Singer Tony Orlando joins WABC radio
to ‘tie yellow ribbons’ for Veterans Day
BY TODD MAISEL
“Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the
BY TODD “To honor all our veterans we are tying
Ole Oak Tree,” is a timeless
classic – but has come to mean
a lot more, especially for veterans and
their families assigned overseas protecting
American interests.
Even though this year’s Veteran’s Day
Parade has been canceled because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, smaller outdoor
ceremonies are scheduled. One of those
ceremonies was led by WABC radio hosting
a “yellow ribbon tying” for vets led by
singer/songwriter Tony Orlando who sang
his famous tune for a contingent of Marines
in Manhattan on Tuesday morning.
The effort was a campaign aimed at tying
yellow ribbons around tens of thousands of
trees in support of military veterans despite
the cancellation of larger events around
town. Residents were encouraged to join
and tie yellow ribbons on trees around
town to honor the veterans.
John Catsimatidis owner of Red Apple
Media and WABC radio, was joined by a
singer Tony Orlando and other talk show
WABC radio owner John Catsimatidis hosted a ’Tie a Yellow Ribbon’ ceremony
for US Military in lieu of what is normally a Veterans Day parade on Wednesday,
but cancelled because of Covid-19. He was joined by other personalities,
including singer Tony Orlando who sang ’Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole
Oak Tree.’
personalities outside the radio offi ces on
Third Avenue in Manhattan in applauding
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
veterans throughout the city for their service
to the country.
To honor all our veterans, we are tying
a hundred thousand yellow ribbons around
ole oak trees, well, all kinds of trees around
New York City because we want them to
know that we love them, respect them, and
we await for them to come home,” Catsimatidis
said. “God bless America and we
really appreciate our armed forces.”
Orlando was equally proud to honor the
veterans and led attendees from WABC and
the personalities in a chorus of “Tie a Yellow
Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” one
of the big songs that shot him to stardom
in the ’70s.
“We don’t have a parade but you do have
us,” Orlando said proudly to the contingent
of Marines who attended.
Chad Lopez, president of WABC radio
and a veteran himself having served in
the Navy aboard the USS Independence
before working for the radio station, said
he was proud to be able to honor fellow
veterans.
“We really welcome the opportunity to
honor veterans the way we are doing it, the
way John is doing it today and I’m really
proud to be part of it,” Lopez said.
AriZona Iced Tea to match up to $25K in donations
to GoFundMe to save Harlem bodega
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Excenia Mette has always loved
cooking. She learned how to cook
by watching her mother and father
in the kitchen growing up. Even before
she opened Momma Zee’s Food to Plez,
located at 2059 Adam Clayton Powell Jr
Blvd. in Harlem, she was always cooking
and selling food.
“I always had some little cooking business,
usually out in front of the house or
from inside the house cooking soul food,”
said Mette. “My grandmother used to sell
dinners out of her home. She was named
Excenia, I was named after her. She used
to sell food to feed the family. My uncle
had a deli in Brooklyn years ago, before I
even moved to New York City. It’s a family
tradition.”
While her family history helped inform
her decision to open her own bodega, she
also wanted to help serve the community by
having ready-made meals for those to come
in and grab a bite to eat without worrying
about cooking themselves. Now, she runs
the fi rst women and Black-owned bodega
in New York City since 1987.
“I started thinking it was going to be a
Excenia Mette
deli with not a lot of cooking involved,” said
Mette. “But once I opened, there was a high
demand for the food. They would come in
for home-cooked soul food — which is my
specialty — basically so they could come
in, grab food and go. I wanted to cater to
the community.”
Like many small businesses in New
York City, Momma Zee’s was hit hard by
the pandemic. The bodega used to sell out
of food daily — now, the customer traffi c
is no longer what it used to be.
With the danger of the bodega closing
down for good due to the pandemic, Mette
set up a GoFundMe for the community to
donate to. However, once AriZona Iced
Tea, a New York City bodega staple, caught
wind of the situation, they knew they had
to help.
“I have to be careful about the food
portions because you don’t want to waste
it. I can literally make only $200 for the
day. Some days are good, some days are
bad,” said Mette.
AriZona Iced Tea had originally featured
Momma Zee’s in AriZona’s 2019 ‘Great
Buy Magazine’ story on New York Bodega
culture. Because Momma Zee’s is seen as
a part of the AriZona Iced Tea family, the
company decided to match donations up
to $25,000 to the GoFundMe. AriZona
Iced Tea developed a tote bag with food
that is also available for purchase in-store
at Momma Zee’s.
“I have been sitting here suffering and
never received one quarter from the government,”
said Mette. “AriZona has been
there every single day, they’ve been so
incredible. I talk about them every day. I
came to New York and never would think
someone would come to offer me help.”
The GoFundMe for Momma Zee’s has
a goal of $75,000, which will go towards
paying rent, utilities, payroll, liabilities and
food distributors. The campaign will run
until the goal is met.
To donate to the Momma Zee’s
GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com/f/savemommazee039s
black-owned-deli-in-nyc.
4 November 12, 2020 Schneps Media