October 18th, 2023 – Throughout the year, the Town of Islip has the distinct honor of recognizing extraordinary members of the community. This month, the Town recognized those members of the community of Italian Heritage, and whose presence in the Town has improved the quality of life for their fellow neighbors and communities. Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter and the members of the Town Board this week recognized 4 such members at the October Town Board meeting.

The first honoree is Charles Gandolfo:
Born and raised in Bay Shore and longtime resident of West Islip, Charles Gandolfo is the owner of four successful small businesses: Higbie Collision Inc.; Higbie Service Center; Village Salon; and Dynasty Limousines.

Alongside his success contributing to the local economy, Charles remains dedicated to giving back to the community, and as a longtime member and Past President of the Order Sons of Italy (Anthony Casamento Lodge), Charles has helped raise funds to provide scholarships to students and assist local community charities.

Mr. Gandolfo is also one of the founders of the Joe Namath Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting children’s charities and neurological research, and he has personally played a pivotal role in securing donations for Good Samaritan University Hospital. On top of it all, he remains an active member of the West Islip and Babylon Village Chambers of Commerce, and continues to support local fire departments, providing practice vehicles for emergency access training drills.

Joseph Gabriel
Joseph Gabriel has been a registered architect since 1978, and is the owner of a multi-disciplined firm offering architectural solutions for commercial, residential and mission critical projects. In addition to his success with his firm, Joseph has lent his expertise as an adjunct professor teaching the next generation architectural principles at NYU and NYIT.

A longtime resident of Islip Terrace, Joseph has remained dedicated to his community, serving the East Islip School District as: President of the Connetquot Elementary School PTA; President of the East Islip PTA Council, as well as serving on the School Board. He also currently serves the East Islip Public Library as Board of Trustee President.

Joseph is additionally a longtime member of the East Islip Chamber of Commerce, where he has provided direction and leadership in multiple executive roles, including, President, Vice President and Chair of the Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Gregory Napolitano
Mr. Napolitano is the owner of the community revered Campbell’s Bakery in Brentwood, a staple in the Long Island community since 1989. He is also a strong community advocate and regularly donates to Brentwood, Central Islip, and Bay Shore schools, fire departments and veterans.

Though Gregory and Campbell’s bakery typically fill the confectionary needs for couples on their “big day,” he recently came to the rescue of young community members in a completely different way, when he learned through a News 12 story of a local group of cheerleaders, who, though qualifying for a National cheer competition in Florida, were unable to attend due to financial concerns.

In testament to his character and willingness to always lend a helping hand, Gregory invited the varsity team’s coach to Campbells Bakery, where he surprised the team with a check that would help them exceed their fundraising campaign, and cover all necessary travel expenses. In doing so, Gregory truly helped spread cheer to deserving youth in our community, also allowing excess funds to be put toward the team’s youth cheer camp this Summer.

Anthony Sanseviro
Anthony Sanseviro has been actively involved in his community for over three decades. Having graduated from Sayville High School in 1985, he soon after began volunteering at the Sayville Fire Department. His dedication to the safety of our community led him to a career as a firefighter for the New York City Fire Department, where he served until retiring in 2007.

Through all his years of service, Anthony has maintained a strong drive to give back, and has served on various boards to the betterment of his community. Mr. Sanseviro has served on the Bayport-Blue Point School board, is a longtime board member and current Vice President of Inclusive Sports and Fitness, and currently serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Neighborhood House in Sayville —a non-profit dedicated to helping families through loss due to overdose or suicide.

Anthony also serves on the board of the Bayport-Blue Point Foundation, assisting those in the community who have fallen on hard times and need financial assistance to help push them back get on track.