Our Mission

The Westchester Italian Cultural Center preserves, promotes and celebrates the rich heritage of classic and contemporary Italian culture by encouraging an appreciation of the Italian language, arts and letters, history, cuisine and commerce through educational programs, exhibits and events.

Members of the Board

Honorable Francis A. Nicolai - Chairman of the Board

The Honorable Francis A. Nicolai, Administrative Judge of the Ninth Judicial District was born in Pleasantville, New York in 1939.

Judge Nicolai graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1961. After serving for 12 years, including duty in Greenland, Italy and Vietnam, he retired in 1973.

He graduated from New York Law School with a degree of Juris Doctor in 1970 and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1971. After retiring from the Coast Guard, he was in private law practice from 1973-1982 in Rockland and Westchester Counties.

He was appointed a County Court Judge by Governor Carey in 1982 and again by Governor Cuomo in 1983. He was elected to a full term commencing January 1, 1984. He was elected in 1990 as a Justice of the Supreme Court, Ninth Judicial District. In December 1998 he was appointed the Administrative Judge by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. In November 2004 he was elected a Westchester County Court Judge.

Judge Nicolai is a life-long resident of Westchester County. He and his wife Allene are the parents of three children - Angelique, Erica and Noelle.

Joseph Armentano

Joseph Armentano is the Chief Executive Officer of Paraco Gas Corp., a privately held propane company with $80 million in revenues, 15 locations and 250 employees. Paraco Gas is one of the top 50 United States Propane Retailers (L.P. Magazine 2006 (#19). Joseph is involved in many civic and charitable organizations. Presently, he is serving on the Board of Directors of the National Propane Gas Association, the Westchester County Association, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), the Westchester Italian Cultural Center, the Community Fund of Bronxville, Eastchester and Tuckahoe in addition to the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce.

Joseph has served as the past president of the New York State Propane Gas Association and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross. Joseph has been active in the Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless and Westchester Buick Classic, as well as a host of other organizations over the past 20 years.

Joseph graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx, New York in 1976 with a B.A. in history. He received an M.B.A. in Finance from Iona College in New Rochelle, New York in 1988. Joseph is married to his wife, Nancy and has two children, Christina and Christopher. He has been a resident of Bronxville, New York since 1984. Joseph is an avid wine collector and enjoys numerous other hobbies including skiing and tennis.

Rose Cali

Rose Cali was born and raised in New Haven, CT. She graduated in 1980, Magna Cum Laude, from Montclair State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology.

In 1974, Rose married John J. Cali. They have five children, Jonna, Brant, Michael, Joshua and Christopher – and eight grandchildren. They currently reside in New Jersey where Rose is a dedicated volunteer to a number of community projects.

Rose is a member of the Board of Directors for the following organizations:
Montclair State University Board-secretary and executive committee, Big Brothers Big Sisters New Jersey, Saint Josephs Children's Hospital, Paterson NJ New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education-president Montclair Public Library Foundation Montclair Art Museum, NJ and Sharron Miller's Academy for Performing Arts, NJ.

Domenick Ciaccia -Treasurer

Domenick Ciaccia is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Commodities (Tea) Trading, Inc., one of the largest importers of tea to North America. U.C.T.T. represents major tea growers in tea producing countries worldwide and sells to the major tea brands as well as to specialty and gourmet tea providers. The company acts as a channel of distribution of raw tea from producing country to packer. U.C.T.T. provides expertise in market intelligence, shipping and finance as well knowledge of tea cultivation and processing.

Domenick is currently a Director of the United States Tea Association, a trade organization with offices in New York City and is a member of various committees dealing with issues relating to global transportation and the customs-trade partnership against terrorism program (C-TPAT).

Domenick is active in his local community, supporting children’s sports programs in the way of coaching, administration and fund-raising. He also serves on the Board of Managers for a local condominium association. Domenick was born in Bari, Italy. He was raised in the Bronx, New York where he attended Cardinal Hayes High School. Domenick graduated from Iona College in 1980 with a B.A. in International Studies. Domenick and his wife Sue have been married since 1984. They currently reside in White Plains with their three daughters Jacqueline, Stefanie, and Jessica.

Domenico Delli Carpini

Domenico is the Publisher and Executive Director of Circulation of America Oggi, the Italian daily language newspaper in the United States. 

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in languages (Italian with a minor in French) from CUNY, Lehman College and New York University. 

Domenico was awarded Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana and is a recipient of the Presidential medal “Stella della Solidarieta”. 

An advocate of promoting the Italian language, Domenico worked aggressively with Italian organizations, the Ministry of Italians Abroad and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome to include the Italian language in the national AP program in over 500 United States high schools.  He was also responsible for initiating the Italian American Committee on Education program sponsored by the Italian General Consultate in New York City at the Harrison Elementary and Middle Schools.

Honorable Janet DiFiore

On January 1, 2006, Judge Janet DiFiore was sworn in as the 32nd District Attorney of Westchester County.  Previously she served for more than ten years as an Assistant District Attorney, the last four and half of which were as the Chief of Narcotics for the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, coordinating drug enforcement and prosecution efforts.

Elected as a Judge of Westchester County Court in 1998 and as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, D.A. DiFiore has presided over hundreds of cases in the County Court, the Family Court and the New York State Supreme Court.

D.A. DiFiore is a life-long resident of Westchester County.  She has effectively served on the Boards and in leadership positions of numerous professional, civic and local school organizations, including the Columbian Lawyers Association of Westchester County and the Westchester Women’s Bar Association.

District Attorney Janet DiFiore is married to Dennis E. Glazer.  They live in Westchester County with their three children.

Jonathan Giannettino

Jonathan S. Giannettino is the Vice President of Curto’s Appliances of Yonkers. Jonathan’s background is in Internet marketing and he worked for several global media companies before joining his family’s business in 2004 as the third-generation owner.

Jonathan is passionate about Italian cooking and has traveled extensively throughout Italy. He is the publisher of “Sunday Sauce”, an Internet blog dedicated to Italian cuisine which he produces with his wife Nicole. While living in Florence, Italy in 2002, Jonathan attended intensive Italian language classes at La Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci.

Jonathan graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Science in Media Studies and received an M.B.A. in Marketing from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business in 2006.

He was married to Nicole Barbaro on July 16, 2006, and they reside in Hoboken, New Jersey.

James J. Veneruso, Esq. - Corporate Secretary & Legal Counsel

James ¬J. Veneruso is a member of the law firm of Griffin, Coogan & Veneruso, P.C. located in Bronxville, New York. He is admitted to practice law in New York and Florida. His biographical sketch has appears in Who’s Who in American Law and Pre-imminent Lawyers of America .

His professional and business associations include the New York State Bar Association Florida Bar Association, West. County Bar Association, Columbian Lawyers’ Assoc. and the Hudson Valley Bank Business Development Board. Additionally, for several years he has served on the Board of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp. Jim attended Widener University and New York University Law Schools. He has served as Associate Editor of the Corporate Law Review, the Editorial Board of the Westchester County Bar Journal, was a founding member of the Board of Editors of the Pace Law Review and served as President of the John Marshall Honor Society.

Jim is very active in civic and charitable organizations. He serves on the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity and the Generoso Pope Foundation. He is a founding Board member of Heartsong Inc. which provides music and art therapy programs for children with disabilities. He served on its Board for fourteen years as Vice Chairman and then Chairman. He also served for many years on the Board of the Greyston Foundation and continues to serve as its counsel. Jim recently received the “American Dream Award” for his service to Habitat for Humanity and the “Community Leader Award” from the Sisters of St. John the Baptist.

Jim and his wife, Lillian Curto Veneruso, reside in Yonkers, New York. They have three children and one Grandchild, Isabella Grace.