Huntington El Architect and Shop Steward Meet Again
More than four decades after they worked together to erect Huntington Elementary School, architect Alfred DiGiacomo and union shop steward Mike Falco shared a meal and became reacquainted during a meeting arranged by longtime Huntington teacher Arlene Ricco.
Mr. DiGiacomo, a 1941 Huntington High School graduate, designed Huntington El and supervised its construction. After a prize winning architectural career on Long Island, he accepted a senior architect’s position in 1980 at Cornell University. He remained in Ithaca following his retirement, but frequently visits his son who resides in Huntington.
A recent article about Mr. DiGiacomo and the construction of Huntington El, spurred Mrs. Ricco to reach out to see if he would be interested in renewing acquaintances with her father, who attended school in Huntington with Mr. DiGiacomo.
Interestingly, Mrs. Ricco, herself a Huntington High School graduate, began working at Huntington El in 1971 and is still there today, currently serving as a math teacher. She said that “my dad is 88 and in terrific shape” and she knew “it would be very special to be in contact with Mr. D, if at all possible.”
It was, in fact, possible, since Mr. DiGiacomo was planning a holiday visit to his son’s Huntington home. Mrs. Ricco and her father and husband sat down to lunch at the 56th Fighter Squadron restaurant at Republic Airport with Mr. DiGiacomo, his wife and his son, Bob, who just happened to graduate from Huntington High School with Mrs. Ricco’s brother, Mike in 1973.
“We were there for three hours and had a great time,” said Mrs. Ricco, who earned her undergraduate degree at SUNY Buffalo and a master’s at SUNY Stony Brook. “My dad really enjoyed seeing him and we talked about old times and the old Huntington Station people and places. They are very sweet and we hope to see them again when they come to Huntington in the summer.”
Both Mr. DiGiacomo and Mr. Falco were born and raised in the area near Roosevelt School, which was located near the site where Huntington Elementary School was later erected (after Roosevelt was demolished in 1968). “Our family's been in Huntington since 1905 when my grandfather came from Italy as a teenager,” said Mrs. Ricco, whose son, Chris, graduated from Huntington High School in 1999.
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