Dyker Heights parties and celebrates its own

Let’s give a round of applause to the Dyker Heights community!

The 86^th anniversary of the Dyker Heights Civic Association was celebrated on Thursday, October 23 at Sirico’s. At the event, the group honored Frank Spadaro and Vincent Gentile.

Fran Vella-Marrone, the organization’s president, said, “Not only did we celebrate the 86^th year of our organization, but we recognized two people who did really great things.”

Spadaro is a lifelong Dyker Heights resident who founded Spadaro International Services, a custom house brokerage and freight forwarding firm. A longtime member of the District 20 community school board, he served as president of the board.

Gentile, a fourth degree knight of the Knights of Columbus and the grand knight of the Archbishop John Hughes Knights of Columbus, has been an architect for over 25 years and has worked on numerous New York City landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. He also has participated in the Habitat for Humanity program.

“It really is an honor,” noted Spadaro. “I’ve lived here my entire life and it’s nice to be recognized as making a difference. The feeling you get from feeling involved is so much better. I’d like to see a lot more younger people getting involved, because that’s who it’s going to be.”