'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Rochester woman Mary Nicosia and her husband, Dr. Nicholas Nicosia, recently came under fire for hosting an alleged racist Juneteenth parody party at their 9,000 sq. ft. East Avenue residence on July 7.
The event reportedly consisted of lawn decorations featuring Juneteenth-themed signs and cardboard cutouts of President Donald Trump and served Kentucky Fried Chicken and Hennessy cognac on the menu.
The party was largely condemned after African-American firefighter Jerrod Jones filed a lawsuit against the city and the fire department after his boss, Capt. Jeffrey Krywy, took him to the event while he was on duty.
Krywy was set to be terminated for his behavior but entered retirement before the investigation. The Police Department also said that they would be taking disciplinary action against any officer who attended the party.
Amid the ongoing controversy, Mary Nicosia and her husband organized a press conference at the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Pittsford in an attempt to clear their names. Although the former defended the pair by saying the party was not intended to be racist in nature, Nicosia revealed that she has made racist comments on Twitter in the past.
Everything to know about Mary Nicosia
Mary Nicosia is a real estate agent and former vice president of development of The Landmark Society of Western New York. She is the wife of Dr. Nicholas Nicosia, vice chairman of the board of directors at Highland Hospital and the team dentist for the Rochester Americans hockey team.
The Nicosias are one of the most well-known couples in Rochester and are recognized for their high stature. According to property records, the pair bought their East Avenue home for $650,000 and moved into the residence in 2000.
Nearly a year later, Mary Nicosia criticized the state of the city in a letter written to the editor of the Democrat and Chronicle. She wrote:
“My husband and I have chosen to live in the city of Rochester, raise our children and restore a landmark home on East Avenue. We enjoy city living and all it has to offer, yet our suburban development friends all think we are crazy.”
Nicosia continued:
“The crime, the sad state of the school system, the taxes, and now the proposed tax increase. I am beginning to think our friends are right.”
Mary Nicosia and her husband were reportedly associated with several influential organizations and had shown their support towards professional sports teams and political campaigns. Reports suggest that the pair often made political donations to both Democratic and Republican candidates.
Records also show that they donated $1,131 to Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign and $497 to the Make America Great Again political action committee. They also provided funds for Republican state Senate candidate Len Morell and Republican City Council candidate Marcus C. Williams.
More recently, the couple made news for hosting a Juneteenth parody party at their residence and faced major criticism for the racially inappropriate event. Shortly after, it was revealed that Nicosia operated a Twitter account that made several racist comments on the app.
Following the controversy, the Landmark Society of Western New York suspended Mary Nicosia from her role and removed her bio from their website. An official statement from the organization read:
“We were shocked and appalled to learn of the very serious allegations regarding a party that was held at the Nicosia residence this past July... The allegations, as described, in no way align with our organization’s core values.”
Meanwhile, elected officials like Mayor Malik Evans and Rachel Barnhart have said they will return the contributions Nicosia and her husband donated to their funds. Republican La’Ron Singletary also said that he would no longer receive donations from the couple.
In the wake of the Juneteenth party controversy, Mary Nicosia organized a press conference alongside her husband and denied claims of her event being racially inappropriate in nature:
“I’m here to defend myself from false claims of racism.”
However, the mother-of-two confessed that she operated a social media account to post racist content on Twitter:
“In full disclosure, I do have a Twitter parody account that operates under a veil of a persona — and I have made blatantly racist comments under that persona.”
Mary Nicosia elaborated on her explanations, saying:
“The culture of Twitter operates that way. It’s part of its charm. I don’t want to say charm, but it gives you an opportunity to be someone that you’re not in terms of a persona.”
She then apologized to the African American community and every other individual she hurt with her behaviour:
“And for these comments, I’d like to apologize to the African American community and other people in the community that I have hurt or offended by doing what I was doing on Twitter.”
The woman further shared that she grew up in a “very diverse community” in East Cleveland and said she was “not a racist person.” However, she also held herself accountable for her actions:
“I hold myself accountable. I’m ashamed. This wasn’t an easy thing to do, to get up here and tell you this. And I ask that you accept my apology, as it is sincere.”
Nicosia also mentioned that she reflected on her actions and has decided to distance herself from her racist online personality:
“The past 12 difficult days that I’ve been through, I’ve learned a lot. And I’ve learned that making a comment under a persona on Twitter is just as wrong and hurts just as much as saying it directly to someone in the room. And I think it’s a lesson learned certainly for me, and I think others can learn from the lesson.”
While Mary Nicosia refrained from publicly announcing the name of her Twitter account, several users suggested that she went by the handle @HoHoHomeBoyRoc and had several usernames like “Colonel Nathaniel Sanders” with a profile picture of “Smilin’ Sam from Alabam’ The Salted Peanut Man.”
The Twitter account was reportedly active since November 2021 and trolled African American users online, including politicians, elected officials, and journalists, often using Black Vernacular English.
Twitter calls out Mary Nicosia over racism controversy
Mary Nicosia’s racist Twitter account and her alleged racially inappropriate Juneteenth parody party left several social media users disappointed. Many also took to Twitter to condemn her online actions as well as her alleged racially inappropriate event:
As reactions continued to pour in online, Mary Nicosia’s lawyer Corey Hogan admitted that his client’s Twitter account was “racist, wrong and vile” but argued that the woman “doesn’t live her life” or “treats other human beings” like her online identity.
