A Fond Farewell To Vince Favorito, Long Time Carroll Gardens Resident And Neighborhood Historian

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This month, Carroll Gardens is losing one of its long-time residents. After 70 years, Vincent Favorito and his wife Angela are leaving the neighborhood and Brooklyn to move closer to their children in the subburbs. On Friday, members of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association and of The Carroll Gardens Coalition For Respectful Development (C.O.R.D.) hosted a farewell party for Vince at Calpurnia on Court Street. It was a lovely affair and a great send-off for a lovely man.

C.O.R.D. posted this wonderful tribute to Vince on their web site:

We wanted to take a little time and introduce some of Vincent's own history and recount some of his contributions to our neighborhood.

On April 12, 1941, Vincent J Favorito was welcomed by his parents, Joseph and Grace at Long Island College Hospital. He was taken home to 168 President Street and was baptized at Sacred Heart & St Stephen's Church.

Little Vincent attended school at Sacred Heart/St Stephen's from 1946-1958 where he met Sacred Heart/St Stephen classmate and alumna, little Angela Sgro, in the first grade. Vincent then went on to earn a B.S. in Chemistry in 1962 from St John's University Brooklyn campus, which was then located at 96 Schermerhorn Street. That same year he married his classmate and sweetheart, Angela Sgro at their lifelong parish, Sacred Heart/St Stephen's Church.

On November 4, 1963, Vincent and Angela were blessed with a son, Joseph, followed by son, Stephen on Oct 26, 1966 and then Christopher on July 16, 1974.

Angela, a 1966 grad of St John's University School of Education and Vincent resided in an apartment in her family's building at 432 Clinton Street from 1965-1972. In '65, Vincent graduated from St John's University Brooklyn School of Law.

Vincent worked for many years as a lawyer for JC Penney. For a while he and the family lived out of state and then came back to Brooklyn and lived in Marine Park. Vincent's and Angela's families were still in the neighborhood during those years so their lives were filled with frequent trips to Carroll Gardens. Eventually, Vincent and Angela moved back to 432 Clinton Street. Angela taught at PS 58 for ten years. The couple remained at the Clinton Street address until now.

Vincent was a very active participant in organizations in Carroll Gardens throughout his life--something that no doubt added to his wealth of information about neighborhood history. His many activities included:

Member of the Knights of Columbus, Loretto Council, First Place, 4th Degree from 1966 to 1985.

Member of the Brooklyn Democratic Club-Congressman Rooney Council, Clinton and Kane Streets from 1960 to 1995.

Asst. US Attorney, Eastern District NY, US Attorney' s Office, Tillary Street, Brooklyn, NY from 1968 to 1973.

Founding Member of the Court Street Merchants Association 1975 to 1980.

And of course, his tenure on the Executive Committee of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association where he regaled many residents with his books filled with articles, photos and stories about our neighborhood.

We have learned that a great deal of Vincent's historical documentation has been lost in the pending move. But Vincent has assured us that at least some of the information is preserved on his computer---we look forward to his retrieving as much of this valuable history as possible and hope that he shares this with us for publication right here.

The evening had many highlights, but hearing Vince and some of his friends talk about the old "Red Hook" was priceless. Here is Richard M. talking about the boundaries of the old Red Hook and a particular street fight amongst rivaling gangs of teens. Priceless.

Thank you to Maryann Young, who generously put together this great event and presented Vince with a Thank-You plaque featuring the signature of many residents in the Carroll Gardens community