Andrea Stewart-Cousins's Constituent stories

Dr. Olivia J. Hooker was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1915, and moved with her family to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her father was a successful businessman who operated a clothing store and her mother was a former teacher in the Greenwood District, which was referred to as “the prairie’s own small turn-of-the-century Harlem”.

Dr. Olivia Hooker was six years old when her community in Tulsa was destroyed on May 31, 1921, in the worst race riot in the history of the United States. The Tulsa Riot resulted in the deaths of more than three hundred people, and the burning of more than one thousand homes and businesses. Dr. Olivia J. Hooker vividly remembers being awakened by the thudding sounds of machine gun ammunition raining down on her family’s home.

Rossana Rosado has been a dominant force in New York media for 27 years. Using her Journalism degree from Pace University, she started as a City Hall reporter at El Diario La Prensa. She left the newspaper to join WPIX, Inc. as a Producer of Public A‑ airs programming. The move paid o‑ and she was later promoted to Public Service Director, responsible for the creation and placement of hundreds of Public Service Announcements on the air. Ms. Rosado was recognized for her talents when she won an Emmy in 1992 for the production of a series of Public Service Announcements featuring organizations which helped children.

Joseph T. Nader,  retired Lt. Col and retired Lt. YPD, also a Yonkers native, served in North Africa and Italy during WWII and at Ft. Gordon during the Korean War. As an US Army reservist, he attained the rank of Lt. Colonel. Joe was appointed to the Yonkers Police Dept. in 1946 and was Chairman of the Police and Fire Retirees for 8 years. He was also Past Commander of Post 1666 VFW and Chairman of the Central Committee of War Veterans. Joe was instrumental in establishing Montrose Veterans Nursing Home, Veterans Service Agency in Yonkers and the Gold Star Mother’s Monument in Larkin Plaza. He was a recipient of Westchester County Veteran of the Year  and NY Veterans Hall of Fame.

Louis S. Nigrello

Louis S. Nigrello honorably served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 as a radioman first class and served with great distinction on the USS LSM 144 in the Pacific Theater, and was involved in significant action protecting the United States Fleet during World War II; and

Geno Peter Egiziaco, Sr. was born in Waltham, Mass. on March 6th, 1922 to Michael and Carmela Egiziaco. His family moved to the Bronx in 1937 and from there, headed to Yonkers. He attended Yonkers Public School and went to Rutgers University in New Jersey where he studied labor law and management methods.

Mr. Egiziaco honorably served his country from 1941 to 1945 with the United States Marine Corps and from 1946 to 1948 with the United States Army Transport Service. He has the distinction of honorably serving both of these branches of the military. During his military time he served twenty-eight months in a combat zone.