TROY, N.Y. — The Little Italy Quality of Life Committee recently honored The Italian Community Center (ICC) and DeFazio’s at 216 for their rehabilitation work over the last year.
The Best Rehab award has been presented for more than a decade to people in the neighborhood.
“It shows a physical renovation to the neighborhood,” said Committee member Sam Chiappone. “And to me, if I see physical things, I know other things are happening.”
The ICC, with a woman as President for the first time, made massive improvements in and outside of the building on 5th Avenue. The latest iteration of the Troy staple, DeFazio’s at 216 opened its doors on 4th Street this past spring.
Those kinds of investments in the neighborhood are what they look for and what they need, Chiappone said. Local businesses and non-profits help them thrive and they want to recognize that work.
The Bocce courts inside the Italian Community Center in Troy. (Erica Bouska – MediaNews Group)
The Little Italy Quality of Life Committee came from a small group that would attend neighborhood meetings, he said. They would get together, sit around and complain about the issues impacting their neighborhood. But talking wasn’t “the way to create change,” and it sparked a new idea.
The Committee also works with the city, elected officials and the Troy Architectural Project (TAP) and on things like sidewalks, street lighting, new banners and the soon-to-be finished renovations on the Historic Hill Street Market.
A city-owned property, the City Council approved the renovations last December with the project describing “pickleball courts, new bocce ball courts, shaded seating areas, a small stage, a dog run, overhead sprinkler system and more.”
The Best Rehab award is a commendation for the people and organizations working alongside them. The awardee doesn’t need to open a business to win it either; several times the group has commended home owners who took on a renovation challenge.
“Every single one is a win,” said Committee member Heather Hamlin Martin. “Some of the award winners didn’t have such huge scope projects but, you know, are still making a contribution in a way by fixing up their property.”
It also says that they are staying in the neighborhood and committed to it, Chiappone said. For several years, rumors circulated that the ICC was leaving Little Italy and Troy altogether. The non-profit is so critical to the neighborhood and overall community that he said every time he heard the rumor he cringed.
But the ICC instead turned around and put massive investment into the outside and inside of the building, starting with paving the parking lot. Since President Antonietta Mazzariello took up the role in January, they have updated the offices, the air conditioning system, the floors and the paint.
A look inside DeFazio’s at 216. (Erica Bouska – MediaNews Group)
DeFazio’s at 216 offers Italian classics and the pizzas and pasta the family is known for in a newly renovated building at — as the name suggests — 216 4th St. A banquet hall, a bar and two pizza ovens on display, a community member present at the ceremony on Friday said reservations were already a necessity for the restaurant.
Mayor Carmella Mantello, also present at Friday’s awards, said they do have a blighted building problem in Troy, but they would much rather see someone invest in their spaces than have to tear a building down. It can’t happen overnight but it is happening.
The Little Italy Quality of Life Committee is an example of a truly grassroots campaign, she added. It’s people coming together to ask questions and make a plan to turn their neighborhood into what they want it to be.
The physical is as important as what’s happening behind closed doors, Chiappone said. How a neighborhood looks reflects on who its neighbors are.
“Instead of having a blank property or a parking lot that’s all tore up or a building that’s in disrepair,” he said, “what this does here is it shows people when you ride by here that, hey, people care about that spot. They respect the spot, they respect the history.
“I think the importance of this is that we recognize people who are willing to invest in the neighborhood, that are willing to stay in the neighborhood or make a re-investment for the neighborhood,” he said about the award. “The fruits of their efforts are a physical renovation of the space.”