Antonino Ferruccio, right, loved spending time with his family, including his wife of nearly 35 years, Josephine, and his grandchildren, Valentina and Antonio. Photos Courtesy of the Ferruccio Family
Antonino Ferruccio had a lot to look forward to: celebrating his upcoming 60th birthday and 35th wedding anniversary, spending time with his tight-knit family – including two young grandchildren, and toiling in his home away from home – the Maspeth mechanic shop he owned for more than 30 years.
But just weeks before his birthday, Ferruccio died in a motorcycle accident on the Grand Central Parkway just past the Utopia Parkway exit around 9:45 a.m. on June 23. En route from his longtime home in Glendale to a motorcycle benefit for autism in New Hyde Park, Ferruccio crashed into the parkway’s center divider and his bike landed in the right shoulder and caught fire, according to family members and police. He suffered numerous body injuries and was pronounced dead at Queens Hospital Center.
The accident has raised all sorts of questions for members of his family, who described the Glendale man as an experienced and responsible rider who would never act erratically while on his bike – which is why they’re asking members of the public to come forward with any information about the accident.
“He had been riding for most of his life, so it is highly unlikely he would have lost control for no reason,” his daughter Elisa Ferruccio Manessis, also of Glendale, said.
Manessis said her family has learned there were witnesses who helped to revive her father at the scene, but they have received no other information about what could have caused him to lose control.
“We as a family will be forever grateful for any information that will lead us a step closer to some sort of closure,” Manessis said.
A group of Ferruccio’s family and friends participated in a ride to raise money for autism on July 14 – which would have been his 60th birthday.
Born in Italy, Ferruccio moved with his family to New York when he was in his 20s. After he and his wife, Josephine, got married, they moved to Glendale. A week after what would have been his 60th birthday on July 14, Ferruccio and his wife would have marked their 35th wedding anniversary. The two raised their two daughters in Glendale, and Ferruccio constantly spent time with his grandchildren – 5-year-old Valentina and 15-month-old Antonio.
“He is greatly missed by everyone,” Manessis said. “Not a day goes by that people don’t think or talk about him.”
Beginning his love affair with cars – and, really, “anything with an engine” – while growing up in Italy, Ferruccio went on to co-own the Mobile gas station on Fresh Pond Road, near Grand and Flushing avenues, in Maspeth for three decades, his daughter said.
“My dad was an only child, so he really took to his friends as brothers and sisters – anyone he met he had a complete effect on in a positive way,” Manessis said. “He was always willing to help people out – if someone’s car or truck or business vehicle would break down at 4 a.m., my dad would wake up and go help them. He gave his all to help everyone and never held back.”
Manessis said this would have been the second time Ferruccio went to the autism motorcycle ride – and, in his honor, a number of his friends and family raised $7,400 in six days for another ride for autism. The autism fundraiser his friends and family participated in was held on July 14, his birthday.
“During my pregnancy, I had many complications and wasn’t sure if my son was going to be ok – luckily he’s a beautiful and healthy baby boy,” Manessis said. “My dad, he said, ‘bless us for having a healthy baby boy but there are others out there who need help.’ That’s why he went that morning.”
After the accident, Manessis said she and her family have received an outpouring of support from the countless number of people her father touched throughout his life.
“I’ve been getting responses from so many people – the crossing guard who said they worked three blocks from my dad’s shop, the people he went hunting with – my dad wasn’t someone you ever forgot,” she said.
Anyone who witnessed the accident, or who has information about it, can contact Gerard Marrone at (917) 295-5084.
By Anna Gustafson
