Former Mayor Lenny Paoletta knows all about the Italian word sprezzatura, a reference to effortless grace, a signature he utilizes in his email address. He does not lack for celebration be it with family or friends. He turns 90 years of age on Friday.
Lenny is still part of the Bridgeport scene, a significant contributor to the yearly Italian-heritage celebration in October.
Lenny was the last Republican to serve two terms as mayor, defeating Democrat John Mandanici in 1981 and winning reelection in 1983 when the mayoralty was a two-year term.
When I was a young reporter you walked into his office at 45 Lyon Terrace for an interview he didn’t thread needles. He was refreshingly open. If he didn’t like what you wrote he’d tell you, then, at the end, hey, how about some Sambuca?
This is a man who took a bullet in his his leg that hit a major artery, victim of an unintended drive-by shooting 30 years ago in front of Holy Rosary Church where he dedicated so much time after his mayoralty. OIB friend, former State Rep. Chris Caruso who is recovering from a severe stomach infection, was by his side that extraordinary night during a time drug wars enveloped the city.
On the operating table, Lenny sparkled a sense of humor, wondering if the surgeon was a Republican.
Lenny bleeds Bridgeport: Harding High School, strong Jesuit schooling at Fairfield University, raised a family on Hickory Street on the Upper East Side. He’s never lost his love for his city.
As mayor he organized the city’s first St. Patrick’s Day Parade, joking it took an Italian to show the Irish how to throw a parade.
As mayor he engineered a remarkable makeover of Christmas Village after it was torched by an arsonist.
Blending a combination of fearlessness and firmness more than 40 years ago, Paoletta inspired a regional kinship that rallied people for a united cause.
On December 7, 1982 an arsonist slipped into Beardsley Park and set fire to the Police Activities League’s Christmas Village, that for more than 25 years had been the site of a Christmas celebration for the city’s impoverished children. Reaction to the shocking fire sparked a massive five-day restoration mission that raised the village from ashes and turned it into a national story.
For those of us who covered it as young reporters it became an indelible celebration of human spirit that brought out a crusade of pride, purpose and generosity from people all over the world. More than 100 men and women tirelessly worked around the clock in a restoration effort that normally would have taken weeks, or perhaps months. People donated thousands of dollars to construct a new building; masons, electricians, construction workers donated supplies and time and others donated food for the workers
With the late community activist Marilyn Goldstone leading the way, toy companies rushed enough gifts to fill thousands of Santa’s toy bags. Nearly 60,000 people visited the village in the days after its reopening. President Ronald Reagan proclaimed on national television, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” With Mayor Paoletta taking the call, the president phoned in for the reopening of Christmas Village.
Paoletta and Michael Daly collaborated on the book The Miracle Of Christmas Village. Order the book here.
Buon compleanno, Lenny. Sprezzatura!
Happy Birthday Lenny..Look up “ True Gentleman” in the dictionary,there will be a pic of Lenny…