September 27, 2010
Joseph M.
Mattone was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 1931, just a few years
after St. John’s School of Law graduated its first class. Housed in
a single building at 96 Schermerhorn Street, the Law School carried
out its founding mission of opening the legal profession’s doors to
children of immigrants and the working class. Joe Mattone was one
of those kids.
When he came to St. John’s in the 1950s, he studied law in the
School’s cramped quarters with other hard-working sons and
daughters of New York City. Despite the professional obstacles they
faced – few of the top “white shoe” law firms hired out of St.
John’s in those days – they focused on making their mark in the
world. For Joe Mattone, the first step on this worldly path was
opening his own practice post-graduation.
Fast forward 40 years, the young man from Brooklyn with the solo
shingle had prospered and become a major real estate developer
based in College Point, Queens. While he was fast-shaping the New
York City commercial real estate industry, he did not leave his
Brooklyn roots behind. He remained a devoted family man and a
strong supporter of St. John’s and the Law School, which had also
relocated to Queens. He was the first person to give one million
dollars to the University and served as a founding member of its
Board of Governors.
So, it was
only fitting that the Law School recognized his generosity by
naming the well-appointed room built to be the heart of its
community the Mattone Family Atrium. And, some 20 years later, it
was equally fitting that over 100 St. John’s faculty,
administrators, alumni and friends came together on September 7,
2010 to honor Joe Mattone at the rededication of the newly
refurbished Atrium. Attendees included the
Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of St. John’s
University, the Most
Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D, Bishop of Brooklyn, and
many members of the close-knit Mattone family.
In his opening remarks, Fr. Harrington noted that Joe Mattone has
been a “warm, caring and supportive member” of the St. John’s
community for over half the University’s lifetime. With his family,
now in its third generation at the Law School, he has nurtured the
institution’s local programs and global reach through the Rome
campus and beyond. He received the University’s prestigious
Spirit
of Service Award in 2004 and his wife, Mary Ann, will receive
it this year. “We know the Mattone family will always be a very
special part of St. John’s,” Fr. Harrington concluded.
“Over the past 20 years, this room has become the living room of
the Law School and the hub of our vitality,” Law School
Dean Michael A. Simons said. “We have gathered here to study
our craft, to listen to Supreme Court Justices, to celebrate our
students and faculty and to mourn losses in our Law School family.”
Like the man and family it is named for, “the room stands as a
testament to what love of family, hard work, living a moral life
and helping our fellow man can do for communities small and
large.”