IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition Volume 1, Issue 36 A social, fraternal organization of more than 4,000 Italian American Law Enforcement officers in the State. William Schievella, President Editor: Patrick Minutillo Executive Secretary Visit us at http://www.iapsnj.org IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition Page 2 Volume 1, Issue 36 P RESIDENT’ S MESSAGE B ILL S CHIEVELLA topher Columbus and to of NYC are united to make erode the importance of the our voices heard. Our organi- Columbus Day Holiday. Over zation has joined with the the past few years, there has Italian Americans in the been a movement to elimi- NYPD, FDNY and others to nate the Columbus Day Holi- hold our elected officials that day in favor for “Indigenous allow this accountable. Persons Day”. While I do not object to the holiday, cele- I ask you to make this Co- brating the heritage of other lumbus Day the most cele- Americans, I am disgusted brated ever! Don your uni- that it is at the expense of form proudly and join us on Italian Americans. As you marching up 5th Avenue in know, Italian Americans Manhattan to show our Italian As you receive this maga- make up almost 25% of New American law enforcement zine, we will be ready to Cele- Jersey’s population. It is time pride. I urge you to bring brate Italian Heritage On Co- for our community to truly your family and make our lumbus Day. This holiday is unite and fight this attack up- voices heard through cele- full of history and Italian- on our heritage and culture. bration. I promise you that it American pride. It’s a time for Sadly it wasn’t until 2009 is a wonderful day. Come families to gather at ceremo- when then Governor Jon Cor- join the IAPSNJ, our brothers nies, parades and events to zine signed into law legisla- and sisters from NYPD, Con- show off our rich heritage. As tion sponsored by Senator necticut, Massachusetts and Italian American police offic- Anthony Bucco-Morris and Italy in enjoying OUR holiday. ers, this is an important time Senator Joseph Vitale- On Columbus Day the Thin to dispel the negative stereo- Middlesex that permanently Blue Line is Red White and types of our heritage being named October Italian Ameri- Green. intertwined with organized can Heritage Month in New crime. It’s a time for us to Jersey. This past week, NYC show how Italian Americans moved closer to removing Fraternally yours, in law enforcement have pro- the Statue of Christopher Co- tected and served with honor lumbus in Columbus Circle. William Schievella for many years. This is a time This statue is a landmark for to celebrate the accomplish- us and it would be a tragedy President ments of Italian Americans to alter or re- educators, judges, business move it. Our Na- leaders, physicians, priests tional Council and homemakers. President, Jo- seph Guagliardo, has led a move- Unfortunately, this year our culture and the Colum- ment in NYC that bus Day holiday is under fire. is fighting to stop Many forces are working this injustice. hard to smear the reputation Our brothers and sisters in the uni- of the great navigator Chris- formed services Visit us at http://www.iapsnj.org IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition Page 3 From the Editor Patrick Minutillo I statement in the numbers from found deaths and overstatement from this inter- the days when benefits includ- esting as ed cost-of-living adjustments it per- but a story emerges. tains to The massive increase in re- “New tirements in 2011 and 2012 in Jersey response to pension and health Retirees benefit reforms tailed off in Under Christie” which was 2012 and 2013 and then re- posted on August 1, 2017 by sumed the climb through 2016. burypensions blog. In 2017 the number of retire- New Jersey has updated ments dropped to the lowest their listing of retirees in the level since Christie’s first full state pension system. As of year in office, before the re- March, 2017 there were 325,937 forms. Is this a return to nor- retirees getting annualized ben- malcy in anticipation of a Dem- efits of 10,465,934,978. As ocrat governor? of June, 2017 there were 328,932 retirees getting annual- During a rally held on August ized benefits of 10,562,840,926. 24th NY State Sen. Savino in Breaking down these retire- support of keeping the statue DISGRACE! ments by year* we see an inter- of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Day is under esting pattern in the chart be- Columbus Circle. attack again, and there’s low : “That statue in Columbus This charts the number of Circle does not represent the more at stake than Italian- retirements and the benefits explorer, it represents the American pride. The currently being paid by period experience of the Italian campaign against immigrant population.” of retirement (from June to May Columbus Day is not Well said! each year) so there is under- anti-Italian, it is anti western civilization. Christopher Columbus Vandalized Statues In Boston, Baltimore and more. The obelisk at Herring Run in Baltimore is believed to be the first monument in the country to honor Columbus, erected in 1792. Visit us at http://www.iapsnj.org IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR BIG BROTHERS/BIG SISTERS Every year the IAPSNJ has the privilege to provide a festive Christmas Party complete with age appropriate gifts, face painting, surprise visits from some of our favorite action heroes, pizza, deserts and more for well over one hundred of our area’s children in need. O’yeah, did I forget to mention a special guest appearance by Santa himself and, of course, Mrs. Claus. This year’s party will be held on Saturday December 16th, from 12 pm to 3 pm and will once again be at the Whippany American Legion Post 155, located at 13 Legion Place, Whippany, N.J.. As always we could use the help of our uniformed of- ficers on that day to help hand out gifts and escort Santa and Mrs. Claus. Visit us at http://www.iapsnj.org IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition On July 22nd the Italian American Police Society of NJ held its Annual BBQ & Pool Party at the Manor Park Swim Club in Westfield . Hundreds of members, families and guests enjoyed a fantastic day in the pool and great homemade food. There were games for the children, door prizes and lots of laughs. Thanks to the committee members and volunteers that worked hard on that Friday and Saturday to make this event a huge success. Our fellow law enforcement groups from NJ and the region came to spend the day with us. We always enjoy giving back to our members with this free event. Visit us at http://www.iapsnj.org IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition Visit us at http://www.iapsnj.org IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition Page 8 Volume 1, Issue 36 Sunday, October 8th - Morris County Columbus Day Parade Marchers and police vehicles should assemble at the East Hanover Fire Department at Ridgedale Ave. & De Forest St. at 1:30PM. Marchers should be in department uniform or business attire to march. Monday, October 9th - NYC Columbus Day Parade Marchers and police vehicles should meet at the Port Authority Police Administration Bldg. at 500 Boulevard East, Weehawken, NJ at 8:30am in department uniform or business attire. Personal cars can be parked at the PAPD until we return. We will be joining the NYPD. Columbia Assn for lunch afterwards in NYC. Family members are more than welcome to march with us dressed in smart attire. No sweats or jeans please as the parade is shown live on WNBC Channel 4. Any department able to bring vehicles or motorcycles please contact via e-mail : [email protected] prior to coming. Visit us at http://www.iapsnj.org IAPSNJ Quarterly Magazine October ~ December 2017 Fall Edition Page 9 Christopher Columbus deserves to stay in his rightful place By Laurence Bergreen Italian-American leaders vow to fight for Columbus statue Melissa Mark-Viverito displays her ignorance in Columbus kerfuffle Christopher Columbus has been coming under fire for decades, and lately Mayor de Blasio hasn’t ruled out scrapping the iconic 1892 statue of the explorer, in Columbus Circle, as a possible “symbol of hate.” But if Columbus were to come back to today, he would be dumbfounded by both the acclaim and condemnation he’s received over time in a land he never knew existed. Despite everything, Columbus has a claim to greatness. He was a peerless and fearless navigator, maybe the best ever, able to read the seas and skies with near-perfect understanding, and to make the first docu- mented ocean voyages from Europe to the new world and back. This was at a time when sailing uncross the uncharted Atlantic was like going to the moon, only more dangerous. It took an incredible amount of courage to sail over the horizon on a quest from which no one else had ever been known to return, and to endure unimaginable hardships along the way. All earlier efforts to sail to the Indies, as Columbus called his goal, had failed, yet he managed to accom- plish this feat not once, but four times, with a minimum loss of life. Along the way he discovered the powerful yet steady trade winds that proved immensely helpful to him and later explorers.