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Hundreds Remember Uptown Baker Whose Generosity Knew No Bounds

By Lindsay Armstrong | November 14, 2014 1:26pm | Updated on November 17, 2014 8:55am
 Renee Mancino, of Carrot Top Pastries, died earlier this week in an apparent suicide.
Hundreds Remember Uptown Baker Whose Generosity Knew No Bounds
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INWOOD — Hundreds of people gathered Thursday evening to mourn Renee Mancino, the owner of two popular Uptown bakeries who was known for her generosity, determination and upbeat spirit.

Mancino, 66, of Carrot Top Pastries, died Tuesday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, shocking family, friends and longtime customers.

At a memorial service held at the Riverdale Funeral Home across the street from Mancino’s Inwood storefront, people crowded in to listen to speeches by those closest to her and to share their memories. 

Robert Mancino, Renee’s husband of almost 35 years and a retired New York City police officer, shared the story of the first time they met. Robert responded to a call of an injury and Renee was at the scene.

“The best call I ever picked up in the police department was that one,” he said. “She was so beautiful. I fell in love with her instantly.’”

Robert said that what kept them together for 35 years was his wife’s inner beauty.

“She was the heart of Carrot Top. People would come in and she’d talked to them for an hour, two hours, five hours,” he said. “That girl had a heart of gold.”

Mancino’s daughter, Tan’yika Allen, spoke of her mother’s wide influence and the many people who have been mourning her loss.

“So many people have said to me, ‘I knew your mom so well. We were so close,’” she said. “That was mom. She’d just be taking your cake order and an hour later, you were best friends.”

Mancino started baking carrot cakes in the late 1970s as a way to raise funds for her daughter’s tuition. She had plans to study forensic medicine, but they were derailed by a 1977 car accident that left her with permanent memory loss. Mancino then shifted her focus to baking full-time, selling her cakes to gourmet food shops and restaurants.

She opened her first Carrot Top storefront on Broadway near 214th Street in 1980. She added the Washington Heights location in 1983. Mancino became known equally for her delicious baked goods — which have been sampled by Stevie Wonder, Desmond Tutu and Richard Pryor — and her dedication to the community.

Mancino was also a dedicated mother and grandmother to five grandchildren.

In spite of struggles with her health that led to heart and double knee surgeries, Mancino was also an avid runner who once completed the New York City Marathon.

Martin Collins, an Inwood resident who became friends with Mancino shortly after she opened her first shop, said that Mancino gave her all to the neighborhood.

He said he once asked Mancino is she’d be willing to donate a cake for a celebration of local students who had earned scholarships to Columbia University.

“She donated four,” he said. “And they were all so beautifully decorated with diplomas and graduation caps.”

Mancino also volunteered her talents for the local little league, schools, churches, mosques and community organizations.

“She was a tremendous lady who gave her best and brightest to all of us,” he said.

Many also recalled Mancino’s light-hearted side.

“She loved to make people laugh,” said Dorothy Staniec, Mancino’s sister-in-law.  “You’d go to her house for a barbecue and she’d come out in a complete cowboy costume.”

Staniec noted that Mancino also loved gadgets.

“Didn’t know how to send a text, but always had the latest iPhone,” Staniec said.

Staniec said the Mancino took classes at the Apple store to improve her technology skills and, in typical fashion, always brought along a basket of homemade carrot muffins for the store’s employees.

Kenny Espaillat, Mancino’s godson who also worked in the bakery, said that Mancino’s early struggles helped her relate to people from all walks of life.

“She had a heart of liquid gold,” he said. “From that, she would pour out a cup to anyone who needed it.”