FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 27, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Whitestone honors late monsignor with co-street naming
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e 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 offi cials, 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.”
Th e 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 fi tting to memorialize
the pastor with a street naming.
Enrico Urgo and Joe Governale
spearheaded the eff ort and proposed
the street naming to Community Board
7 and to Vallone, who brought
the co-naming proposal
to the City Council, aft er
the board approved it in
October 2020.
“Not only will Msgr.
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
aft er a house fi re killed three young children
in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Governale
recalled that Tosi, a priest at the time,
came to the house fi re and asked if he
could bless the children and the fi refi ghters
battling the fl ames.
“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. Th at’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 eff orts to better the community
around him, and he had such an 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 fi nish,” Liu said.
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein reminisced
about the time he and his wife
Stephanie met Tosi at a local restaurant
while having dinner.
“Th e 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 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.”
Msgr. Tosi’s sister Susan
Zaretti speaks at the
street co-naming
ceremony in his
honor.
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
Msgr. Tosi’s sister Susan Zaretti holds the street sign bearing her brother’s name at the street co-naming ceremony on May 21.
The unveiling of “Monsignor John C. Tosi Way.”
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