Free Republic

Mayor de Blasio skipped a Columbus Day parade in The Bronx at his own peril Sunday, as residents chided him for showing off his ethnic pride only when it suits his political ends — and not marching this year to hide from the recent controversy over one of his top aides. “He’s Italian when he feels like it! This is the second largest Columbus parade in the city!” said parade-goer Joe Carfora of Hizzoner’s failure to attend the celebration along Morris Park Avenue in the northeastern part of The Bronx. “When Bloomberg was mayor, he would show up every year....

 ANTONIN SCALIA, US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, NAMED GRAND MARSHAL OF NEW YORK’S COLUMBUS DAY PARADEJustice Celebrated In Pageant of Italian-American AchievementNew York, NY, September 23, 2005 - Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, will be Grand Marshal of Manhattan’s 2005 Columbus Day Parade, Lawrence Auriana, president of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, announced today. The parade, which is produced by the non-profit Foundation, is the largest Columbus Day event in the world and will be held on New York’s Fifth Avenue on October 10, 2005.  "We are honored that Justice Scalia has accepted our invitation to be...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is threatening to pull out of the city's Columbus Day parade on Monday if organizers don't permit cast members of the popular HBO TV series "The Sopranos" to march with him. "I'm sort of walking along, (I) invite two Italian-Americans, (I) want to say thank you on behalf of the city and bada-bing, bada-boom, all of a sudden they're down my throat," he complained Friday morning to WABC Radio's John Gambling. Organizers of the Columbus Day parade have protested that Bloomberg was perpetuating anti-Italian stereotypes by inviting "Sopranos" cast members Lorraine Bracco and Dominic...