NEW YORK – Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, the alternative to Bill de Blasio in the race for mayor, was honored and endorsed on Tuesday afternoon by a group of Italian-American cultural and civic leaders at a news conference at Villa Erasmo Restaurant in Middle Village, Queens.

The news conference took place after the monthly meeting of the Italian Cultural Association of New York (L’Associazione Culturale Italiana Di New York), the most influential Italian American civic and charitable organization in Queens County.

Also in attendance were prominent Italian-American civic and cultural leaders from the Queens community including former New York State Senator Serphin Maltese who represented portions of Queens for two decades in the state legislature.

At the news conference, Assemblywoman Malliotakis was presented with a portrait of the “Young Columbus” by Constance Del Vecchio Maltese which was commissioned as part of her “Age of Discovery” portrait series for the Christopher Columbus Quincentennial Commission.

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