Staten Island Hotelier, Restaurateur and Developers’ Second Social Enterprise Eatery will Continue the Mission to Give Back to Staten Island Community
“Not many people have confused me with Paul Newman, but it’s nice to be mentioned in the same sentence”, philanthropist Richard Nicotra admits with a chuckle.
Like Paul Newman, Nicotra along with his wife Lois, founded a social enterprise business in which 100% of the profits go to charity. Friends have called this venture, a “Newman-style philanthropic business model for this millennium”.
In 2011 Lois and Richard Nicotra made a gift of $1.6 million to build this social enterprise eatery known as the COMMONS Cafè. 100% of the café’s profits are dispersed through the Lois & Richard Nicotra Foundation which aids non-profit organizations on Staten Island, while also providing Scholarships for college to Lois and Richard Nicotra’s employees’ children and grandchildren.
The COMMONS Café gave the Nicotrases an opportunity to create a new philanthropic model that yields more immediate returns… Read More
