6 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 March 29–April 4, 2019
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St. Francis College’s prez talks to us
AVOID BACK AND NECK SURGERY
Get relief now for back pain
at Spine and Disc Center
Back and neck pain make the
simplest tasks nearly impossible.
You may be unable to walk,
bend, work, or drive as turning
your head to see the car behind
you — a function we barely even
think about under normal conditions
— is not possible. This
kind of debilitating pain impacts
the quality of life.
It may be that you’ve tried to
get help. You may have already
seen doctors for traditional medical
and chiropractic care, without
results. Perhaps it appears
the only possibility is surgery.
But this is not your only option.
Dr. James DiGiuseppi DC of the
Spine and Disc Center of Brooklyn
has been treating patients with
these conditions for more than 35
years, reinstating their quality
of life through nonsurgical treatment.
No spinal injections or drugs
are involved. Instead, he utilizes
decompression therapy, a leading
non-surgical, alternative treatment
for serious neck and low back pain.
“This gentle treatment method
has been shown to greatly reduce or
eliminate back and neck pain,” says
Dr. DiGiuseppi. “It has helped
people who are at the end of their
rope.”
Decompression therapy effectively
treats disabling low
back, neck, and radiating leg
and arm pain by reducing the
pressure on spinal nerves, discs
and joints.
“It renders quick, effective,
and amazing pain relief that enables
most patients to return to
a more active lifestyle,” says the
doctor. “There is a 98% success
rate — and those are pretty good
odds.”
Research to develop this
procedure was conducted by
prominent physicians, engineers,
and technicians at major
teaching hospitals, says Dr.
DiGiuseppi, who is trained in
these methods. The certification
course was designed by
the leading expert in spinal decompression,
Dr. Jay Kennedy,
D.C., who taught doctors worldwide
and treated thousands of
patients using a variety of decompression
systems. To gain
certification involves more
than 40 hours of instruction,
including hands-on training
sessions, followed by certification
examinations.
“We are pleased that we
can serve our patients and
others in the community
with advanced spinal decompression
therapy,” says
Dr. DiGiuseppi.
Decompression therapy begins
with a series of sessions that
typically run three or four times
per week. It’s all done while the
patient is fully clothed, either
face down, or face up, on the
table. During each of these sessions,
electrical muscle stimulation,
ultrasound, or therapeutic
laser may be applied to help relax
muscles and promote further
healing of injured tissues, says
the doctor. In addition, patients
may be asked to complete specific
exercises designed to help
strengthen muscles.
People with spinal stenosis,
bulging, herniated, and degenerative
discs, pinched nerves,
and sciatica have found relief
through this method.
Spine and Disc
Center of Brooklyn
8214 - 13th Avenue 11228
in Dyker Heights, (718)
833–3327. www.SpineandDiscCenter.
com
RoseMarie Esposito, 86
For Brooklyn Paper
RoseMarie Esposito was
born RoseMarie Notaro on
Aug. 3, 1932 to Joseph “Corbett”
and Felice “Fanny” Notaro.
Along with her siblings,
Jerry, Kitty, Alda, Gloria, and
“The Baby” Robert (aka the
legendary “Pepe”), she grew
up on North Sixth Street in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Blessed with a coloratura
soprano singing voice, Rose-
Marie turned down a lucrative
professional opera career, instead
choosing to dedicate her
voice to Jesus and singing for
parishioners of Our Lady of
Mount Carmel church.
RoseMarie always dreamed
of being married and having
a big family; in fact she only
dated two men her entire life,
and she got to marry both of
them.
In 1953, RoseMarie mar-
RoseMarie Esposito
ried Anthony “Tony” Pennolino
and was blessed with
four children: Paul, Peter, Anthony,
and Catherine. Sadly,
Tony was taken from her at a
very young age, only six years
after they were married.
RoseMarie found love
again with her childhood
sweetheart, Emanuel “Slats”
Now on
Esposito, and they married
in 1963. A few years later,
she was blessed with her fifth
child, Carmine. Together, she
and “Slats” raised their five
children around the corner
from her childhood home.
RoseMarie dedicated her
life to Jesus and the Catholic
church, and specifically to
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
church. Her love and devotion
to Jesus was unending.
She instilled in her children,
grandchildren, nieces, nephews,
extended family, and
friends this love and dedication.
RoseMarie served Jesus,
Our Lady, and Our Lady of
Mount Carmel church in any
and every way she could, including
singing in the choir,
working the grotto at the
Feast, and participating in
groups such as CCD, Children’s
Liturgy, Third Order,
Prayer Group, Feast Services,
and Ladies Auxiliary.
As a true testament of
her devotion, RoseMarie’s
Funeral Mass was concelebrated
by Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello,
Msgr. David Cassato,
Msgr. Joseph Calise, Father
Joseph Fonti, and Deacon
Philip Franco.
RoseMarie always enjoyed
making special time to be with
her grandchildren: Paul, Jr.
and his wife Joanna, Anthony,
David, James, Natalie,
Carla, Matthew, Valentine,
Savannah, Emanuel,
and Elijah; her great-grandson,
Paul the Third; and in
honor of her sister, Gloria,
she became “Grammy-Pie”
to Michael.
RoseMarie’s family and
friends were all so blessed
and grateful to have been
graced with this remarkable
woman’s unending love.
FROM THE PAGES OF BROWNSTONER.COM
Celebrating leaders in real estate, architecture, design
Stephen Zacks
Brownstoner
Brownstoner honored top
leaders in Brooklyn real estate,
architecture, design and
development at its RADD
Awards Thursday, March 21 at
the Brooklyn Historical Society
in Brooklyn Heights.
Working in fields as varied
as historic preservation,
affordable housing development,
architecture and art,
they are helping to make
Brooklyn a better place. The
full list of RADD honorees included
Heritage Equity Partners
CEO Toby Moskovits;
artist, designer and founder
of Black Artists + Designers
Guild Malene Barnett; President
and Executive Director
of Weeksville Heritage Center
Rob Fields; Habitat for Humanity
New York City CEO
Karen Haycox; and Nitehawk
Cinema founder Matthew
Viragh, to name only a few.
Guests mingled in the building’s
historic library before
the award ceremony.
The honorees were se-
Brownstoner’s RADD Awards, held at the Brooklyn Historical Society on Thursday,
lected by a panel of judges
comprising principals from
Brooklyn Heights Association,
Brooklyn Historical
Society, CPEX Real Estate,
Downtown Brooklyn Partnership,
Flavor Paper, Komaru
Enterprises and Prospect
Park Alliance, as well
as Brownstoner.
Sponsors for the evening
included Brooklyn Heights
Association, California Closets,
Meridian Capital Group
and PropertyShark.
March 21, saw a packed house.
Photo by Corazon Aguirre
Brownstoner bestows honors
By Natallie Rocha
Brooklyn Paper
The president of local university St. Francis College is
amid a massive effort to put his Brooklyn Heights campus
on the world map, in order to build a diverse student body
and academic relationships across the globe that he says
will define the 160-year-old institution’s next century of
higher education. But international expansion isn’t the only
bold idea that Dr. Miguel Martinez-Saenz proposed for the
“small college of big dreams” since he took over as its 19th
leader in September 2017. The school’s top educator strives
to develop unique relationships with as many of his students
as possible — sometimes before they even set foot on the
grounds — in order to make the most of their time in the
classroom. We recently sat down with Martinez-Saenz —
the first person in his family to attend college — to discuss
his work on campus, and off, in his term to date:
Natallie Rocha: The
three pillars of higher education
at St. Francis College
are “access, retention,
and success.” How have you
furthered those pillars in your
time as president?
Miguel Martinez-
Saenz: One of the things
I’ve tried to do from an access
point of view, and a retention
point of view, is get
people to understand that access
requires a whole commitment,
not just an invitation. It
requires figuratively holding
students’ hands and welcoming
them onto the campus,
so they feel comfortable.
This creates an environment
that supports them, even as
they are challenged. And I
try to encourage this sort of
access in the way I interact
on campus.
NR: Is there something, or
someone, from your time in
college that inspires the compassion
and understanding
you show your students?
MMS: The woman that
turned my life around when
I was having a difficult time
in college was a Florida State
University professor, Dr. Maureen
Tilley, who died in 2016.
Many years after we met, I
learned she was also a firstgeneration
college student,
and that was one of the reasons
that she was so sympathetic.
She asked me questions
about me, and it was kind of
the first time that happened
to me in that space. I could
have gone in the wrong direction,
but she put me on the
right path. I was lucky enough
to have Maureen commit to
and believe in me, so that’s
why I do what I do.
NR: How else do you
show your commitment to
students?
MMS: I go into high
schools probably three times a
month, in part because I want
to communicate what we’re
about, but also, to build relationships
with prospective students
who might eventually
move into our spaces. And
students see that process of
engagement — when I know
someone and what he or she
needs, I can connect them with
donors and other friends of
the college for support. But
I can’t do that if I don’t know
what students need. I joke that
students get a little nervous
when they see me in the elevator,
because they know
I’m going to start talking to
them. Sometimes I see someone
in a bad mood and I have
an opportunity to lift him or
her up a little bit. You never
know what someone is going
through.
NR: What is your five year
plan for the college?
MMS: We are embarking
on a comprehensive internationalization
strategy.
We have a number of international
athletes, and a few
study-abroad projects, but no
comprehensive relationships.
So we’ve established new relationships
in Brazil, and in the
Caribbean, where we visited
a fair in Trinidad and Tobago,
and are beginning some partnerships
with universities including
the University of the
West Indies and the University
of Trinidad and Tobago.
We also just signed a partnership
with a group from Norway,
and another with a group
that has programs in Myanmar,
Nepal, and Japan. This
is a big push on our end.
NR: Why is international
expansion so important right
now?
MMS: Today, you have
to be globally oriented. New
York is arguably the most diverse
city on the planet, so
getting access to folks living
abroad, and also to ethnic
communities here, is important
for us in creating a
diverse learning environment
from socioeconomic, religious,
and cultural perspectives.
The global ethos must
be a part of what we do.
NR: I read that you’ve
made it a point to teach philosophy
and poetry classes to
inmates at Sunset Park’s Metropolitan
Detention Center, in
addition to the education you
provide to your students on
campus. Why do you prioritize
giving lessons to prisoners
amid your demanding
day job?
MMS: My daughter used
to always ask me, “Why do
you go inside the prison?”
And I’d always respond with
my own question: “Why do
you think I teach inside the
prison?” There are two answers:
because there are few
others who will go teach inmates
philosophy and poetry,
but also because I believe I
have a responsibility to do so.
I can’t provide the opportunity
for all, but I can provide
it for some, which is why I
always say to young people,
“I’m not telling you to save
the world, I’m telling you to
treat some people around you
kindly.”
NR: Where do you live in
Brooklyn?
MMS: I live in Boerum
Hill, blocks from the school,
so I get to walk to work and
embed myself in the local environment.
I like to say that to be
educated today, you need to be
educated in a diverse learning
environment, amid the chaos
and cacophony of an urban setting.
And what I love about
Brooklyn is that you’re being
educated all the time. Walk
outside and you learn something
about the world. I think
that’s a powerful thing, especially
for my children. I love
living in the city and all that
it presents, even though there
are some challenges.
— Natallie Rocha
St. Francis College president Miguel Martinez-
Saenz visits local high schools to show young people
the educational opportunities that are in their
neighborhood.
St. Francis College
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