Public Employee Press

City dedicates park for long-time local president

A rare, posthumous honor was bestowed on Parkie Vito Locascio, a 40-year veteran of the New York City Parks and Recreation Dept., as the agency renamed Loring Field to Vito Locascio Field on May 19.

“It’s an honor to celebrate Vito Locascio’s lifelong dedication to Parks and this borough by naming this ball field in his honor,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe in a statement. “I’d like to thank the Ozone Park community and its elected officials for suggesting that this field be renamed.”

Vito Locascio served as president of DC 37 Local 1508, Uniformed Parks Supervisors, for 12 years. A sign in his honor was unveiled at the afternoon ceremony at the triangular green space at Cross Bay Boulevard in Ozone Park, where local football and baseball teams practice. Locascio Field is one of just a few city parks named for a rank-and-file municipal employee.

The renaming ceremony was attended by Locascio’s widow, Maria, their four sons and extended family, the Parks Honor Guard, which Locascio helped establish, Parks Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanaugh, City Council member Joseph Addabbo Jr., dozens of Local 1508 members and local President Mike Zeno, and Columbia Society President Dominick Anastasio, along with friends and neighbors.

As Local 1508 president, Locascio helped gain weekend premiums for Parks Supervisors and established some of the local’s rich traditions, including the honor guard. Locascio trained Supervisors and Parkies, and also was an instructor at the agency’s Olmsted Center Training Academy. He was president of the Columbia Society, an Italian fraternity, for 32 years and served as president of its national fraternity.

Vito Locascio, who died May 4, 2006, worked his way up the civil service ladder as a Parks Dept. Gardener, Laborer, and later as a Parks Supervisor at Coney Island Beach. His son John, a Parks Supervisor, said his father was a proud and loving family man who loved his Italian heritage and was a Korean War veteran.