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Extra Extra: Owner of Queens restaurant that hosted infamous 'COVID conga line' party erecting massive Padre Pio shrine
By
James Ramsay
Published Apr 22, 2026
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Luca Episcopo/Getty Images
By
James Ramsay
Published Apr 22, 2026
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Good Wednesday afternoon in New York City, where Donald Trump could have to pay a pied-à-terre tax if he (or Barron) doesn't make the Trump Tower penthouse their primary residence.
Here's what else is happening:
- Giuseppe “Joe” Oppedisano, a Queens restaurateur whose establishment Il Bacco was the site of an infamous "COVID conga line" party in 2020, is erecting a massive $400,000 shrine to Padre Pio in an adjacent parking lot after he said the saint appeared to him during a morphine-induced haze after he survived a plane crash.
- New York City is now facing "moderate" drought conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
- Usha Vance has a podcast for kids.
- Dads are learning to braid hair at the pub.
- Should the Lenox High School Millionaires in tony Lenox, Massachusetts ditch their mascot?
- Keith Haring really got after it.
- Not a major priority, but we could all do a better job taking care of our charging cables.
- And finally, good for them:
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James Ramsay
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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