Business

Creating 14 Limestone Carvings Depicting Ignatius Loyola

The team at Petrillo Stone recently used Indiana limestone to create these 14 carvings depicting the life of Ignatius Loyola. We did this using the original molds from the 1950s. Ralph Petrillo is pictured next to one of the carvings. Ignatius Loyola was a Spanish priest who co-founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He was born in 1491 to a family of minor nobility. He was one of 13 children. When he was 30 years old, he was injured during a battle with the French. While recuperating from his injury, Ignatius began reading about Jesus and the Saints which…

6 Types of Stone We Commonly Use for Our Projects

As you might guess, not all stone is created equal. Certain varieties of stone are not as useful for building materials. At Petrillo Stone, we commonly use these 6 materials in our projects: Basalt: This stone is usually between medium and fine grain. It’s commonly used to build roads, bridge piers, dams, and river walls. Granite: Granite has a crystalline structure, and the grain can be anywhere from fine to coarse. This stone is mostly made up of quartz and feldspar, with a little bit of mica and amphibole. Sandstone: When combined with silica cement, this material is used to…

Working on an Exterior Wall at Fordham University

Ralph Petrillo and the rest of the Petrillo Stone team enjoyed working on the exterior of Fordham University’s Lincoln Center. Built in the 1950s, this beautiful masonry building is home to the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet. It’s located a block east of Broadway, also near Central Park, in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen.

14 Stone Carvings at Fordham University

Petrillo Stone has been contracted for work on 14 stone carvings at Fordham University. So far, we’ve finished the first carving, with the second following close behind. The carvings depict the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Check out these photos of Ralph Petrillo and carver Michael Orekunrin: The final 14 carvings will be put in a new building to be constructed this year at the Rose Hill Campus.

Ralph Petrillo Celebrates 40 Years in the Family Business, Continuing a 111 Year Legacy

Ralph Petrillo, the co-owner of Petrillo Stone, recently celebrated 40 years in business, while his business is celebrating year 111. Petrillo’s grandfather, Antonio T. Petrillo, founded the company in 1907 after emigrating to Mount Vernon, NY from Italy. With him, he brought knowledge of traditional masonry techniques–the type of time-honored methods that set the craft apart. Even as masonry evolves, many of its aspects remain, some withstanding for longer than a century. Ralph Petrillo describes his business as “a glue that binds three generations and their technologies, workmanship, and ideologies.” After founding the company, Antonio Petrillo passed his knowledge onto…

Custom Desktop and Countertop Project

We really enjoyed this project! We had the chance to customize a countertop and desktop in a client’s home. Both are made of custom-fabricated slabs of stone. The counter is quartzite, and the desktop is marble. These custom surfaces are functional and elegant, the perfect touch to this beautiful home.

A Petrillo Stone Celebration

Our company Petrillo Stone Corporation recently celebrated a major milestone — the 80th anniversary of our work with Fordham University. Over the years, we’ve completed a wide variety of jobs ranging from assisting in the building of Keating Hall back in 1936 to the new 16 ft Fordham University Seal at the Lincoln Center campus. You can read more about business relationship and the iconic projects we’ve been a part of in this press release. As Ralph Petrillo is quoted, “It is nice to know that we have been a small part of Fordham’s history and Fordham University has been a…

Frank and Ralph Petrillo Celebrate a Company Milestone

If you haven’t heard, Petrillo Stone Corporation celebrated 109 years of business in 2016. The New York-based company was founded in 1907 by A.T. Petrillo and is now headed by his grandsons Frank and Ralph. To celebrate this accomplishment and family tradition, the Petrillo brothers shared part of the company’s history in a recent press release. Read the full article here. “We’ve been involved in high end projects for as long as I can remember,” Ralph Petrillo said. “One of my first memories is when my father and uncle (John Petrillo and August Petrillo) had taken the contract for the…

Ralph Petrillo Visits New 9/11 Memorial in Greenwich, CT

This week is the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and is understandably an emotional time for people across our nation. This is the time of year where we stop to remember the lives lost in those tragic attacks, as well as come together in a show of patriotism. This was especially true when our very own Ralph Petrillo visited the construction site of the new September 11th Memorial in Greenwich, CT in Cos Cob Park. On September 11, 2001, 32 people with ties to Greenwich, CT were killed. The names of these individuals have been incorporated into the…

Update on the Comcast Building Project

In this post is a photo of one of the many stones ( Deer Island Granite  ) that Petrillo Stone Corporation fabricated for the Comcast Building (formerly the G E Building). We originally described this project in an earlier blog post. In addition to fabricating the stone, we also gold leafed the carved letters and logo by hand. Ralph Petrillo was the project manager on this project. He oversaw the fabrication and gold leafing of this project, as well as made sure everything ran smoothly and on time. Although the stones were completed a few months ago, the official unveiling of…

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