News Article

The Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Nov. 15 at the CYO-MIV Center in Pleasant Plains (6541 Hylan Blvd.).

The doors open at 5 p.m. and the ceremony begins promptly at 6 p.m.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Inductees in the Class of 2024 include: Margaret Grenier, Claire Guerriero, Sharon McAdams, Dusty Rhodes, Kevin Rooney, Vince Scamardella, Duane Singleton, John Skronski, Rod Stilwell and Johnny “The Heat” Verderosa.

The event will be held in the gym, adjacent to the Hall of Fame, and the Hall will be open for visitation for the hour prior to the ceremony and for an hour after.

Anthony Santo, Hall of Fame President noted, “Our Induction ceremony is always a feel-good, heart-warming story that celebrates some extraordinary people and revels in the goodness of Staten Island and its people. Ceremony Chairman and emcee, Bob Scamardella, does an exceptional job in presenting an interesting, dynamic and well-paced program. If Staten Island sports is your thing, it’s a must attend affair.”

Staten Island lost some of its edge last week when Bert Levinson, who spent the better part of a lifetime picking the brains of the sharpest jocks in the old neighborhood and beyond, and poured all that acquired wisdom into an almost uninterrupted spate of winning as the baseball and basketball coach at Curtis High School – and, later, as a junior high school principal, and a basketball referee – passed away at his home in West Brighton.

He was 91, and nobody who knew him would say he frittered away any of that time.

Growing up in New Brighton, where his father ran a neighborhood drugstore, Levinson fell in love with the games early on; and when he fell, he fell so hard that playing ball six days a week was never enough.

On Saturdays when Jewish boys from observant families were expected to go to synagogue, Levinson would stuff his glove, spikes, and baseball uniform into a paper sack, and drop it out a bedroom window into the alley below. Then he’d walk out the front door in his best suit, retrieve his gear, and be on his way to Goodhue Playground or Clove Lakes Park, wherever there was a game to be played.

That devotion paid dividends a few years later, when Levinson and his hometown buddy Vinny Gattullo, Army privates stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, spotted a poster announcing tryouts for the post baseball team. When the rest of the unit went off to keep the post-war peace in Korea, Levinson stayed behind to play ball with teammates like future Yankee manager Billy Martin.

“I got lucky, he’d say whenever he told the story.

He got lucky a lot after that, coming home to start a career as a teacher and coach in an era when larger-than-life coaches high school coaches wielded their out-sized influence to keep order in the hallways, and allowed their bosses the illusion that they were still in charge.

So it was hardly a shock when Levinson’s high school coach Harry O’Brien, having decided he no longer had the stamina to coach two sports, marched his young assistant into the office of principal James Corbett.

“Mr. Corbett,” he announced, “I want you to meet your new basketball coach.”

And that was that.

A decade later, Levinson would take the same walk with his assistant, Larry Anderson.

In those days, even as a rookie coach, Levinson could walk down the line of prospects on the first day of basketball tryouts, pausing in front of every kid with longish hair.

“Get a haircut,” he’d say, “or don’t come back.”

Telling the story decades later, he’d shrug.

“They all came back,” he said, still amazed at the tug of the games. “They wanted to play.”

He coached some great players – big-leaguers, college stars, and Staten Island Hall of Famers – and some of his competitive swagger rubbed off.

“Coach, what are you worried about,” all-city second baseman Bill Wolfe asked him one day, when Levinson was grousing about a missed sign or a botched cut-off.     “We always win.”

And it was nearly true.

Levinson’s teams won seven Island basketball championships in 10 seasons. His baseball teams made six straight appearances in the city championship game, winning back-to-back titles in 1961 and 1962.

He didn’t have the physical stature of some other legendary coaches. But I once saw him stop an argument … and maybe a minor riot … before it started.

Just by raising an eyebrow.

This was after his coaching days were over, when Levinson was officiating the biggest high school games in the neighborhood, and made one of those high-leverage, bang-bang calls that was certain to make somebody mad.

An aggrieved coach stormed off the bench, inciting a crowd that was already teetering on the edge of anarchy.

He was halfway to the scorer’s table when Levinson turned his head. He didn’t speak, or raise a hand. His baleful stare, and that one raised eyebrow, were enough to stop the outraged coach in his tracks. Suddenly uncertain, he retreated to his seat on the bench, and the tension leaked out of gym.

That same moxie came in handy in Levinson’s tenure as the principal at Dreyfus Junior High School, a troubled school in danger of collapse. Levinson succeeded where others had failed, because he wasn’t afraid to try, and because staff and parents knew the new guy couldn’t be cowed; that he meant what he said; and that when push came to shove, he had their backs.

He could be a demanding taskmaster, and an unyielding disciplinarian. But once you were one of his guys, that membership card never expired. Levinson’s word opened doors that might otherwise have been closed. And more than once, he put his own reputation on the line in front of a desk sergeant, district attorney, or judge, after one of his players – or ex-players – got himself in a jam.

It all came back to him later in life.

Diminished by age and illness, and crushed by the passing of his son Mickey, a gifted physical therapist whose clients included baseball greats like Mariano Rivera, Levinson was sustained by the attention of his former players, now middle-aged men.

Some, like Larry Anderson and Larry Liedy, seemed more like sons.

But the doting father and grandfather, who drove his granddaughter to nursery school every day – and waited outside until the end of the school day, just in case she needed him – could be moved to tears by the attention of athletes he hadn’t seen in decades.

At his 90th birthday party, he was serenaded with a personalized version of “My Way” led by Island crooners Al Lambert and Jack Furnari, and a chorus that included Edy, his bride of 58 years, their kids and grandkids, former players and onetime adversaries.

On days like that, when he was surrounded by familiar faces and voices, and the stories started to flow, there were moments when the years seemed to melt away, and he was still Bert Levinson, who could tell a nearly full-grown man when to get a haircut, and stop a nasty ruckus before it started, just by raising a questioning eyebrow.

By Charlie De Biase Jr. | debiase@siadvance.com

What’s wrong with starting the celebration a little bit early?

Nothing, as far as the guys who once made L&M Tavern a household name are concerned.

The legendary Staten Island Touch Tackle League team, of course, learned it was getting inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame (SISHOF) earlier this year. However, even though the official ceremony isn’t until November, the former players and coach decided to get together to start the festivities ahead of time.

On July 14, they did just that. Eleven former players and one coach got together at Jody’s Club Forest in West Brighton to not only reminisce, but talk about the upcoming SISHOF induction ceremony on Nov. 17. The SISHOF is located inside the CYO-MIV Center in Pleasant Plains.

L&M has a laundry list of accomplishments through the years including, most notably, four straight SITTL regular-season and playoff championships and a 46-game winning streak. L&M, of course, played in the highly touted league’s top division and always rode a team-first culture to immense success.

Those in attendance at last month’s shindig included Nick Antonucci, Bert Benedetto, Daryl Dinkins, Bill Masella, Joe McAdams, Larry Puccerelli, John Santora, coach Gunnar Sjolander, Kristin Sjolander, Sean Slattery, Dwight Stilwell and Pat Sweeney.

“We’re elated for the coming Induction Ceremony in November,’’ said Benedetto. “We’re proud to be together and gathered at Jody’s Tavern to celebrate our election into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame.’’

Six individuals and two organizations have been chosen to receive the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame 2023 Larry Ambrosino Unsung Heroes Award.

The six individuals are Richard Gundacker, the late Milt Huttner, John Mattera, Gerry Mosley, Helen Settles, and Robert Smith. The organizations are the Warren Jaques Memorial Committee and Rolling Thunder Chapter 2 New York.

Each will be honored at the Hall of Fame’s Unsung Heroes Breakfast, Saturday, Oct. 21 at Li Greci’s Staaten, 697 Forest Avenue, West Brighton.

The awards were renamed a year ago in honor of the HOF’s former chairman, the late Larry Ambrosino, who originated them in 2005. Since then, the HOF has honored almost 200 individuals and organizations.

In announcing the recipients, current HOF Chairman Tony Santo pointed out that the honorees were being recognized for their community service as well as their contributions to the quality of life on Staten Island.

“Each of these persons and groups has greatly enhanced our borough in many ways, and this is just our way of calling attention to their efforts. Each has made our neighborhood a better place to play, watch and celebrate the accomplishments of our sports community,” Santo said.

Here is a brief summary of each recipient’s contributions.

     Richard Gundacker — A legend in the world of Scouting in this borough, Rich has been involved with Troop 37 for the past 41 years. Among his many accomplishments, he has guided 56 Scouts to the rank of Eagle Scout. His personal honors include the National Eagle Scout Award of Merit, the Scouter Key, the Bronze Pelican and the Silver Beaver. An Army veteran, he is a retired NYPD detective who worked with a number of units, including the elite Tactical Patrol Force in all five boroughs.

     Milt Huttner — the first person to be honored posthumously, Milt has been called the living embodiment of an Unsung Hero. He preferred to live his life in the background, shunning headlines and recognition for the work he did with hundreds of young boys and men. Without title or fame, he quietly mentored young men, most of them baseball players he came into contact with as assistant coach for the American Legion teams from Huttner-Pasqualini Post (named after his late brother). He counseled athletes for countless hours at a time on the nuances of the game and life, then composed handwritten letters by the hundred to help them get into colleges. He died in 1973.

     Gerry Mosley — Gerry is the architect behind Shoot 4 Success Coaching with Character, a highly successful non-profit organization he began in 1997, which has provided a safe haven for hundreds of basketball players on all levels to hone their skills and develop into productive people in society. He has been inducted into the Port Richmond HS Hall of Fame, and for 18 years served as a coach — including nine as head coach — for the College of Staten Island women’s basketball team.

     John Mattera — John, who for decades owned Arrochar Pharmacy, a welcoming neighborhood business that doubled as a hub for various Island sports groups, has been the president of the Staten Island Baseball Oldtimers organization since 2009. John has seen to it that SIBO, which has supported youth and high school baseball in this borough for almost 60 years, continues to thrive. Under his leadership, SIBO has maintained its high standard of community involvement while each season acknowledging and rewarding the outstanding high school baseball players in the borough.

     Robert Smith — Robert has spent nearly 30 years volunteering for charitable causes on the Island, most notably with the CYO track and field program, and especially at St. Joseph-St. Thomas. Prior to his work with the track program, which began in 1995, he was an assistant soccer coach, a coach in the basketball program and basketball program treasurer for eight years. In addition to those posts, he has served on the parish sports council, and headed the parish Holy Name Society. For the past 10 years he has served as the President of the SI CYO track and field/cross country league. He was the recipient of the CYO Outstanding Contributor Award in 2017 and SITRAC community service award in 2019.

     Helen Settles — Helen has long been involved with the youth of Staten Island, especially on the North Shore. An integral part of many organizations, including the NAACP, the Special Olympics, Project Hospitality, the Universal Temple of the Arts and Seniors of the North Shore, she has brought her passion and energy to each group. In addition, the retired educator has coached basketball for more than five decades, and this year received the prestigious Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year Award from the Hospital for Special Surgery.

     The Warren Jaques Memorial Committee — The group, which this year celebrated its 75th anniversary, has been educating and advocating for the advancement of the Staten Island athletic community since 1948. Among its many achievements each year is the presentation of the Singleton Basketball Trophy to the Island’s basketball champion team and the Warren Jaques Award to the top male and female high school players.

     Rolling Thunder Chapter 2 NY — Although its major function has been to publicize the POW-MIA issue by educating the public about those men and women, the group has come to be equally well known for its many charitable works and events. The Staten Island Chapter of the national organization includes, but is not limited to, veterans — many of whom ride motorcycles. The group was honored with the prestigious Albert V. Maniscalco Award in 2020. Named after the former borough president, the award celebrates “the civic mindedness and tireless energy of individuals and organizations that work to help community members in need and make SI a better place to live.”

For further information, purchase tickets for the event ($85) or take out an ad in the commemorative journal, please contact either of the events’ co-chairs: Lou Bergonzi (lbergonzi@verizon.net) or Derek Alvez (dalvez11@gmail.com).