Giovanni’s to shutter
at end of the month
BY JASON COHEN
For four decades, Giovanni’s
has been a staple in the
Pelham Bay Park community.
Sadly, it will be shuttering
its doors at the end of
the month.
Located at 3209
Westchester Ave., The restaurant
is closing April 26
after 40 years.
“Over the past 40 years
every family member has
worked there,” said Debbie
Scargoni, who owns the eatery
with her husband Luigi.
In 1979 Luigi and his
brother Anthony bought
Giovanni’s from the previous
owner when it was
formerly located at 3227
Westchester Ave.
The duo emigrated to
America from Italy at ages
15 and 11. They worked various
jobs in the food industry,
including at a luncheonette
owned by Debbie’s father,
which is where he met his
future wife.
In 1990, the restaurant
moved to its current
location.
Throughout the years,
they became a big part of
the community, Scargoni explained.
Their family grew
up there and it was like a second
home for many people.
She recalled how parents
brought their kids there and
years later, those kids came
with their own.
“They all love our sauce,”
she said. “Everybody goes
crazy for our chicken parm
and baked rigatoni.”
In fact, their family celebrated
the major holidays
at the eatery and about a decade
ago, began inviting people
from the neighborhood
to their annual New Year’s
Day bash.
They also sponsored
journals for schools and did
whatever they could to help
others.
“My husband, he’s not one
with words, but he likes to
give to the community,” she
stressed.
Things changed in 2008
when not only did the recession
hit, but Anthony got
sick and passed away a year
later.
It was diffi cult for the
business and the family,
Scargoni said. But, they persevered
and she began to
work in the store more often,
along with their twin sons,
Luigi and Silverio, 31.
Work on fi eld hospital at Van Cortlandt Park put on hold
BRONX TIMES R 2 EPORTER, APR. 17-23, 2020 BTR
“It was tough the loss of
his brother,” Scargoni said.
But, Luigi, 66, began talking
about retirement last
summer. Forty years of nonstop
work was enough. They
own the building and wanted
to sell.
In October, their plans hit
a bump in the road when he
suffered a stroke. He is slowly
recovering, but COVID-19
was the straw that broke the
camel’s back.
“My goal was to wait until
we were sold,” Scargoni explained.
Being open now during
the crisis doing takeout and
delivery, they are barely
breaking even. While customers
are grateful for their
food, Scargoni knows it’s
time for a new chapter.
Their goal is to sell the
store once things return to
normalcy.
They plan to enjoy life,
help her husband get better,
spend time with their kids
and visit Italy, where they
have a summer home.
“It seems like every day is
more of an emotional thing,
especially when customers
come in and start talking
about it closing,” she said.
Brothers Luigi and Anthony Scargoni, who bought Giovanni’s in 1979.
Photo courtesy Debbie Scargoni
BY JASON COHEN
The work to create a $40
million fi eld hospital in Van
Cortlandt Park is now on
hold.
On April 11, Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz announced
that he received a
call from the contractor who
is building the facility in coordination
with the Army
Corps of Engineers last week
saying that they have been
told to stop work until the
need for beds is clearer.
“I am worried that this
decision is premature, but
frankly if we don’t need the
beds (due to suffi cient hospital
capacity elsewhere) then
I think that would be a major
victory in our fi ght against
the pandemic,” Dinowitz
said. “However, presuming
that the work resumes as
more people get sick, I am incredibly
proud that our park
will be used to help save
lives.
“For my entire tenure as
your assemblyman, I have
fought to protect Van Cortlandt
Park. But the lives that
could be saved at this location
might be those of someone
you or I care about, and
we should do everything
we can to prevent the loss
of life.”
On April 3, Parsons Corporation,
which is based in
Virginia, signed a sevenmonth
contract to build an
alternate care site at Van
Cortlandt Park. The fi eld
hospital is expected to be up
and running within three
weeks and will provide 200
beds across 12 acres to treat
COVID-19 positive patients.
Work on the hospital commenced
April 4 under the supervision
of U.S. Army Corps
and FEMA.
Councilman Andrew Cohen
is not in favor of the decision
to halt the work.
“The decision to stop work
on Van Cortlandt Park’s fi eld
hospital in the absence of a
plan to address the widening
gap in access to care does not
align with public statements
promising more, not less, relief
for the hardest-hit communities
in the Bronx,” he
said on Twitter. “This decision
leaves the Bronx, one of
the most COVID-19 impacted
boroughs, without an emergency
care site when the need
is greatest and when disparities
in healthcare access continue
to devastate low-income
communities of color.”
As of press time, the
Bronx leads all boroughs in
COVID-19 deaths, with 1,280
reported as of end of day on
April 13. This mortality rate
is nearly triple Manhattan.
This is not the fi rst time
the park has been used as a
medical facility. In 1916, the
National Guard used it during
tensions with Mexico.
The initial selection of
Parsons did not come without
controversy.
In April 2004, Parsons
was awarded a $243 million
contract to upgrade 17 hospitals
located throughout Iraq,
design and construct 150
primary healthcare centers
(PHC) and repair three ministry
buildings in Baghdad.
But, in April 2006, the
special inspector general for
Iraq audited their progress
and discovered that approximately
$186 million—about
77 percent—was spent on the
PHC project, over a two year
period, with little progress
made.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who broke the news of the work stoppage
of a fi eld hospital at Van Cortlandt Park File Photo