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QUEENS U.S. REP. GARY ACKERMAN (D-Bayside) promised Mauricio Almonte he would take him to a ballgame. That was in 1986, when, thanks to some aggressive intervention on Ackerman's part, Mauricio was reunited with his Dominican parents in their home in Elmhurst.
It took a while for Ackerman to make good on his promise - 12 |
years to be exact - so a few days ago I joined the gregarious |
congressman, his son Cody, 23, and a St. John's Law School student, author Barbara Fischkin, and of course "the star," Mauricio, now 23, at a Knicks basketball game (the Ewing-less Knicks lost).
Mauricio's story is told compellingly in a new book "Muddy Cup," (Scribner) written by Fischkin, a former Newsday reporter. Her fascinating up-close and personal story, of one of the "new immigrant" families arriving in New York City in ever growing numbers, lifts the veil of statistics and reveals how the Almonte family arrived here piecemeal. Fischkin has captured the journey of one Dominican family with superb reporting and splendid writing.
The title is taken from a poem written by the Irish poet John Montague who wrote:
"My mother's memories / of America / A muddy cup / she refused to drink.
Fischkin, 43, who describes herself as a "Jewish mother" to the Almonte family, is like many of the rest of us, bruisingly familiar with the...