His picture ran in the papers, blood streaming down his face, a patrolman tauntingly pointing a gun at his head.
The chef’s supply chain for narcotics came via a notorious family that lived around the corner on Elizabeth Street.
But the pizza parlor and its adjoining clubhouse soon became headquarters for “the Prince Street crew,” a prime gathering spot for local mobsters.
“Raffie went into business with Charlie Brody and the rest of the Becks moving heroin,” D’Arco said.
He served a few years, then went back to the pizzeria and started dealing all over again.
He survived that third prison term, returning to Prince Street after doing his time to oversee his still popular restaurant.
In 2011, Cuomo’s heirs sold the five-story tenement at 27 Prince St. with the old tree trunks in the basement. »
