Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Sliwa Does Penance for Italian American Slur with Paddling and Mouth Washing

The ANNOTICO Report

 

My Report dated February 14, was titled : "Polak Radio Host Curtis Sliwa Apologizes for Claiming 1 in 5 Italian Staten Islanders 'Mobbed Up"  but the apology I thought was lame.

 

However, he was encouraged to go further, and visited a predominant Italian  Senior Citizen Center on Staten Island where he not only issued a "mea culpa"  then he got down on his knees, made the sign of the cross, clasped his hands as if in prayer and took his punishment like a man: He had his bottom paddled with a wooden spoon and his mouth washed out with soap by an Italian grandma.

 

The Italian Seniors were touched by his humility, and gave Sliwa Valentine chocolates to take away the taste of the soap.....  and I withdraw my  "Polak" reference.

 

Making the Punishment Fit The Crime

 

Sliwa paddled and fed soap as payback for his slur against Island

 

Staten Island Advance 

By Judy L. Randall 

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Curtis Sliwa did his penance on Staten Island yesterday.

First there was his mea culpa to a roomful of senior citizens for having trash-talked the borough by insinuating the Island was all mobbed up.

Then he got down on his knees, made the sign of the cross, clasped his hands as if in prayer and took his punishment like a man: He had his bottom paddled with a wooden spoon and his mouth washed out with soap by an Italian grandma.

Said Sliwa: "If I have insulted or besmirched anyone on Staten Island, I apologize."

The scene, at the Arrochar Friendship Club in South Beach, was orchestrated by Republican City Council members Vincent Ignizio and James Oddo. While they're fans of the radio shock jock, they said he went too far earlier this week, and Ignizio called the Guardian Angels founder to suggest he say he was sorry. And say it on Staten Island.

The flap started with news of the big Gambino crime family bust and word that Islander Joseph Vollaro had ratted them out. Vollaro's wife, Trisha, didn't know anything about his alleged mob ties, her family claimed -- something Sliwa found hard to believe.

"This is Staten Island," Sliwa told a tabloid reporter. "I could swing a dead cat around my head, and every fifth person I would hit is organized crime."

Although Sliwa hasn't disavowed the quote, he reiterated yesterday that it was printed "out of context." He said he meant to imply skepticism that Vollaro's wife didn't know whom she was serving at her restaurant, Dock's Clam Bar and Pasta House in Tottenville.

"Every fifth person would mean you have close to 100,000 people in organized crime on Staten Island, and there aren't that many people left [in the mob]," Sliwa told the Advance after his public flogging, his mouth, chin and teeth still bearing the remnants of the bar of white Ivory soap that senior Frances Cammarata had playfully shoved into his mouth.

Still, Sliwa allowed that his remarks could be seen by some as playing into one of the worst stereotypes about Staten Island.

"I think some would think that," he said.

In organizing the event, Ignizio brought the props -- spoon and soap -- saying, "They are reminiscent of my younger days. Let me just leave it at that."

"He made a stupid comment and he needed to apologize," added Ignizio. "Whenever anybody has a bully pulpit and they espouse anti-Italian sentiments, they ought to apologize."

"I think it's smart of him to nip this in the bud," said Oddo. "He has a shtick, but this was shtick that crossed the line. In his heart, he knows better." ...

Yet the seniors were in a forgiving mood yesterday. They laughed and applauded Sliwa's appearance, and nodded knowingly as he discussed his Italian heritage. He called himself "a son of Brooklyn who has a part of me in Staten Island," and ended his remarks with, "Where are the canolis?"

Mrs. Cammarata, of South Beach, who was chosen to administer Sliwa's punishment because of her sense of humor, called Sliwa "a gentleman."

"Sometimes we don't mean things the way they come out," she said.

Amy Votinelli, Friendship Club site coordinator, gave Sliwa Valentine chocolates to take away the taste of the soap.....

Judy L. Randall is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at randall@siadvance.com.

 

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