A plaque on display at the Arthur Avenue Market calls Liberatore “Little Italy’s Mayor.” (File photo by Fausto Giovanny Pinto)

Joe Liberatore, one of the original vendors at the Arthur Avenue Retail Market in Belmont, passed away Monday night at the age of 93, according to a post yesterday on the “Arthur Avenue, the Real Italy of New York” Facebook page.

Liberatore had been a staple at the Italian indoor bazaar since its opening in 1940, and more recently had been peddling plants and seedlings (like basil, olives and bay leaves) at his Liberatore Joe’s Garden of Plenty.

Residents are sharing their condolences and memories of Liberatore on Facebook, here.