How NYC’s ‘professional Italians’ exploded on social media with memes you can’t fuggedabout

Post the TikTok — take the cannoli.A family of Brooklynites is championing social media creators in New York’s Italian American community who produce funny and authentic content that’s being devoured like fra diavolo worldwide.Siblings Sabino and Michela Curcio and their cousin Rocco Loguercio have run “Growing Up Italian” across social media since 2016. They’ve amassed 2.1 million followers, delivering viral slices of Italian life from a studio above their family panini shop. 

“We would always send each other silly Italian culture memes, but we felt like we could do it better,” Loguercio told The Post.“We’re not just stereotypes; ‘Growing Up Italian’ is about tradition.”“GUI” evolved into a weekly YouTube show in 2018. Notable guests have included “The Usual Suspects” actor Chazz Palminteri, Judge Frank Caprio and rapper Bhad Bhabie (Danielle Bregoli). “We resonate with many people whose family immigrated to America for a better life,” Michela, 29, explained to The Post.

Along with celebrities, “GUI” has championed sometimes knowledgeable, almost always eccentric — and often both — New Yorkers whose content is a window into Italian authenticity.“We were living it,” said Sabino Curcio, 34. “We didn’t need to make a mainstream movie to showcase the culture; we used our iPhones.”John Viola, son of Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola, is a “professional Italian American.” He recently opened Red Sauce Studio at the corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets in Little Italy to foster “Growing Up Italian” and further investment in Italian American media.“The content is about faith, tradition, family and food, and many people genuinely love that,” said Viola, 40.

Anthony Sciarratta’s public relations firm represents mostly Italian American businesses that want a robust social strategy — and it’s working.“Small businesses are seeing returns by using social to present an authentic feel of the New York Italian community,” Sciarratta, 28, told The Post.Now that’s amore!  

Here are just some of the social media stars celebrating the NYC Italian American experience as only they — and “GUI” — can.

The Queen of Italian American social media for her 841,000 Facebook followers, Rago started making her charming and insightful “Cooking With Nonna” videos with her grandmother in 2009.“I’m pretty sure I’m the first ‘nonna creator,’ and now everyone is cooking with their nonna,” Rago told The Post.She has published three cookbooks and opened an online shop, Bottega Della Nonna, amassing 80,000 orders since 2019.“You also can’t be the Mother Teresa of free recipes — you’ve got to sustain the content creation.”