Welcome to Il Mensile (The Monthly), a roundup of news and pieces that affect or interest the Italian-American community.

An Alitalia plane takes off from Runway 4L at John F. Kennedy International Airport. By Adam Moreira | Wikimedia Commons
  • Italy’s flagship airline “Alitalia” had its last flight on Oct. 14 after 74 years due to financial losses; it will be replaced by the smaller “Italia Trasporto Aereo.” [The Associated Press]
  • Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August, justified his tendency to sexually harass women as “cultural behavioral differences.” This perversion of Italian culture, used by Cuomo to sidestep accountability, has angered many Italian New Yorkers. [The New York Post]
  • Columbus Day was not created in a celebration of genocide, but rather as a response to one of America’s largest lynchings that led to the deaths of 11 Italian-Americans in 1891. [The Washington Post]
  • An Italian Catholic Church in Los Angeles was vandalized on Oct. 11 (Columbus Day) with bright, red paint. [The Los Angeles Times]
  • “The Many Saints of Newark,” the movie prequel to popular Italian-mafia show “The Sopranos” has received mixed reviews after its Oct. 1 release. [The New York Times]
  • The majority of best NYC Italian restaurants on a recently-updated Eater list — 14 out of 23 — were Brooklyn establishments. [Eater NY]