“Radiator bursting away,” he said. “There were six of us in a six-room apartment. We shared a bed. I didn’t have my own bed until I got married.”
His father’s family came from Ischia, Italy, in 1909; his mother’s family came from Naples. His grandfather worked as a day laborer; his father, Angelo, was a longshoreman on the docks in Red Hook, where he rose to become a boss of loading and unloading the trucks.
“He was very well-respected,” he said. “He was a tough boss, but he was fair, so I had a good role model to follow.”
As a boy, young Sal went to Public School 142 and Brooklyn Tech and then Boys High School, where he bowled. His parents took their four children to Roman Catholic Mass each Sunday, at St. Mary Star of the Sea.
“My mom and dad taught us all about family life and how important your family is,” he said.
At 10, he landed his first job, working for his brother-in-law delivering crates of soda in glass bottles, sometimes walking them up six flights on his shoulder.
He rooted for the Dodgers. His godfather was single and had season tickets to Ebbets Field.
“I used to go there three or four times a week when they were home,” he said. The shortstop Pee Wee Reese was his favorite, so he wore his number, 1, on his jersey in baseball and softball leagues he played in.
After school, he worked with his dad on the waterfront, then found work in a bank.
Does that sound like someone who knows what it REALLY means to be from Carroll Gardens, or what?
