Joseph Miceli-Magnone was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and considers himself a true New Yorker.

At the turn of the last century, his maternal great-grandfathers, Giuseppe Suriano and Gaetano Miceli, came to New York City for a piece of the ‘American Dream’. They found it as laborers on the construction of the Columbus Avenue above ground railroad, which no longer exists.
Descended from a Venetian merchant family on his father’s side, and Syrian and Southern Italian ancestry on his mother’s side, Joseph is proud of his Italian heritage and visits Italy often.

Presently, he has relinquished his employment with his family’s New York City property portfolio and is concentrating on his philanthropic work.

Joseph is best known in New York City’s social circles because of his patronage of Housing Works Charity and has been dedicated to their mission for over 13 years now. His dedication to Housing Works has resulted in significant sales for the organization in the area of jewelry (his true passion) for the Columbus Avenue thrift shop. Joseph wanted to be part of something that gave hope to people in dire circumstances facing the day to day battles of being homeless and living with a lifelong disease on the streets of New York City.

Presently on the Board of Directors of the Housing Works thrift shops, Joseph is also a committee member for their benefits Design on a Dime and Fashion for Action. Having worked with New York based designers through the charity benefits he has built life long friendships in the fashion and design world which give him ready access to both industries. He recently united Housing Works with celebrity, Robert Verdi, for “The Robert Verdi Event” which will feature the charity in an episode of his upcoming reality show in the Fall of 2009.

Joseph is also a co-founder of Trinity Angels which is a New York based charity organization which helps smaller charities and shelters around New York acquire funding by holding social events.

Ever aware of his surroundings, Joseph is on a quest for the most unique aspects of the city he calls his true home, New York.

Joseph can be contacted at Joe@ChicUniqueNewYork.com.