Felice (Philly Cigars) Vizzari

Felice (Philly Cigars) Vizzari was identified by law enforcement as a top “associate” in the Franzese faction of the Profaci/Colombo Family.

Felice (Philly Cigars) Vizzari was born in 1920 at 758 Metropolitan Avenue in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. He relocated to 132 Dodges Promenade in Copiague in Suffolk County by the late 1950s.

Vizzari was identified by authorities as a top “associate” in the John Franzese faction of the Profaci/Colombo Family. In fact, he grew up in the same neighborhood as Sonny.

His additional criminal associates included Anthony (The Frog) Frangipani, Anthony Guidice, Louie Morra, and Freddy DiGregorio, among others.

He was active from the 1950s through the early 1980s, mostly in Suffolk County on Long Island. Newsday repeatedly reported on him over several decades.

In 1938, he was charged as an eighteen-year-old kid with vehicular homicide in the death of John Szabol, who Vizzari had struck after mounting the curb at First Avenue and 69th Street in Manhattan.

Gambling with Sonny Franzese

Vizzari's activities included bookmaking, shylocking, card games, and stolen credit cards.

In 1946, Vizzari was one of three men arrested for a truck hijacking on Rivington Street in Lower Manhattan. Loaded with garments, the armed men took the truck which was later found intact with all the merchandise by police at a Brooklyn garage owned by Vizzari.

In 1965, he was partners with Frangipani in a Deer Park social club that specialized in card games and shylocking.

Vizzari also operated a second card parlor with Louis (The Mole) Morra on Long Island Avenue in partnership with Franzese.

Over the years, Philly Cigars was subpoenaed before numerous grand juries probing the mob. He was cited for contempt repeatedly after refusing to answer questions about loansharking, gambling, and his association with Franzese and other mob members.

In the early 1960s, he came into conflict with another Profaci hood named Patsy Guariglia from Brooklyn, both vying for gambling activity in the Suffolk area.

It almost came down to a violent showdown until Franzese stepped in and quelled the conflict. This incident was highlighted in a 1969 Newsday expose on the mob.

During the 1964 to 65 hearings, a NYS investigative committee on the usury racket in New York described Vizzari as a top Long Island loanshark.

He was one of several hoodlums whose activities were probed which led to state authorities increasing the penalties for usury from a simple misdemeanor to a felony. Eventually, the “feds” created up to a 20-year penalty for what’s called “extortionate credit transaction" - aka shylocking.

In 1968, Vizzari was among several hoodlums arrested and indicted for operating an extensive loanshark ring in Suffolk County.

Arrested with him was his associate Frangipani and John Lofaro. These arrests were highly-publicized and would lead to their ultimate conviction and Vizzari being jailed for one year on multiple counts of usury.

An unremarkable hoodlum, he was described by informants at the time as a mob member, bookmaker, and social club operator.

He had repeatedly been arrested, indicted, and convicted for a variety of charges over the years including vehicular homicide (underdetermined jail term), robbery (5 to 10 years), bookmaking (convicted twice), shylocking (one year), and twice for criminal contempt (30 days in jail each time).

He served many jail terms.

In 1984, Philly Cigars died suddenly in Suffolk County where he had always plied his “trade."

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Felice (Philly Cigars) Vizzari

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Felice (Philly Cigars) Vizzari

Often Imitated. Never Duplicated. Button Guys of The New York Mafia...There's Only One!

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