Nicholas Piccolo

Who was Nicholas Piccolo?

Nicholas "Nicky Buck" Piccolo was a Philadelphia mobster and high-ranking member of the Scarfo crime family during the 1970s and 1980s.

Known as one of the last "gentleman gangsters", Piccolo and his two younger brothers Mike and Joe all became made men in the Philadelphia family. The brothers owned the mob hangout "Piccolo's 500 Restaurant" in South Philadelphia. Piccolo was a caporegime in the Philadelphia family under boss Angelo Bruno. After Bruno's murder, he became consiglieri under boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo. A nephew of Piccolo, Scarfo was introduced into the family by his uncle. Scarfo and underboss Phil "Crazy Phil" Leonetti, Piccolo's great nephew, ruled the Philadelphia family and its Atlantic City, New Jersey branch with brutality and violence from 1982 to 1988. During the early 1980s, while Scarfo was briefly in prison, Piccolo was heavily involved in the runnings of the crime family

Like many mobsters, Piccolo was a married man who also kept a mistress 20 years younger than he was. Piccolo met his mistress Helen during the 1940s. From 1949 to 1988, Piccolo took Babs to Florida every February. On weekends, Piccolo and Babs went to his vacation home in Seaside Heights, New Jersey on the Jersey Shore. After the death of his wife, the 82 year-old Piccolo married Babs on March 1, 1986, causing a mild family scandal. The newlyweds honeymooned at the Scarfo compound in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, spending a good amount of time on Scarfo's boat, The Usual Suspects.