Francesco Manzo
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Francesco Leone Manzo-Manza aka "Frankie The Wop" and "Frank Manze" (b. February 2, 1925) is an Italian-American caporegime from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
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[edit] Biography
Frank Manzo worked for Paul Vario in the 1960's and 1970's in what was one of the most violent "street crews" in New York. He is not to be mistaken for Colombo crime family street soldier Frank (The Wop) Gagliardi who shares an identical monicker. He stands at 5'6 and weighs 145 pounds with blue eyes. Henry Hil would later say about his former friend, "Frank had a down-to-earth demeanor about him. He dressed and acted like your stereotypical blue-collar working man. He could be seen on a daily basis carrying packages of groceries into the kitchen of the Villa Capra, acting as a parking valet for the customers of his restaurant, wiping the crumbs off tables and working day and night in the kitchen of his own home". The Villa Capra was one of the most exclusive restaurants in Cedarhurst. Mobsters used it as a meeting place once for a large Appalachian-size mob summit. Anthony Corallo, Carmine Tramunti, Tommy Lucchese and Henry Hill were all regular patrons of the establishment. Henry Hill was arrested many times for loansharking at the restaurant and Paul Vario Jr., the son and namesake of capo Paul Vario worked as a bartender there. He has worked over the used as a supervisor for construction firms which is believed by the FBI to be a no-show position. Frank would bash heads at picket lines, threaten businessmen into making loan shark payments, threaten independent criminals with territorial lines in the community, murdering potential witnesses of crimes committed and burying the bodies of executed mob informants. Frank had been a union delegate for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America until he was indicted for his first felony of labor racketeering by the Capecart Committee based on the testimony of mobster Louis Fratto. This conviction banned him from dealing with union matters. After he left the union business he bought and managed the successful Italian "Villa Capra" restaurant in Cedarhurst, New York Town of Hempstead, New York, which became a popular mob hangout and meeting place for the Lucchese crime family. He was a close friend of Henry Hill, Jimmy Burke and Thomas DeSimone. The Villa Capra used in Goodfellas was actually Salerno's Restaurant at 11-71 Hillside Avenue on the corner of Hillside Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens.
[edit] Kidnapping at The Suite
In 1972 Francesco Manzo was drinking at Henry Hill's night club, The Suite. He was grabbed by Thomas Genovese, Irish-American mob associate James McBratney, Edward Maloney, Warren Schurman, Thomas Genovese and Richard Chaisson. The gang contacted the Lucchese crime family don Carmine Tramunti directly and demande $100,000 for Frank's safe return. The ransom was paid and Frank was returned unscathed.
[edit] The Villa Capra
In the 1990 Martin Scorsese film the scene where Henry Hill first meets his future wife Karen Hill is set at Manzo's restaurant. The Villa Capra located at 119 Cedarhurst Avenue in Cedarhurst, New York is now called the Cedarhurst Avenue Cafe. It is described in Scorsese's film screenplay as being a classy red damask restaurant with banquettes with a parking lot out front. He also helped extort restaurants and buy into independent "fronts" that Paul Vario would take over and control. He became close friends with Tommy DeSimone over their similar natural endearment for inflicting violence upon others, including Stanley Diamond, Angelo Sepe, Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke. Manzo was a frequent patron of Hill's nightclub The Suite.
He was later indicted in 1980 on numerous charges brought on by the testimony of Henry Hill. A year later he was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to twelve years in prison. In April 8th, 1987 he was banned from New Jersey casinos due to his history of involvement with organized crime.
[edit] Gambino or Lucchese Affiliation
In Crime Magazine: An Encyclopedia on Crime: Jimmy McBratney A Footnote to Mob History by Allan May and John Gotti New York Mafia: Chapter 5: The Death of Many Gambino also by Allan May it is said that Manzo is a capo of the Gambino crime family. But Francesco's April 8, 1987 New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Exclusion Notice Manzo is listed as a "soldier" in the Lucchese crime family as of 1985, and it is mentioned in Wiseguy: A Life In A Mafia Family by Nicholas Pileggi.
He is not related to the Ward 6 Councillor Frank Manzo of Sault Saint Marie, Ontario.
[edit] In popular culture
Manzo is portrayed as the character "Frankie The Wop" by actor Tony Lipp in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Goodfellas.
[edit] References
- Crime Magazine: An Encyclopedia on Crime: Jimmy McBratney A Footnote to Mob History by Allan May
- John Gotti New York Mafia: Chapter 5: The Death of Manny Gambino www. crimelibrary.com by Allan May
- Pileggi, Nicholas, Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family, Corgi (1987) ISBN 055213094X
