Silvio Mazzella's Biography

Silvio Mazzella was born and raised in an Italian neighborhood in the Morrisania section of the South Bronx where many Italians from the island of Ponza had settled. His mother, Guiditta Russo Nardiello, emigrated from Ponza in 1935, marrying Silvio’s father, Ignazio Mazzella, in 1940. Ignazio was also Ponzese and highly devoted to the Blessed Mother, Saint Anthony, and San Silverio (the Patron Saint of Ponza).

Born in 1945, Silvio could remember as a child anxiously waiting for June 10, which is the beginning of cultural traditions for the San Silverio Feast. The Feast, which included fireworks, abundant food, games…and music performers, ended every June 20 with a mass at Our Lady of Pity on 151st Street near Morris Avenue, followed by a procession behind the San Silverio statue throughout the neighborhood.

Silvio graduated with honors from Our Lady of Pity School, where he was a member of the Dom Bosco Boys Club. He attended Cardinal Hayes High School, Northeastern University, and Monroe College, which he graduated from with a degree in Business Administration. In 1966, he voluntarily enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, training first at Parris Island in South Carolina before moving onto North Carolina, San Diego, Okinawa, and finally Vietnam. After an honorable discharge, he found employment with Keppler Brothers Supplies Incorporated as an Administrative Manager. In 1970, he met and married the love of his life, Yvonne Cintron.

Upon meeting Mayor Dinkins (a fellow Marine) when he was enrolled in a course called "Curriculum for Living" at Landmark Education in 1990, Silvio volunteered for the Mayor’s "Increase the Peace" program, helping out in Crown Heights-Brooklyn, Washington Heights-Manhattan, and "Fort Apache"-The Bronx, before he was appointed to Community Board 11 as a Council Member DeMarco nominee. He was first elected to the position of Board Treasurer in 1996, which is also when he started working as a Sales Consultant for Unisource Worldwide.

Becoming a member of the Morris Park Community Association following his appointment to the Community Board, he has since served as the Association’s President, Bronx Columbus Day Parade Committee Co-chair, Community Relations Committee Chair, and Youth & Education Committee Chair (introducing the program “Bedtime Story” for kids). He currently serves as the Association’s Secretary and is a member of the Dinner Dance/Journal Committee.

Silvio was appointed to the Jacobi Medical Center Advisory Board in 2000 and was elected to the position of Chairman in 2013. He has previously served as its Vice Chair and Chair of the Emergency Room Committee. In 2002, he became a member of the 49th Precinct Community Council and was elected to serve as Vice President, a position which he still holds today. In 2005, he was appointed to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Community Advisory Board and the College’s Institutional Review Board.

He is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, Mary Queen of Peace Council, the Morris Park American Legion Post 19, the Marine Corps League, San Silverio Shrine of Dover Plains, San Silverio Membership Committee of Morris Park, and the Vietnam Veterans of America.

A man with deep religious convictions, Silvio thanks and praises God for all of the many blessings bestowed upon him. He is honored to be a member of the United States Marine Corps, to which he will be, in addition to his country, always faithful (Semper Fidelis). He credits his parents, who are forever with him in spirit, as the driving force in his life.

Silvio and his wife are blessed with three children and six grandchildren.