Salvatore A. Cotillo

Salvatore A. Cotillo
Salvatore Cotillo in 1922
Born	(1886-11-19)November 19, 1886 Naples, Italy
Died	July 27, 1939(1939-07-27) (aged 52) New York City, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, First District
Known for	The first Italian-American to serve in both houses of the New York State Legislature and the first to who served as Justice of the New York State Supreme Court

Salvatore Albert Cotillo (November 19, 1886 – July 27, 1939) was an Italian-born New York lawyer, Democratic Party politician and judge. Elected in 1912, he was the first Italian-American to serve in both houses of the New York State Legislature and the first who served as Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. Nominated to the court in the First District, he sat on the bench from 1924 until his death in 1939.

Cotillo was a strong proponent of social and pro-labor legislation. He defended ethnic Italians against the stereotyping by Americans not of Italian descent, but also urged the need for Americanization of the Italian community. As such, he stood between the mores of the Italian ethnic ghetto in East Harlem where he grew up, and the judgment and norms of American society where he made his career.

Born in Naples, Italy, he came to the United States in 1895 with his parents at the age of nine. His father Francesco Cotillo, had been a caterer in Naples. The family originally came from Avellino (Montella), in the hinterland of Naples. The family settled in East Harlem in East 113th Street among the increasing numbers of Italian immigrants. His father took up catering again and opened a popular pastry and confectionery shop. He has been credited with introducing the Italian ice cream spumoni into the United States.

The oldest of four children, the young Salvatore did not speak English and went to Public School 83 and later to DeWitt Clinton High School and Manhattan College. During those formative years he worked in the family's pastry shop, where intellectuals of the neighborhood gathered in the evening to discuss social and political issues with his father. Those debates gave birth to Cotillo's early social consciousness that formed the basis of his adult devotion to social reform legislation. The young Cotillo was passionate about baseball and became a New York Giants fan. In return for free tickets he used to clean the stadium seats.