Frank Manzo, also known as "Francesco Manzo", "Frank Manse", "Frankie the Wop" is a soldier in the Lucchese crime family

Lucchese crime family

The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...

. Manzo oversaw the crime family's interests in John F. Kennedy Airport.

Biography

Frank Manzo worked in Paul Vario

Paul Vario

Paul Vario was a caporegime of a crew in the Lucchese crime family. In the 1970s Vario held the position of consigliere in the family but later resigned. In 1980, longtime associate Henry Hill became a government witness and testified against Vario and members of his crew...

's crew

The Vario Crew

The Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...

, he controlled local 295 in John F. Kennedy Airport. Manzo served as a union delegate in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America

United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America is one of the largest building trades union in the United States. One of the unions that formed the American Federation of Labor in 1886, it left the AFL-CIO in 2001.-Early years:...

. He was convicted of labor racketeering based on the testimony of mobster Louis Fratto

Louis Fratto

Louis Thomas Fratto , born Luigi Tomaso Giuseppi Fratto, also known as "Lew Farrell" and "Cock-eyed", was a labor racketeer and organized crime figure in Chicago, Illinois, from the 1930s to 1960s. Fratto was allegedly shifted over to become Des Moines, Iowa's, top crime boss in about 1940, until...

 and was forced out of the union.

Manzo owned "Villa Capra" a restaurant in Cedarhurst, New York

Cedarhurst, New York

Cedarhurst is a village in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, New York, in the USA. The population was 6,592 at the 2010 United States Census. The village is named after a grove of trees that once stood at the post office....

 Town of Hempstead, New York

Town of Hempstead, New York

Hempstead is one of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, United States, occupying the southwest part of the county. There are twenty-two incorporated villages completely or partially in the town. Hempstead's combined population was 759,757 at the 2010 Census, the majority of the population...

, were he conducted his illegal activities. In 1972, Manzo was kidnapped by James McBratney

James McBratney

James McBratney was an Irish American who is believed to have been involved in the kidnapping of Emanuel "Manny" Gambino in October 1972 and Lucchese crime family caporegime Francesco Manzo and Gambino crime family mafioso Vincent D'Amore.-Biography:James McBratney a.k.a...

, Eddie Maloney, Tommy Genovese and Richie Chaisson they held him on $150,000 in ransom, which was paid and he was released.

In 1983 Manzo was over heard in an FBI wiretap, saying "We rule this airport". Manzo and capo Paul Vario were charged in 1985 with attempting to extort payments from trucking firms at John F. Kennedy International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...

 in Queens. He later pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to twelve years in prison. On April 8, 1987 Manzo was banned from New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 casinos due to his history of involvement with organized crime. Manzo was released from prison in 1994, and today he is 86 years old.

In popular culture

Manzo is portrayed as the character "Frankie The Wop" by actor Tony Lip

Tony Lip

Tony Lip is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of crime boss Carmine Lupertazzi in the HBO series The Sopranos. He portrayed real-life Bonanno crime family mobster Philip Giaccone in Donnie Brasco.Lip is from Paramus, New Jersey...

 in Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

's 1990 film Goodfellas

Goodfellas

Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...

.