MAX
COURIER L M BR B G IFE, MAY 24–30, 2019 27
Street named for
Mafalda DiMango
LIFELONG TRIBUTE: Friends and family of education activist
Mafalda DiMango held a replica of the street sign that will
now hang in her honor, at 81st Street near 15th Avenue in
Dyker Heights. Photo by Steve Solomonson
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
She’ll rule the school forever.
Civic gurus gathered
at 81st Street and 15th Avenue
in Dyker Heights on
May 11 to honor late community
and education activist
Mafalda DiMango
at a street co-naming
ceremony in her honor,
just steps from where she
lived, worked, and studied
for many years of her
life.
The event offered a
touching tribute to the
local leader’s legacy, according
to one of her two
daughters, who added that
her mother was missed at
the affair.
“It was bittersweet —
she was being honored for
so much that she did, but
she wasn’t there to know
how it was appreciated,”
said Joanne Orr, who
lives in the distant land of
New Jersey.
Councilman Justin
Brannan (D-Bay Ridge)
hosted the event, which
included remarks from
Assemblyman Peter Abbate
(D–Bensonhurst),
local school superintendent
Karina Constantino,
and others who testifi ed
to the impact DiMango
had on them during her
years of public service,
much of which was centered
on the nearby PS
204, where DiMango and
her two daughters attended
school and where
DiMango served as president
of the parent-teacher
association, according
to Orr. And DiMango’s
95-year-old husband, Anthony,
did the offi cial honors
of unveiling the sign.
The longtime Dyker
Heights resident, who
was also one of the longest
serving school board
members in the city’s
history, died Aug. 2 at 91-
years-old. She spent more
than 40 years advocating
for students in School District
20 — which includes
Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton,
Borough Park, and
part of Bensonhurst — as
a member of the school
board and the Community
Education Council.
She also spent many years
as a member of the Dyker
Heights Civic Association
and Community Board
11, and received many
awards over the years for
her service, including the
Civic Award, the Woman
of the Year Award, and
the Hidden Treasure of
the Community Award ,
all from the Bay Ridge
Community Council.
DiMango also received
the JFK Italian-American
Heritage Citation,
and was honored by the
National Conference of
Christians and Jews, and
was even knighted by the
president of Italy, according
to her other daughter,
Patricia DiMango.
Mafalda DiMango
moved from Salerno, Italy,
to the Bensonhurst
area with her family as
a young child, according
to her daughter. After she
married her husband,
Anthony, she gave birth
to her two daughters, Patricia
and Joanne, who
she raised in a house
right next door to PS
204. Patricia, who is one
of three judges on CBS’s
courtroom show “Hot
Bench,” said the co-naming
will forever honor
her mother’s place in the
community.