Sunday, November 25, 2007

Roosevelt Island Roots: Giuliani Top Campaign Advisor Tony Carbonetti

According to a November 6, 2007 article published online by the New York Observer, Giuliani Campaign advisor Tony Carbonetti spent some part of his childhood here on Roosevelt Island.

“A year later [in 1977], the Carbonettis moved to the mostly uninhabited Queens neighborhood of Roosevelt Island. When his parents split, the 13-year-old chose to stay with his father…..”

It is unclear how many years Mr. Carbonetti lived on Roosevelt Island. As a relative newcomer to Roosevelt Island I don’t claim to know all the players so I am assuming that the Lou Carbonetti who is accorded a special dedication on the Icla da Silva Foundation Board of Directors webpage is the Louis Carbonetti, Jr. referred to as Tony’s father.

This guess is probably correct as that same webpage credits Lou Carbonetti as the “Former Director of Community Assistance Unit, Mayor's Office, City of New York”. Lou Carbonetti is also credited as the “founder of Love Thy Neighbor, a Roosevelt Island community group established in 1990 in support of the da Silva family.” The New York Observer article had indicated that Tony Carbonetti’s father had received an administration post with the City of New York.

This all begs the question if Rudy is elected President would Tony Carbonetti have the influence to bring Roosevelt Island out from under the direct control of New York State any earlier than 2068?

1 comment:

  1. Lou Carbonetti ran the hardware store before his friend Rudy became Mayor. Lou became director of the Community Assistance Unit but very quickly was caught up in a scandal and resigned. At that time (early 90's) his much younger son by his second wife was a student at PS 217. Lou and the second wife later split up, and they all eventually left the island. It's the same Lou Carbonetti who is involved with the Icla da Silva Foundation.

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