Exclusive | NYC Italian-American Museum opens after 20-year odyssey: ‘Italians have never had a museum’

It was a labor of love.

The new Italian-American museum — which opens its doors to the public Monday in its sleek digs at 151 Mulberry St. in Little Italy — was an idea more than 20 years in the making, according to its founder Joseph V. Scelsa.

“Each group should have its culture known and seen by the general public,” Scelsa told The Post. “The Italians have never had a museum”.

Scelsa — a longtime dean of the Calandra Institute, the Italian education arm of CUNY Queens College, among other trusts — said the Italian history exhibit he curated in 1999 for the New York Historical Society drew 100,000 people, making it one of the most successful exhibitions. in the history of society.

“I realized you can reach more people in a museum than in a classroom,” he said.

Hudson Valley resident Zoe Dunn brought her daughter Morgan, 20, to the museum on Columbus Day before her semester abroad in Florence in the spring.

“I thought she needed a little story, a little background to set the scene and get her in the mood to go,” Dunn, 53, said.

Scelsa has long had a burning passion for spreading the story of his heritage — and was even invited to the White House this week for an event celebrating Italian Americans. Ironically, he had to refuse to open the Big Apple museum on Columbus Day.

But it was a long road to opening, made possible only recently thanks to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who raised a million dollars in state funding to complete the project.

“Museums have a hard time lending money,” said Scelsa, who began fundraising for his idea in 2001. “It’s not something banks like to do.”

In 2008, he settled on a property in Little Italy, the vibrant Manhattan neighborhood where millions of Italian immigrants first poured in at the turn of the century.

“We bought three buildings from a family that had a bank on the corner of Grand and Mulberry that closed in 1931,” he said, referring to Banca Stabile, which opened in 1885. “They were in terrible shape, so that we had to build something new.”

In partnership with a developer since 2018, they built a new apartment building on top of the museum of 7,000 square meters on the ground floor.

And no, they won’t have to worry about greedy landlords. “We own everything,” said the founder of the museum.

Along the way, Scelsa has become an Indiana Jones-like figure for Italian history, hoarding memorabilia in his mother’s home in the Bronx for eventual display.

“You have to see what it looks like,” he said. “People have donated things to me, and some of them are precious and some of them are just precious to them.”

One item that made the cut and will be featured in the museum’s inaugural exhibits focuses on Italian garment workers: a statue of a real-life seamstress that sits near the museum’s entrance. Her now 95-year-old model was recently reunited with her.

Other exhibits highlight the Sicilian puppet theaters that once flourished in Little Italy, with the museum boasting 32 original puppets made by immigrants in the early 1900s.

“They are the only intact collection in the entire United States,” Marie Palladino, the museum’s education director, told The Post and museum visitors Monday. “This collection was coveted by Jim Henson and the Smithsonian and we are very proud to be the recipients.”

“All these dolls are incredible,” Dunn said as he took in the exhibit. “I can’t even imagine having to operate on them – £100 each!”

Meanwhile, an exhibition called “Quincentenary” focuses on the great voyages of the bridge’s namesake and famous explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano.

“It’s all about highlighting the contributions of Italians to American culture,” Scelsa said.

Also helping Scelsa in his museum mission are famous faces including actor Chazz Palminteri and director Martin Scorsese.

“I’ve talked to Scorsese’s company about using footage from his previous works,” he said, noting that they will soon be included in the museum.

Scelsa, who said he has not earned a dime from the museum, said his goal was to make sure Italian culture was not “left out of the museum world.”

“I don’t consider this my legacy,” he said. “In reality, anyone could have done it – as long as they had the persistence of a dream.”

The Italian American Museum is open from 12 noon to 6 pm on Columbus Day. Beginning October 15, hours are 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Sundays and Wednesdays are by appointment only. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and children under 12.