finger up to the statue and promising to take the statue down, but he's an offense to all New Yorkers.

And I hope that New Yorkers use common sense, just do what you think is in the best interest of New York City, and we'll be fine.

He gave the middle finger to all Italians by doing what he did on Columbus Day?

Yes, he did.

Yes, he did.

If you want to hear the full interview,

go to wabcradio.com.

And Angelo Vivalo, how was the gala?

The gala was sensational.

God bless you and Margo.

I mean, this isn't just this year that you're supporting the Columbus Citizens Foundation.

You've been doing this for a number of years, and it's incredible.

We can't thank you enough for allowing the parade to be broadcast.