LinkedIn Mary Znidarsic-Nicosia and husband Nicholas Nicosia.
Mary Znidarsic-Nicosia is a Rochester, New York, woman who, with her husband, Nicholas Nicosia, has been accused of holding a racist Juneteenth day party and running a racist Twitter account.
Znidarsic-Nicosia has worked as a real estate agent. Her husband is a dentist, according to NBC New York. He has owned Nicosia Dental for more than three decades in Rochester, according to his LinkedIn page.
Znidarsic-Nicosia and her husband held a news conference on August 23, 2022, in which they said the Juneteenth party was meant to bash liberals and denied it was racist. However, she admitted running a racist Twitter account.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. A Black Firefighter Says He Suffered Emotional Distress After Being Forced to Attend the Party
According to NBC New York, the allegations of the “racist pool party” stemmed from a legal notice filed by a Black firefighter named Jerrod Jones.
Mary Znidarsic-Nicosia responded that the party was “intended to ridicule liberal politicians but wasn’t bigoted,” according to NBC, which described her as a real estate agent.
Jones’ legal notice accused the Nicosia couple of hosting a party that “featured a display mocking the Juneteenth holiday… with Juneteenth flags displayed over buckets of fried chicken.”
Jones says in the notice that he and two co-workers were forced to attend the party while on duty. He has filed the notice to sue the City of Rochester and Fire Department for emotional distress, NBC reported, adding that the fire captain, Jeffrey Krywy, “was suspended by the department and later retired.”
2. Nicosia Admitted Running a Racist Twitter Account
According to the New York Post, Mary Znidarsic-Nicosia held a “bizarre” press conference to respond to the firefighter’s claims.
You can watch that press conference in full above.
“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,” she revealed.
The Post described Mary Nicosia as a “wealthy upstate woman.”
In addition to buckets of fried chicken, Nicosia served Hennessy at the Juneteenth celebration, the Post reported. In the press conference, she defended herself against Jones’ allegations, saying, “I’m here to defend myself from false claims of racism.”
She blamed the “culture of Twitter,” but did not confirm that her page was “@HoHoHomeboyROC,” the below account that Twitter users have accused her of running.
Here’s some classics from Mary Znidarsic-Nicosia’s Twitter account.
“For these comments, I’d like to apologize to the African American community, and for other people in the community I have hurt or offended by doing what I was doing on Twitter,” she said.
Nicosia’s lawyer presented an invite to the party, which read, “1st annual Liberal Smashin Splish Splash Pool Party.”
The decorations were meant as “liberal bashing,” not racism, and the chicken had no meaning, he said, but he also admitted: “No question, you look at her Twitter account — yup, that’s racist.”
The Post reported that Nicosia “was suspended from the board of the Landmark Society of Western New York.”
“To see our entire world collapse in a matter of hours was bewildering, it was like a bad dream,” she said.
Nicholas Nicosia said in the news conference that he had lost clients.
“We were tried and convicted on social media in a false narrative that was created,” he said.
3. Znidarsic-Nicosia Is an Artist Who Focuses on Landscapes From the Northeast & Southwest; Her Husband Is a Former College Swimmer Whose Father Was Also a Dentist
Znidarsic-Nicosia was listed as a featured artist by the Landmark Society’s 75th Anniversary Jazz and Art Celebration.
That website contains a brief bio for her. It read:
is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. 10 years ago, Mary revisited her formal art training under the mentoring of local artist Dick Lubey. Artistically, her primary focus has been plein-air landscapes from the Northeast and Southwest. Much of Mary’s work has been donated to the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in a fundraising effort to support her niece Maria who is a young adult living with the disease. Professionally, Mary is a Broker with RE/MAX Realty Group and currently serves and President of the Board of Trustees of Western New York and works in her private studio located in her family home in the City of Rochester.
At that time, she was described as 48, living in the City of Rochester with her husband, “Ned,” and two sons, then ages 13 and 10.
Nicholas Nicosia, DDS, “is a Dentistry Practitioner in Rochester, NY. He is affiliated with medical facilities Highland Hospital and Strong Memorial Hospital. His office accepts new patients,” according to Health Grades.com, which lists him as 62 years old.
Before the controversy broke out, he received good reviews. “Not only is Dr. Nicosia down to earth and professional-He takes care of the Rochester Americans hockey team and I figures if they trust him for their care ,I should be in good hands. My teeth look and feel great. He even came in on a weekend to see a family member visiting from out of town!” reads one on that site.
“I have been a patient of Dr. Nicosia for over 8 years. He is a truly gifted, compassionate and good natured practitioner. His staff is top notch and his office is state of the art. He even came in over the holidays to see a family member who was visiting from out of town and who had developed a toothache! I can’t recommend him high enough!” read another.
His biography on HealthGrades reads as follows:
Dr. Nicosia was born and raised in Rochester NY. He attended McQuaid Jesuit High School, where he captained that school’s undefeated swim team. After that he went to John Carroll University where he continued swimming at the collegiate level and, more importantly, met his lovely wife. After graduating with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience he attended SUNY at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. His greatest memory was graduating from his father’s alma mater with dad alongside.
The doctor lives in Rochester with his wife Mary, their two sons… their three dogs (Benny, Rummer and Sally) and their two cats (Jakey and Fitz).
Dr. Nicosia, partner, has been heading up the practice for over 25 years and represents the second generation of the Nicosia family to carry on the business. He had the privilege of practicing alongside his father from 1987 to 2003 when the elder Dr. Nicosia retired.
If you know Dr. Nicosia, you also know that he has a fun demeanor. But he’s 100 percent serious about providing exceptional dentistry to the young and old in the greater Rochester community. Dr. Nicosia has been fortunate to combine his love of sports with his love of dentistry. Thanks to his advanced training in sports dentistry, he has served as team dentist for the Rochester Red Wings, The Rochester Rhinos and The Rochester Knighthawks. He presently is the team dentist for RIT Athletics and is very proud of his association with the Rochester Americans Hockey Club, serving as team dentist for over 27 years. As you’ll see below, Dr. Nicosia is very active in the regional dental industry, as well as the local community. And he is immensely proud of the fact that Nicosia Dental has been blessed with so many referrals. According to the doctor, “Our best patients are referred by our best
4. Znidarsic-Nicosia Claims She Has ‘Extensive Experience’ in ‘Retail Sales & Brand Management’
On LinkedIn, Znidarsic-Nicosia describes herself as,
Extensive experience retail sales and brand management. Experienced in budget management for the not for profit sector. Active and effective board member / fundraiser for the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Rochester Historical Society and Landmark Society of Western NY.
She lists herself as president of the board of trustees for the Landmark Society of Western New York for more than 10 years, a real estate sales associate for 10 years at RE/MAX Reality Group, a retail sales and marketing executive for Eddie Bauer and a director of sales for Express.
It does not appear that she currently holds any of those positions. She has a bachelor’s degree in education from Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, according to her LinkedIn page.
5. Znidarsic-Nicosia Believed the Couple’s Historic Home Was Haunted
Landmark Society of Western New York
Executive Committee
Jeffrey Pollock, President
Tom Castelein, Vice President Preservation
Mimi Freund Tilton, Vice President Education & Prope
Jim Marasco, Vice President Finance & Treasurer
Mary Znidarsic-Nicosia, Vice President Development??
A 2003 article in the Rochester Business Journal discussed how the Nicosias renovated historic homes and believed their current home was haunted.
“It was six years ago when the Nicosias sold their first historical home, put their belongings in storage and waited for the right property to pop up,” the article stated.
“We waited for the next suitable historical home to come on the market,” Mary Znidarsic-Nicosia told the publication, which described her at that time as “a mother of two and a real estate agent with Re/Max Realty Group.”
The article said her husband, Nicholas Nicosia, was “a dentist in Brighton whose practice serves the Rochester Red Wings, Raging Rhinos and Americans.”
The article stated that the couple purchased a “12,000-square-foot brick Georgian mansion” that “was built in 1900 by Dr. Newton Collins on farmland that originally belonged to prominent 1700s settler and boat builder Oliver Culver.”
They claimed that two overnight guests “have reported seeing the ghost of a maid.”
“She appears to be a small brown-haired girl with a white apron and cap that stokes the fireplace in the guest bedroom and then disappears down a hallway to the old maids’ quarters,” Znidarsic-Nicosia told the publication.
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