President Sergio Mattarella
on Wednesday spurred applause from Italian Americans by telling
them, in English, "Today I'm a New Yorker!".
Stressing that his talks with President Barack Obama had
highlighted the "indissoluble" link between Italy and the US,
Mattarella raised applause from the Italian American community,
chiefly represented by the National Italian American Foundation
(NIAF), at the Guggenheim Museum.
"Welcome to the club of the Sicilians", said New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo who played host in the absence of Mayor
Bill de Blasio, whom Mattarella, a native Sicilian, is expected
to meet before travelling on to Houston, the last stage of his
American tour.
While Mattarella reminded his audience that he was
president of all Italians, Cuomo said the Italian Americans in
the State, about three million of a US total of 15 million, are
"proud to be Americans and just as proud to keep Italian
traditions alive".
"I really feel at home," replied Mattarella who lauded the
US capacity to welcome foreigners since the end of the 19th
century.
He said that was a "real lesson of democracy" for a Europe
that appears to have forgotten the values of solidarity and the
dark times when so many Europeans were forced to leave the Old
Continent.
Mattarella on Thursday will visit Ellis Island, the main
gateway to the US since 1892 where almost four million Italians
arrived, "fraught with fears and confidence," he said.
Today, all of their descendants are "proud Americans who
love their Italian origins".
Mattarella's remark on "being a New Yorker" came after an
"intense" visit to Ground Zero, where on September 11, 2001
almost 3,000 people died.
Most of those who died were either immigrants or children
of immigrants, he observed.
"Everyone comes from somewhere to New York and each piece
of the mosaic that makes us up is unique," said the Italian
president.
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