Vincent Favorito

Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Vincent Favorito

Vincent Favorito was born in Brooklyn in 1941. He is of Italian heritage and he grew up in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. He attended school at Sacred Hearts-St. Stephen's (Hicks Street), Delehanty High School and later St. John's University and St. John's School of Law. At the time of this interview, Favorito and his wife had sold the Carroll Gardens brownstone that his father-in-law bought in 1946 and where he and his wife first lived in 1962 when they got married. They returned to live in the brownstone in 2003 after his father-in-law passed away. From 1972 - 2003, they lived in the Marine Park neighborhood of Brooklyn and that is where their three children grew up. Favorito and his wife, having sold their brownstone shortly before this 2011 interview, planned to move to Westchester to be closer to one of their sons and live in a condominium without too many stairs.

In this interview, Vincent Favorito remembers his childhood in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn and the schools he attended through to his adulthood. He recalls the Italian families in the neighborhood and the bakeries, butchers, and other neighborhood businesses. He talks about adult life in different homes in Carroll Gardens and the Marine Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, with summers on Breezy Point in Queens. Favorito discusses being part of the 1969 effort to get landmark status for Carroll Gardens. He reflects on the importance of "the Place blocks" (First - Fourth Places) built in 1846. He also relates how the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway divided the neighborhood and destroyed the commerce along Union Street. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.

The Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Our neighbors series features a broad range of narrators. Most are not well-known public figures but are well-known to their neighbors. This ongoing, extensive series focuses on Brooklyn history and the experiences of these narrators document national and international history as well. The interviews include people from diverse backgrounds making observations or sharing recollections about the growth and condition of several neighborhoods within Brooklyn. Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, and Fort Greene were heavily represented as of 2017. The oldest narrator in this collection was born in 1927.

Citation

Favorito, Vincent, Oral history interview conducted by Sady Sullivan, June 10, 2011, Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Our neighbors, 2008.031.5.005; Brooklyn Historical Society.