A Sheepshead Bay street will be renamed for a community luminary.
On May 31 at noon, the corner of East 27th Street and Avenue Z will be named “Michael Fischetti Way.”
“It’s simply wonderful. We’ve been trying to get it for six months,” said Fischetti’s wife, Marie. “My whole family is ecstatic.”
Fischetti passed away in February 2008 after a year−long battle with esophageal cancer.
“He died at 67. Too young,” Marie said.
For 40 years, Fischetti lived on East 27th Street and Avenue Z with his wife and three children. The corner also boasted M & M Meats, which Fischetti opened in the late 1960s.
Locals were grateful for the employment opportunities, especially since the community was predominantly residential.
The business was so successful that Fischetti opened M & M Caterers, which has played host to countless family−friendly parties and weddings.
Always an affable gentleman, Fischetti would present a bouquet of roses to the guest of honor of each and every party.
“People just loved it and loved him,” Marie said.
In 1977, Fischetti joined forces with his “very dear friend” Dom DeLuise to create the Guardians of Hydrocephalus Research Foundation, a non−profit organization.
Fischetti created the organization because he was struggling to find answers and help for his son, who had been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a disease known as water on the brain.
The Guardians raised money for hydrocephalus research, provided information to families, and helped pay for medical care for children battling the disease.
The organization continues to do good work. Most recently, the Guardians helped a father from Trinidad get his daughter a proper diagnosis from specialists at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
With the continued work of the Guardians and the upcoming street renaming, Fischetti’s legacy will live on.
“My youngest granddaughter gave up her last birthday party just to sit with him and look at TV for three hours when he was very sick,” Marie said. “He was such a special guy. Everybody that met him just loved him.”
