"By 8 o’clock on an evening in early December, the bar at the Hilton Garden Inn in northwestern Staten Island was a scrum of beefy middle-aged men dressed in blazers, fancy dress shirts and loafers. Cheeks glistening in the warmth, they embraced one another noisily, slapping backs, planting kisses on both cheeks and occasionally offering a flurry of mock punches.Guttural cries filled the room as each newcomer entered and was recognized, his name yelled out in elongated fashion as though being introduced in a boxing ring. 'Toneeeey!' 'Saaaaaal!'”
From today's New York Times, a story called "Johnny Boy's Excellent Adventure" recounts the annual efforts of Bensonhurst boy, John Mazzoni, to put together a reunion of his local pals, inexplicably held in Staten Island. In spite of being full of stereotypes, including the mention of the presumably-tasseled loafer (which only real macho men can get away with) the story offers a kind of sweet look at the nature of Italian-American masculinity.
