Nicholas Salvadeo, 72
Architect designed catering halls, the "White House"

By Karen O'Shea - Advance Staff Writer

Nicholas J. Salvadeo, 72, of New Dorp, a retired architect whose expertise in zoning law made him the person countless developers, homeowners, politicians, and even a former Mafia boss turned to over the years for building plans, dies Tuesday at his New Dorp home.

Mr. Salvadeo's imprint can be found on well-known buildings right in the neighborhood where he lived for more than four decades.  He handled a renovation of Shalimar Caterers, now the Excelsior Grand, and the remodeling of Colonial Funeral Home.  He also designed the weight room at Monsignor Farrell High School in Oakwood and the St. Jude monument for the St. Charles Seminary.

During his 30-year career, he also designed car dealerships, shopping centers and hospital clinics on and off Staten Island, and served on advisory committees to the city Buildings Department and Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA).  In 1988, he consulted on housing issues as a member of former Rep. Guy Molinari's federal fact-finding committee considering the opening of the Navy's Stapleton home port.

In the late 1970s, a contractor brought Paul Castellano to Mr. Salvadeo's office on Flagg Place in Dongan Hills.  Mr. Castellano, a former Gambino crime family boss who was killed in 1985, wanted to build a house on Todt Hill.  Mr. Salvadeo designed a white structure with a curved portico supported by columns, which was later called "The White House".  The staid home had four bedrooms, eight baths, and a regulation-size tennis court. 

Mr. Salvadeo's family said he treated the Castellano job just like any other project.

"They came to him because of his knowledge.  He considered every person's home as if it was his own," said the former Anna Buongiovanni, Mr. Salvadeo's wife of 48 years.

Mr. Salvadeo was well-known for his success in arguing problem cases at the BSA.  His family said that, of the nearly 3,000 building-related applications he handled over the years, roughly 300 were requests for difficult zoning variances.  He won nearly all those cases, they added.

"He had just such extensive knowledge of the law, that was his true specialty," said David Businelli, an architect who apprenticed with Mr. Salvadeo and took over Salvadeo Associates after his mentor retired in 1996.

"He stood by what the law said and he fought for his clients," added Businelli.

SPARKED CONTROVERSY

That willingness to champion difficult cases occasionally sparked controversy.

In 1981, the Todt Hill Civic Association challenged an extension of a barn handled by Mr. Salvadeo.  They argued that the extension was really an attempt to create a brand-new custom home and skirt other approvals.

Mr. Salvadeo successfully argued that the alteration was legitimate.

He later designed the 14-story Ocean View Tower condominium in Rosebank for builder Mario Marsillo.  He also argued Marsillo's case before an angry Community Board 1 and the BSA when Marsillo built an extra floor on a Bay Street condominium in Stapleton.

"He was a very capable architect," Marsillo said of his friend of 48 years.

Mr. Salvadeo got his start in architecture as a draftsman serving in the engineer corps of the U.S. Marines during the Korean War.  In that role, he helped design housing in Korea.

When he returned from Korea, he served four more years in the Marine Corps Reserves and went to work as a draftsman for a Brooklyn company.  He studied architecture at night at the Institute of Design and Construction in downtown Brooklyn.

He received his license to practice architecture in 1971 and opened his business in the office he built on Flagg Place.

Mr. Salvadeo was president of the Staten Island chapter of the American Institute of Architects, from 1979 to 1980; director of the New York State Association of Architects, from 1979 to 1981; a member of the New York Council of Architects in 1980, and director of the zoning advisory council to the BSA, 1980.

He also served from 1991-1992 on the borough president's research committee for encouraging economic growth.

Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Salvadeo moved to New Dorp in 1961.

He was a parishioner of Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church, New Dorp.

His family said he enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, traveling, gardening and watching old war movies.

In addition to his wife, Anna, surviving are his son, Richard; his two daughters, Laurie Nielsen and Susan Leavy; a sister, Joan Cusumano, and 12 grandchildren.

Mr. Salvadeo's son, Robert, died in 1985.  His granddaughter, Ashley Nielsen, died in 1994.

The funeral will be Saturday from the Hanley Funeral Home, New Dorp, with a mass at 9:30 a.m. in Our Lady Queen of Peace Church.  Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.