Little Neck’s Il Bacco restaurant owner votes in person
after leaving the hospital following tragic plane crash
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | NOV. 13-NOV. 19, 2020 11
indoor dining, Tina said
they still have a ways
to go as a family-owned
small business.
“Everything got kind
of held up. Cuomo said
he’d touch base on the
capacity on Nov. 1, but
that hasn’t happened.
No word on opening or
increasing capacity,”
said Tina. “I don’t understand
what’s going on.”
Tina said they’re in
a particular disadvantage,
as they’re right
on the board of Long Island,
where restaurants
were allowed to have indoor
dining at 50 percent
capacity since June.
“We’re looking at
about four months and a
week that we’re behind,”
she said. “It’s only getting
colder.”
Tina said they’re
pushing for an increase
in indoor dining capacity.
But, she fears damage
has already been done
for restaurants.
“So much time has
passed, and I said it
from beginning — we’re
creatures of adaptation.
If you require us to do
something long enough,
we’re going to adapt to
it. Telling us to wear
masks and families not
to gather for Thanksgiving.
You’re taking the
morals off of human beings.
I understand safety
precautions, but psychologically
this is causing
a bigger strain.”
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Joe Oppedisano, the
owner of Il Bacco Ristorante
restaurant in
Little Neck, made sure
he left the hospital where
he was being treated for
injuries he sustained in
a tragic plane crash in
order to cast his vote in
person on Tuesday, Nov.
3.
“I’m very patriotic,
very American,” said
Oppedisano, who immigrated
to the U.S. from
Calabria, Italy, when he
was 13 years old. “I told
the doctors to please get
me out in time to vote. I
believe in the American
dream. And I made it.”
The 61-year-old was
the pilot on the seaplane
that crashed on Flushing
Bay on Oct. 4, killing
one “dear friend” and injuring
himself as well as
two other friends.
“While I was landing,
a boat came right in
front of me, and I tried
to land … I landed there
about 3,000 times and
that was the first time
that happened,” said
Oppedisano, who flies
his plane as a hobby and
passion.
For the past month,
Oppedisano underwent
10 surgeries.
“I’m making the best
of it. It could have been
worse,” he said. “But I
made it. God didn’t want
me yet.”
Oppedisano and his
family cast their votes at
P.S. 193 in Whitestone.
They said there was no
line at their polling location,
and voting only
took a few minutes.
Oppedisano’s daughter,
Tina, sees her father
as the “epitome of the
American dream.”
“He came to this
country not knowing
English or a person
and worked to create
this foundation and our
family. I mean, he even
changed his name from
Giuseppe to Joseph,”
said Tina. “We almost
lost him, and that was
very scary and traumatic.
But he left the hospital
and said, ‘Where are
my pants? Let’s go.’ I’m
happy to have him home
and happy he voted.”
Tina and her father
sued Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, Mayor Bill de
Blasio and the attorney
general over the state’s
refusal to allow indoor
dining to restart back in
September. Shortly after
their $2 billion lawsuit
made headlines, Cuomo
released guidelines for
indoor dining to resume
with 25 percent capacity.
However, as the
weather gets colder and
there are no signs of the
administration increasing
capacity limits for
Photo courtesy of Tina Oppedisano
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