The Italian Welfare League Mourns the Passing of New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta
Nicholas Scoppetta (2002-2010).Nicholas Scoppetta's leadership in public service spanned the administrations of four mayors. Mr. Scoppetta was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and was the youngest son of Italian immigrants, who struggled to get by during the Great Depression. At four years old he and his two older brothers were turned over to the city’s foster care system in the Bronx, but were reunited with their parents eight years later. Awarded a New York State Regents Scholarship, he attended Brooklyn Law School at night and graduated in 1962, while working in the criminal courts during the day assisting in the investigation and prosecution of cases in which children had been abused or neglected.
He was appointed Assistant District Attorney and served in the Manhattan D.A.’s Office until 1969, when he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 1971, he served as Associate Counsel to the Knapp Commission, which investigated corruption in the New York City Police Department. After leaving public service in 1978, Scoppetta joined the faculty of New York University School of Law where he was a Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of Judicial Administration. In 1980, he engaged in the private practice of law until his return to public service in 1996 as the first Commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. Mr. Scoppetta was a former Italian Welfare League honoree in 2006.
He was President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Children's Aid Society, a not-for-profit social service agency, and he served on numerous boards of other not-for-profit institutions. He was also President of New York for Children, an organization which he founded in 1996 as the non-profit partner to the Administration for Children’s Services. His distinguished career and extraordinary leadership serve as a source of great pride within the Italian-American community. The Italian Welfare League extends its heartfelt sympathy to the Scoppetta family.
