This year’s lineup of honorees in the Bronx Walk of Fame includes an actor, animator/director, author, and dance pioneer.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and The Bronx Tourism Council, hailing May 5 as the start of the 11-day, 45th annual Bronx Week, announced the new roster of inductees. The honorees are actor Vincent Pastore, animator and director Peter Sohn, author Arlene Alda, and dance pioneer Eduardo Vilaro. The quartet was chosen primarily because of their roots to the Bronx. They will be officially inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame as part of Bronx Week, a program celebrating the borough’s finer points.

Diaz noted the honorees “have seen considerable success in their chosen fields, and throughout it all they have highlighted their strong roots in the Bronx.”

“I look forward to celebrating their accomplishments during Bronx Week 2016,” said Diaz.

Vincent Pastore
Vincent Pastore has been a star of screen and stage for decades, and is best known for his role in HBO’s groundbreaking series The Sopranos, for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work in 2001. A City Island resident, Pastore has appeared in films including Goodfellas, Awakenings, State of Grace, and TV shows Law & Order, General Hospital and many more. This year, he is expected to appear in a whopping 14 films.

“I love living in the Bronx,” said  Pastore. “This borough is a great mixture of cultures and ethnic groups—a true cross section of today’s America. And my home, City Island, is growing each year. It’s New York City’s very own Martha’s Vineyard.”

Peter Sohn
The first Asian-American ever to be inducted to the Bronx Walk of Fame, Peter Sohn is an award-winning animator and director with Pixar Studios, having worked on numerous hit films including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Up. Most recently, Sohn directed Pixar’s 2015 feature hit The Good Dinosaur.

“I am so proud to be honored in this way.  The Bronx is a part of me in so many ways, in how I was formed and how my family was formed,” said Sohn. “There were several years of study and drawing at the Bronx Zoo that helped me fill up my portfolio to get a job in animation.  And the stories and memories of my youth here have fueled so much of the work I do at Pixar today.  So thanks Bronx.  Thanks for taking care of me and my family.”

 

Arlene Alda
Arlene Alda, who grew up in Williamsbridge and graduated from Evander Childs High School, is an award-winning photographer and author whose work has appeared in books, newspapers, magazines and galleries. Alda is the author of 19 books, most of them children’s books. Her latest book, Just Kids from The Bronx: Telling it the Way it Was, An Oral History, consists of stories about growing up in the Bronx based on interviews with over 60 accomplished and proud Bronxites.

“I am a first-generation American, and so to be inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame is especially meaningful to me. I feel the special connection to the current generation of first generation immigrants in the Bronx, now. It is a deep honor I do not take for granted,” said Alda.

Eduardo Vilaro
First generation Cuban-American Eduardo Vilaro became artistic director of Ballet Hispanico, the nation’s first and oldest Latino dance organization, in 2009. He is only the second person to head the company since it was founded in 1970. In 2015, Vilaro became chief executive officer of Ballet Hispanico. He has been part of the Ballet Hispanico family since 1985.

“I have been blessed with a special life. I create art and impact young people with the arts education and my culture. When I look back and think of what in my DNA made me strong enough to contend with the challenges I had to face, I know it is because I grew up in the Bronx,” said Vilaro. “The Bronx gave me the strength and determination to excel and succeed. Growing up in a tough neighborhood wasn’t just about learning to stand up for yourself. It was about community and the neighbors who watched out for you—the helping hand when one of your own was in trouble. We learned the respect and dignity of hard working adults. Behind the often described gritty face of the Bronx, there is a community that is full of pride and a beautiful soul that welcomes everyone.”

“Witnessing our hometown heroes take their rightful place on The Bronx Walk of Fame is one of my favorite events for Bronx Week. It fills me with pride to honor these sons and daughters of the Bronx!” said Olga Luz Tirado, executive director of The Bronx Tourism Council.

At the end of the 11-day celebration, these four hometown heroes will be honored with induction into the Bronx Walk of Fame, where their names are emblazoned on a street sign to reside on the historic Grand Concourse forever.

For more information about Bronx Week 2016, along with its listing of free or affordably priced events, visit www.ilovethebronx.com.