Italian man ‘scared of N.Y.’ after S.I. shoot

A GUNSHOT is a gunshot in any language.

When an Italian man heard a gun go off as he sat in a Staten Island park Sunday, he knew something was wrong.

Then he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his back and shoulder (photo).

“I saw these two people running. I heard them shoot,” Marino Stocco, 57, told the Daily News Monday in an interview translated from his native Italian.

“I didn’t know what it was, but I felt a strong pain in my shoulder.”

Stocco, who is recovering at Richmond University Medical Center, was hunting for a gift to take home when he returns to Italy in October. He said he’s hopeful for a full recovery.

“It burns my shoulder where I was shot,” Stocco said. “Hopefully it will go OK.”

Stocco (photo) arrived in the U.S. on July 25 on a work visa, and is staying in Ridgewood, Queens. He wanted to make sure to visit the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum on Staten Island while in New York City.

When he got off the Staten Island ferry, he said he became disoriented and got lost, eventually winding up in a park.

“I don’t even know what this island is called, or the streets on it,” said Stocco, who began walking around aimlessly. “I walk a lot and I lost myself on this island.”

By 1 p.m., he found himself in a park on Jersey St. by Crescent Ave. in New Brighton — 21/2 miles from the museum in the opposite direction. The museum is closed on Sundays.

He’d just sat down to rest on a park bench when he heard the noise and felt the burn of the bullet.

No arrests have been made as cops continue to search for the gunman.

Sunday’s shooting was just a few blocks from where a 23-yearold man was shot and critically wounded on Aug. 4.

Stocco said he wanted to visit the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum — named for an Italian inventor considered by many to be the true inventor of the telephone — “to see if there was anything interesting to see.”

“I saw on the internet that there were Garibaldi, Meucci, these Italians. I wanted to find a gift to bring back to Italy,” he said. “The ferry was free and I passed in front of the Statue of Liberty.”

Instead, he’s bringing home a visitor’s nightmare tale.

“I am scared of New York. Truly,” he said. “When I’m walking in New York, when I go around, I feel more scared here.”