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The famous man that nobody knows

East Meadow native brings his music to Central Park

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David Ippolito’s long and winding life has brought him to a place where many regard him as, he says, “the most famous person in New York that nobody knows.”

Raised in a modest home in East Meadow, Ippolito would eventually become a singer and songwriter (he really wanted to be an actor), but, he said, “For a while, I was also an active alcoholic and into sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.”

But back to a more innocent time: When he was 7, his father bought him a guitar and he started playing by ear, as he did later on with the piano. He played at grammar school concerts and assemblies right away in second grade, playing Beatles tunes and whatever popular songs he would hear on the radio. He said he “lived” at Veterans Memorial Park and Prospect Avenue Pool, playing basketball and swimming.“There was the Meadow Dairy, owned by Rocky and Ernie, they were really characters — and they hired us local young guys to work at their little stores … we were called “the Dairy Boys.” We stocked shelves, worked cash register — it was kind of the center of town then.”

By the time he attended East Meadow High School, the guitar and music had taken a backseat to basketball and the beach. He never stopped listening to his favorites, among them James Taylor, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

When he was 20, he got a job as assistant art director and illustrator at a houseware manufacturer in New Jersey, and spent the next seven years behind a desk and a drawing board — but once or twice a week he would play music in local bars for extra money and “just for kicks.”

He first experienced what he calls his “dark days” when his mother was diagnosed with cancer at 50 (she died when he was in his 30s). It also propelled him into making a decision to pursue a career as an actor, with moderate success. It was also when his life started a downward spiral. “I wasn’t doing much of anything except slowly killing myself, and I really believe, at one point, the lights were almost out.”

In January of 1992 he stopped drinking and drugging completely. “Those first few years were extremely difficult and painful,” he said. “There was an awful lot of damage to repair. But, it was so worth every tear.”

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