Rare Barrel Piano Returns to NYC After 100-Year Absence
An instrument once banned by Mayor LaGuardia makes a special appearance at the Italian American Museum.
A 127-year-old barrel piano, an instrument effectively banned from New York City streets nearly a century ago by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, is making a special one-day return to Manhattan. The piano will be featured at the Italian American Museum for a historic presentation on Friday.
The instrument, manufactured in 1899 by Caesar Maserati on Chambers Street, was once a common sight on New York City streets. It will be displayed at the museum as part of a presentation by its current owner, Tony Gangi.
“This is a great homecoming not just for a musical instrument, but for the history of an entire ethnic group,” Gangi said. “I am delighted to no end that it will be reunited with the city of its birth for a day.”
A Cultural Symbol
Barrel pianos and the organ grinders who played them were largely Italian immigrants who used the instruments to earn a living and share their culture in America. The instruments became strongly associated with Italian-American identity.
"These instruments provided a way for them to make money where they didn’t have to answer to a discriminatory employer and they could kind of make it on their own," Gangi explained. "And unfortunately, a real stereotype developed: the stereotype of the Italian-American immigrant."
LaGuardia, citing reasons such as panhandling and traffic obstruction, refused to renew licenses for street organ grinders and barrel piano players in 1935, effectively banning the instruments and their performers from the city. The ban remained in effect until 1970, by which time the industry had largely collapsed.
The piano's previous owner was legendary street performer Marino Persechini, who used the instrument throughout his seven-decade career in Boston until his retirement in 1974.
A Day of Music and Memory
Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa, founder and president of the Italian American Museum, expressed gratitude for hosting the event. "It’s an element of our culture that epitomizes the struggles of Italian American immigrants, but also their desire to share many aspects of that culture in their new homeland,” he said.
During the special presentation, visitors will have the opportunity to play the keys of the historic instrument. Gangi and his wife, Suzanne, will share the story of the piano, Persechini, and LaGuardia's ban.