Daniel Rizzo

Daniel Rizzo a.k.a. "Danny" (July 3, 1919 Brownsville, Brooklyn- October 11, 1987 New York, New York was an Italian-American Lucchese crime family gangster from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and blood relative of Jilly Rizzo and related to Gambino crime family sidewalk soldier John Rizzo and his son John Rizzo Jr.

Family life

Daniel Rizzo is an Italian-American crime family. Daniel became an associate for the Lucchese crime family who worked under the powerful caporegime Paul Vario. Daniel was a close friend of Thomas DeSimone, Angelo Sepe, Anthony Stabile, Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill. Daniel was skilled in hijacking and fenced stolen jewelry through his relative, Gambino crime family mobster John Rizzo who operated a jewelry store and would fence the stolen jewelry with Sammy Gravano. Daniel was known to have a violent temper and spend hours bragging AbOUT his favorite mob executions to fellow members of the Vario Crew. Daniel was not convicted by the testimony of Henry Hill in 1985 and his whereabouts or happenings are unknown. In 1978 Jimmy Burke sent Daniel and Thomas DeSimone beat up Frank Menna in an attempt to extort Martin Krugman of his hair salon-bookmaking operation that was running out of the "Just For Men" hair salon in Ridgewood, Queens.

Attack at Don Pepe's

Daniel Rizzo was ordered along with Henry Hill, Jimmy Burke, Thomas DeSimone and two carloads of Lucchese crime family side-walk soldiers to beat up the waiters and kitchen staff at Don Pepe's Vesuvio Restaurant located at 135-58 Lefferts Boulevard in South OZONE Park, Queens, just a few blocks south of the Lucchese crime family hijacking headquarters, Robert's Lounge. He assisted in beating the employees with an inch of lead pipe as the kitchen staff left the restaurant at 11 P.M. Some of the employees fled the scene and scrambled into the cars, so Daniel and others had to chase them all around the neighborhood late into the night. Daniel and the others had been ordered to beat the staff after a certain waiter spilled a drink all over Paul Vario's wife, Phyllis and then sloppily tried to blot up the spilled drink on the front of her dress.

References

• US Social Security Death Index
• Pileggi, Nicholas, Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family Corgi (1987) ISBN 055213094X
• Maas, Peter, Underboss: Sammy The Bull Gravano's Story of Life In The Mafia Amazon Remainders Account 1999 ISBN 0060930969