Christian Spencer
The love and labor of a late restaurateur was posthumously honored on June 14 with a street bearing her name.
At the intersection of 26th Street and 24th Avenue, just steps from the quiet Astoria neighborhood she once called home, Giuseppa Vendome was remembered as the unsung hero 9/11 first responders needed.
The rain poured that afternoon, but the smiles never faded. The grand renaming of “Giuseppa Vendome Way” will be a landmark her son, Antonio “Nino” Vendome, and others hope to be remembered – or at least Googled by those curious about its origin.
Known affectionately as “Mama,” her family’s Canal Street restaurant became a crucial hub for thousands of recovery workers in the days and months following the World Trade Center attacks.
With the help of her husband Rocco and Nino, Mama turned Nino’s Restaurant into a round-the-clock refuge for responders.
For nine months, it operated 24/7, serving more than one million free meals to NYPD officers, FDNY firefighters, FBI agents, sanitation crews, military personnel, and laborers stationed at Ground Zero.
“She opened her Canal Street restaurant to all first responders, round the clock, for nine months, for free,” said family friend John Ketchup during the renaming ceremony. “Giuseppa turned wheat into hope and consolation, opening her doors so they could have a place to call their own—a place where she greeted them with an unforgettable smile that shone amid the darkness.”
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Even in her late seventies, Mama was present everyday, greeting weary workers, listening to their stories, and feeding them with her signature meatballs and warm spirit. First responders returned the favor by giving her department patches, which she proudly sewed onto her aprons and displayed behind the counter.
“This is really the recognition of many years of community work,” Gennaro Vendome said, one of Mama’s surviving sons told the Ledger. “She found comfort that coming to America, her life and dreams were fulfilled—not only in being able to achieve what she had in her mind, but far greater than anything she could have imagined.”
Born in 1923 in Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, Italy, Giuseppa immigrated to New York with her husband and raised their two sons in Astoria. Over the years, she worked as a candy maker, seamstress, cigar roller, and factory worker before becoming a real estate manager and restaurateur.
She passed away on April 29, 2024, at the age of 100.
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“She’s a one-percenter,” Gennaro said. “People that live to be over 100 are one percent. And then 85 percent of those are women. And how many people over 100 get a street named after them? She’s a super one-percenter.”
“All of us are here today in gratitude for the example that Giuseppa gave to those who knew her,” Ketchup said, standing before members of her family, including sons Gennaro and Antonio, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
The renaming ceremony was supported by Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, who was there in person, Community Board 1, and dozens of neighbors.
“She showed the city and the world what New Yorkers are really made of,” Ketchup said. “Tough as nails, here for one another, and ready to work to make this city the best it can be, no matter what.”
