By Dan Murphy
Yonkers will miss RJ Puma for many reasons. Puma has owned and operated a legendary Yonkers establishment, Anna Artuso’s Pastry Shop, at 969 McLean Avenue for more than 10 years, and the bakery has been in operation at the same location for five decades.
“Meet me on McLean” has become a slogan for the businesses that line the Irish Mile in Yonkers, and it has been Puma – through his leadership, hard work and partnership with the McLean Avenue Merchants Association that has spearheaded the success MAMA and McLean Avenue have enjoyed in recent years.
The Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade now marches down McLean Avenue every year and is a huge success. The McLean Avenue Fall Festival is also a hit. Puma, working with MAMA board members and merchants, has made these events a success and brought attention to the avenue that Puma not only grew up on as a boy in the bakery, but where he has also lived, in the apartment above the bakery for many years.
When we spoke to Puma about the recent sale of the bakery and the building and his departure to Florida, the word “bittersweet” is one way he described it, and we agree. For the many in Yonkers who know RJ Puma, it is sad to see him go, but we are happy he will now be able to enjoy the next phase of his life.
One friend of Puma’s said that RJ and McLean Avenue “were one,” and “he was a rock for a lot of people on McLean.” Indeed this is true. “The bakery,” which is all you had to say when you wanted to meet – “I’ll meet you at the bakery” – was a meeting place and gathering place for the many friends and customers of Anna Artuso’s Pastry Shop, some who started buying treats more than 40 years ago from RJ’s grandmother Anna.
The bakery and the building were sold recently to a purchaser who Puma would only describe as a “nice Irish family” who will open a business in the food industry at the location. “I’m going to ask people to welcome them to McLean Avenue and treat them like they are part of the family,” said Puma. “Give them a chance. This is what happens, young merchants come in and take over for another. Mom and pop shops are what makes McLean Avenue great.”
Let’s clear up a few misconceptions about the sale of the bakery and Puma’s departure: Most know of the passing of RJ’s wife, Brigette, last year. Although a life-changing event, his wife’s passing was not the primary reason RJ is leaving Yonkers.
“For the last couple of years, Brigette and I had a five-year plan to sell the business and move on quietly with our life,” said Puma. “This was a plan before she was sick and we wanted to move down to Orlando where we had great times.”
The burdens of running a small business are great; those of us who run a small business know the pressures and mental and physical burden of doing so, which all played into Puma’s decision to move on.
“Running a small business is tough, but when you add food to the equation, it becomes another whole level of insanity,” said Puma, who ran both the front of the business, greeting customers and well-wishers just like his grandmother did, but also ran the back of the bakery, making and overseeing the baking of pastries, cakes and cookies that were the staple of many families’ holidays and special occasions.
After his grandparents passed, Puma took over the operations of the bakery. His father, still worked in the back as a baker, but didn’t want the aggravation of running the business. “I’ve watched my grandparents and my father work at the bakery,” said Puma. “They loved it but it wears on you. My father had two years of retirement before he passed away, so I wanted to try and make a move when I can.”
Another misconception about Puma and the bakery is that he had to sell, which is not true. Puma said he could have continued the bakery, which was profitable, “for years to come.” He was not forced out, nor did he have to sell. “There was a lot of untapped potential that I didn’t have the energy or enthusiasm for. It was just the right time to get out,” he said.
In addition to his 60 hours per week at the bakery, Puma made time to lead the McLean Avenue Merchants Association to great heights, with his shining achievement being the merger of the St. Patrick’s Day parades into one, great Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade on McLean Avenue.
That achievement speaks volumes about Puma. He is hard working, wants to get things done, and has the ability to lead and make others work toward a worthy goal.
But he also has an ability to communicate and work together with anyone. Getting organizers of the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade to agree to move their festivities to McLean Avenue was perhaps one of Puma’s greatest achievements.
“The merging was a diplomatic endeavor, to combine the old with the new,” he said. “But it worked because of what McLean Avenue is. Thirty-thousand people don’t come for me or for anyone in the parade, but because of what McLean Avenue has become. This is an amazing community with unique shops and bars and restaurants and stores… I think McLean Avenue is in good hands and the parade is a success and will continue to be a success, as long as it stays on McLean Avenue. There are many good people from MAMA and volunteers for the parade who will continue.”
One of the hardest things to do is to leave a situation, or a job, on top. Most of us want to stay too long and wait until the hammer falls or the business fails.
RJ Puma leaves at the top of his game. McLean Avenue is a thriving business community and now a legendary location not only across the country, but the world. The bakery was still a success when he handed the baton to someone else – which is actually perfect timing for all involved.
“I grew up on Delano Avenue and went to school at St. Paul’s,” said Puma. “I would hang out at the bakery when I was a kid and used to drive my grandma to the bakery every day. We not only worked there, but lived there and played there. It was our life and everything to us. It is who I am, so it was very difficult to leave, especially when everything is going good and we were able to breathe life back into the community.
“I could have run the bakery forever, but I was getting tired, and it was time to move on to the next adventure. It was a tearful good-bye and closing, but I felt I had done as much as I could. I want to wish everyone well and thank all of our customers over five decades,” said Puma, who also thanked the community for its outpouring of love and support when he lost Brigette, and also during the last few weeks for the bakery.
Puma and this reporter had many conversations about Yonkers politics over the years, as I would deliver the paper to the shop. In the summer I would have a watermelon Italian ice, which was my favorite item at the bakery. The other favorite for myself and many were a box of cookies for the holidays, which unfortunately I forgot to get one last time.
Puma could have run for office in Yonkers and was encouraged by many to do so. But he has no regrets, saying: “I think I’ve been able to accomplish much more with MAMA, and making a positive change in my community, than I could have made in politics. The parades and festivals that we were able to build on McLean give people hope and joy. Plus, politics has a bad rap all over and in Yonkers.”
A controversial question for Puma is: Where did you have your last drink on McLean.
“My wife and I have been to every establishment on McLean – we have so many memories,” he said. “But when I wanted to get away from it all, and get some solace, I would go to Saints and Scholars – the only place that Brigette and I never went to. That is where I had my last drink.”
Jim Landy, co-chairman of the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, said the legacy that Puma has left, not only to McLean Avenue, but on all of Yonkers, is great.
“So many communities have neighborhood associations and Business Improvement Districts, but none have been as successful as the McLean Avenue Merchants Association, which was centered on his drive and organizational skills,” said Landy. “Because of him, our city is more vibrant. When you think about the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and moving it to McLean Avenue, the benefits of having the parade on McLean didn’t really benefit RJ or his business. He wasn’t a major recipient of having 25,000 people on the avenue, and he isn’t Irish. But he did it because it was the right thing to do and that speaks volumes about what great leadership is all about.”
Taryn Duffy, vice president of corporate communications and public affairs at Empire City Casino, called Puma “one in a million.”
“Most communities don’t get someone like RJ, and what he single-handedly did for the business community in Yonkers,” she said. “Through MAMA, he provided an organization that allowed business to support each other and provide resources. He built a real sense of community that didn’t exist before.”
State Sen. Shelley Mayer added: “RJ Puma has been a great friend to all of us who care about the future of Yonkers. He was instrumental in the tremendous success of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on McLean Avenue and of MAMA. Every time I asked, he donated his fantastic cakes and cookies for the community, and he had an outsized presence, not only in southeast Yonkers, but the entire city.”
Puma will be starting the next chapter in his life working for Disney, in Orlando, in the food and entertainment industry. Micky Mouse and company are lucky to have him. Their gain is Yonkers’ loss.
Thanks, RJ, for all you did for the city you grew up in and lived in for almost all of your life!
