A True American Story The narrative of Deanna Pisacreta and her family's immigration story

Descending from a family of Italians, Deanna Pisacreta and her family are the epitome of the American Dream. Deanna’s maternal great-grandparents came from Sicily in the 1910s and Deanna’s paternal grandfather, Mr. Pisacreta, came from Avellino, a quaint little town on the outskirts of Naples, Italy. There, he worked on his family’s small farm, but during the 1940s, Italy underwent a radical change in government: fascism. With World War II scarring and scorching Europe and Italy going through many fundamental changes, Mr. Pisascreta split up the family farm, and in 1949, he left Italy to go to America in search for better working opportunities and a better life.

Traveling across the Atlantic at the tender age of 18, Mr. Pisacreta found his way to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a predominately Italian neighborhood at the time in which he had friends there who could help adapt to life in the United States. Arriving with only 18 dollars in his pocket and little to no knowledge of the English language, he struggled for a long time, trying to learn the language while attempting to find ways to provide for himself. “When my grandfather and aunt first came here, they didn’t know any English. My grandfather learned from the guy that he worked with; he learned everything from being here and talking to people,” Deanna said.

Listen to Deanna talking about the struggles that her family went through when they first arrived.

Luckily, Mr. Pisacreta found a job building the Verrazano Bridge. It was dangerous and arduous work with long hours and very little pay. “My dad used to tell me how he[her grandfather] would get home really, really late and he was all dingy and dirty because it was really hard work with long hours,” Deanna said, recalling the story of her grandfather. However, as an immigrant, he contributed much to New York as he laid down the building blocks of the longest suspension bridge in the United States.

Mr. Pisacreta, Deanna’s paternal grandfather, working on the Verrazano Bridge

Despite the amount of work put into trying to achieve a better, more comfortable life, Mr. Pisacreta remained poor for a long time. “When he first got here, he was poor for a really long time because he came here with not much, and even though he was a part of the union when he got here, it was still not the greatest pay so they struggled for a while,” Deanna said, recollecting the struggles her family faced when they first got here.

Deanna’s paternal grandparents

However, it was here where he met his wife and had Deanna’s father, and as the roots were now planted in America, the family tree grew and bore fruits like Deanna and her siblings. It was not until 1998 did Deanna’s parents decide to move to Staten Island for a more suburban lifestyle since the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn became too overwhelming for them to bear. Staten Island became Deanna’s cherished childhood home and beloved “little island.”

Born and raised in New York, Deanna still holds her Italian tradition close to her heart. Deanna’s family tradition of annually making batches of tomato sauce to large enough last her whole family, and then some, for the entire year has stayed strong and proud through the years. Deanna and her family put fresh tomatoes through a large saucing machine imported straight from Italy to get all the juice from the fruit. After that, they mix in a variety of spices to season the sauce, jar them, and boil the jars to make them airtight for them to last for the entire year. Each year, they fill up to 50 jars or more. With the sauce, her mother makes pasta and meatballs for Sunday dinner, filling the room with delicious aromas. “Every Italian will tell you that their mom’s meatballs are the best. I’m the only one telling the truth!” Deanna exclaimed, declaring her love for her mother’s meatballs.

Listen to Deanna talk about her family’s tradition of hand making tomato sauce every year.

In addition, there are certain superstitions that were passed on through Deanna’s family before and good luck charms to ward off those superstitions. For example, hanging around her necklace and also in her car is the Sicilian horn, known to ward off evil spirits and jealous. “There’s an old ancient superstition that says if someone looks at you the wrong way, they can actually give you their bad luck, so we have defense mechanisms like the Sicilian horn,” Deanna said, referring the talisman on her necklace that many actually mistake as a pepper.

The Sicilian horn hanging in Deanna’s car

Deanna not only carried on these superstitions, but also ideals and attitudes that have been passed on from important members of her family. Despite being born in America, Deanna deeply treasures Italian ideals like being passionate about everything you do and family being above everything else. “I identify as American, but I keep many Italian traditions with me. I always grew up ideals like ‘whatever you do, make sure you are passionate about it’ and the ‘Italian fire,’” she said passionately. Deanna feels strongly connected to her family, especially to the women in her family. “My family has come from a long line of strong women that I feel like has carried me through,” she said.

“Like my grandmother, even though she was the traditional Italian housewife and she would cook and clean, but she always had a strong-willed attitude, which I definitely got from her and my mom carried that with her as well.”

Listen to Deanna speak about the values she holds dear to her heart. 

Having faced difficult struggles, Deanna and her family have an instrumental part in the building of New York. Not only did her grandfather help build the Verrazano Bridge, but the traditions and customs that her family brought over to Italy played a large role in laying down the foundations of the Italian community in New York. Given the chance to succeed in a country like America, Deanna’s family took that chance and reaped the benefits of the hard work put into providing a better life for future generations, thus embodying the American Dream. The pride Deanna has in her Italian heritage will never diminish and neither will her pride in being an American.