Whitestone honors late monsignor with co-street naming
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
The Whitestone community
came together to pay
tribute to the late Monsignor
John C. Tosi of St. Luke’s Roman
Catholic Church, honoring
his contribution to the
parish with a street co-naming
of Clintonville Street and
Locke Avenue on Friday, May
21.
Susan Zaretti, the sister
of Monsignor Tosi, elected
officials, members of St.
Luke Parish, and the Monsignor
Dillon Council Knights
joined Councilman Paul Vallone
for the street co-naming
ceremony in front of St. Luke
and remembered the cleric as
a man who “brought people to
Christ.”
The lifelong Queens resident,
who was ordained in
May 1973 and named monsignor
in 1997, served St. Luke
Parish for 15 years until his
death on May 23, 2020.
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards thanked
Tosi for serving his community
with distinction, supporting
young people and
families.
“It’s an honor to now be
able to memorialize him forever
and for our borough to
see a sign that never moves,”
Richards said. “One hundred
years, 200 years from now,
there will be people walking
past this sign, and they’ll
say, ‘Who was he?’ And the
people of this community will
remind our children and others
that he was someone who
did it for the love of our community
and for the love of our
borough.”
Tosi was a member of
the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre,
and the Monsignor
Dillon Council Knights in
Whitestone advocated for the
co-naming of the intersection
of Clintonville Street and
Locke Avenue.
Enrico Urgo, grand knight
of the Monsignor Dillon
Council, shared that upon
learning of Monsignor Tosi’s
death, they thought it would
be fitting to memorialize the
pastor with a street naming.
Enrico Urgo and Joe Governale
spearheaded the effort
and proposed the street naming
to Community Board 7
and to Vallone, who brought
the co-naming proposal to the
City Council, after the board
approved it in October 2020.
“Not only will Msgr.
Msgr. Tosi’s sister, Susan Zaretti holds the street sign bearing her brother’s name at the street co-naming ceremony on May 21.
Tosi be in our thoughts and
prayers, but he will be there,
overlooking all the parishioners
and all the community
members that loved him so
much,” Urgo said.
Joe Governale, a retired
captain with the FDNY,
shared that he met Tosi in
1979 after a house fire killed
three young children in Fort
Greene, Brooklyn. Governale
recalled that Tosi, a priest at
the time, came to the house
fire and asked if he could bless
the children and the firefighters
battling the flames.
“We met him, and he was
so emotional, and he was so
outreaching to my men and
me,” Governale said. “He
blessed us, and it touched us
all. That’s the type of man he
was.”
Vallone recalled that Monsignor
Tosi only wanted to
best for his community and
parish.
“He rebuilt St. Luke’s
church and made many renovations
to the parish. He will
be remembered in this community,
in and out of the parish,”
Vallone said. “He didn’t
stop his work. He was known
for his tireless efforts to better
the community around
him, and he had such an
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021
amazing impact.”
State Senator John Liu
said that he enjoyed working
with Tosi and his parish, adding
that his legacy was not
only embedded in the street
sign, but also by continuing
his work.
“It reminds us of the work
that he continues to leave
behind and the work that we
have to pick up and finish,”
Liu said.
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein
reminisced about the
time he and his wife Stephanie
met Tosi at a local restaurant
while having dinner.
“The atmosphere in the
restaurant changed. Everybody
turned. Everybody was
smiling. People started to get
up from their table and go
over and shake his hand and
say ‘hello,'” Braunstein recalled.
“I’ve never seen somebody
walk into a restaurant
and had that kind of presence,
and it’s just a testament to
how beloved Monsignor Tosi
was in this community.”
Father John Costello, the
current pastor of St. Luke,
pointed out how appropriate
it was that the street sign
would read “Monsignor John
C. Tosi Way” instead of street
or avenue since “his way
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
could be a little intimidating
and daunting.”
“But as a pastor,” Costello
said, “I know that at the very
bottom of his heart, Msgr.
John Tosi’s way was the way
of Jesus. And so that’s what I
hope to model when I see that
sign standing there. And in
my service to this community
succeeding him as a pastor
that we can all together continue
the work of Jesus.”
Before the unveiling of
the street sign, Tosi’s sister,
Susan Zaretti, who was presented
with an extra sign
courtesy of the Department
of Transportation, addressed
the parish.
Visibly moved, she
thanked the parishioners for
all the love they had shown
her brother during his time
as pastor at the church, calling
them a wonderful group
of people.
“You treated him like family,
and he loved this place so
much,” Zaretti said. “I thank
the council member, the members
of the community council
and the state senator for
being here. It’s just wonderful
to see this,” Mrs. Zaretti said.
“I ask you for prayers, and I
will be praying for St. Luke’s
for the rest of my life.”
BAYSIDE TIMES (USPS#025088) is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY.11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2021. All rights reserved. The newspaper will
not be liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Bayside Times C/O Queens CNG
LLC. 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361.
/NS.COM
