‘Sopranos’ star brings front-line workers food after aunt beats coronavirus
He made them an offer they didn’t want to refuse.
“Sopranos” star Joseph Gannascoli, who portrayed wiseguy Vito Spatafore on the iconic HBO series, hit up a Brooklyn nursing home Monday to pick up his 104-year-old aunt after she beat the coronavirus — and made sure the staff that cared for her was well fed.
Gannascoli, 61, who has raised more than $30,000 on a GoFundMe page to deliver food to front line workers during the coronavirus pandemic, dropped off a truckload of grub at the Sheepshead Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, the latest target of his hefty generosity.
“I’m helping the restaurants, hopefully, to survive or at least popping some money into them, and I’m helping all these people,” Gannascioli said. “It makes me feel good. I’m just trying to make a difference, something I can teach my daughter.”
Gannascoli is no stranger to fine food — a chef by trade, he once owned a restaurant in Bay Ridge, “Soup as Art,” as well as eateries from Manhattan to New Orleans.
On Monday, he loaded up on food from Vincent’s Clam Bar in Carle Place, with Italian fare that included eggplant parmigiana, rigatoni bolognese, penne a la vodka, antipasto — and “lots of bread.”
He’s also no stranger to front line healthcare workers — his niece, a nurse at Jacobi Hospital, contracted COVID-19 and recovered, and his sister-in-law is a nurse at Mount Sinai.
So far, Gannascoli said he’s delivered feasts to cops, firefighters and even postal workers, in addition to hospitals and nursing homes — and plans to be at Jacobi on Tuesday.
“This is my way of trying to make a difference,” he said. “I do it because I can. My wife is a nervous wreck because I’m exposing myself, but I’m cautious. I wear my mask.”
In a wink to “The Sopranos,” he acknowledged that “Johnny Cakes” weren’t on the menu.
Gannascoli said his elderly aunt, Ida Acconciamessa, is now doing fine after beating the virus at the Sheepshead Bay home.
The Brooklyn-born Acconciamessa — the sister of Gannascoli’s late father — is the last surviving of six siblings, the actor said.
He recalled his aunt and his uncle John taking him to Coney Island when he was a boy, and going on rides with him so he wouldn’t be afraid.
“She was fearless,” Gannascoli said.
Officials at the nursing home agreed.
“Ida’s triumph is a testament not only to her perseverance but to the loving and expert care she received,” Tzvi Jonas, the home’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.
“Her triumph is also a reminder that seniors — even those of a very advanced age — with COVID-19, or any illness for that matter, should never be considered ‘expendable.’ ”