By 1920, Liborio had moved his family to Altantic Avenue in Brooklyn.  Gradually, Italians began migrating from lower Manhattan out to the outer boroughs, and other parts of the region, as their economic status improved.  The family at this time consisted of Mary, Phil, Lucy, Nat, Tony and Connie.

Childhood Memories

Anthony Tripi recalling his childhood before and after the move…

“I remember very little about my mother as I was about 10 years old at the time of her death.  I recall some of the times, when living on Hamilton Street, of the baths we had in a long metal tub.  Also, of the time she was very sick when we lived on Atlantic Avenue.  I used to go up to the bedroom she was in and sit with her.

Pop was a real hard worker who enjoyed a good game of cards and bocce.  I always enjoyed listening when he and his friends were to start a game of card and everyone wanted to be Pop’s partner!  Pop was a good tailor.  I remember the soldier uniforms he made for me, Connie and Nat after World War I.  Of course, he loved to build things and grow things in the garden and home”.

As a child I recall when brother Sam married Tillie, we all rode in a horse drawn carriage to who knows where.  When visiting Pete and Annie on Madison Street, and the long trek up four flights of stairs to their apartment… 

Sister Tessie and Paul, living next door to us on Atlantic Avenue…Sister Josie in Staten Island with her husband John and their children…Lots of fun swimming in New Dorp.  Sister Lena and her husband Tom when they had a farm in New Brunswick, NJ.  Tom would pick us up in Brooklyn with his truck and Lena would have a number of bedrooms fixed up for all the kids and Mom and Pop.”

Connie also had fond memories of the Tripi family as children. Connie remembers her mom as a “beautiful, happy, generous, and caring person”; and her dad as “ handsome and proud”.  She wrote:

“I can recall vividly, as a child of three of four [around 1918], that we lived in a walk-up apartment.  The family being large had to double up on sleeping accommodations.  I recall that it was my sister Lucy with whom I always shared a bed.  We moved to Brooklyn [1920] when I was five into a private two family home, still sharing a bed. 

As a child we always had company at holiday time.  My sister Lucy would write a play with Nat’s help and then they would make costumes.  Tony and I were the “stars” of this great production.

I remember my mother always taking me with her wherever she went.  My father used to take Tony and I to the movies to see his favorite Western stories and the admission was only 5 cents.

On occasion, we would visit friends of the family.  There would always be someone playing a musical instrument – guitar or mandolin, and there would be singing and dancing.

One of my favorite tales was that in Italy, our family was considered royalty at the time when the principalities were divided into small communities, and he [my father] would very often refer to me as princess”

In 1924, sister Mary (Maria) married Joseph Battaglia and had one child – John.

Phillip (Felippo) studied graphic design.  He married Rose Spano in 1925 and had three children – Ignatius, Michael and Phillip.   While Liborio was only a stepfather to Phillip, he had a deep love and respect for him.  His father had passed away when Phillip was only a child of four years old.  Liborio was the only dad he knew for all those years growing up on Hamilton Street.   My uncle Phil would become the patriarch of the family upon Liborio’s passing, but that would be some time to come.  Phil and Rose had a large family of their own with 11 grandchildren.  His son, Ignatius, would go on to become a prominent doctor of dentistry.

Liborio’s Loss and a New Maria is Found

While Connie and Tony were still youngsters of 10 and 12 years old, their mother took ill.  Liborio’s third wife would pass away at 52 years of age in 1924, after raising 10 children and 3 stepchildren.

Liborio met Maria Bucciarelli Disipio, a widower and would marry yet again, in 1925.  Maria, who had a daughter from a prior marriage named Antoinette (called Dolly), would have a second child with Liborio, named Teresa in 1928.  Maria came to NY from Italy, while her brothers chose Canada as their destination point.   

In 1929, Lucy, (Lucia), the youngest of the Quartararo children, married her first husband Salvatore Cassara.  They had one son, Sal.  She later divorced and remarried Nelson Dennison in 1950.

Connie married Don Giordano in 1936 and had one daughter, Theresa Marie.  In 1951 they moved from Brooklyn to Westbury, Long Island.

Tony married Giovanna (Jennie) Manzelli in 1938 and had two children – Anthony Jr.  and Steven Liborio.  Tony and Jennie moved to Elmont, Long Island.

With great sacrifice, Liborio and his family made it through the Depression of the 30’s. By 1940, there were almost as many Italians in New York City as there were in Rome.  Italians had made great social, economic and political strides.  Fiorello LaGuardia was elected mayor of New York in 1935 and remained for the next 12 years. 

On December 7, 1941, my dad recalls being at his home on Madison Street, playing cards with the family, when a voice on the radio announced the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Again, life for Liborio and his family would take a new turn.