A warmhearted safety guard — who was a beloved fixture in Brooklyn’s tight-knit Italian neighborhood — was recognized because the sufferer randomly overwhelmed to demise, allegedly by a sadistic madman, exterior a subway station this week, The Submit has realized.
The mindless demise of Nicola Tanzi, 64, on Tuesday rapidly despatched waves of sorrow amongst his pals and fellow congregants on the two Roman Catholic church buildings he devoutly attended.
“Nicola is for all functions, probably the most congenial, pleasant people that you could possibly ever meet,” mentioned Anthony Mammoliti, deacon at St. Athanasius-St. Dominic’s Parish in Bensonhurst.
“When you had been his pal, that was one thing very, very highly effective. He’ll do something for his pals.”
Tanzi initially hailed from Italy and settled in New York Metropolis roughly twenty years in the past, his pals mentioned.
He labored as a safety guard close to the MetroTech station the place he allegedly held a door open for David Mazariegos, 25, a deranged criminal with a prolonged rap sheet.
Mazariegos dementedly confessed to disliking Tanzi’s usually type gesture and unleashed a brutal assault, stomping on the guard’s head as much as 15 instances, sources have mentioned.
The assault in the end claimed Tanzi’s life, leaving those that knew him in disbelief.
Carmine Racaro, who co-owns Flowers By Emil close to Tanzi’s condominium in Bay Ridge, mentioned the safety guard was initially from Bari, a picturesque port metropolis in southern Italy.
Tanzi, who lived alone, recurrently stopped by the flower store for espresso and did so one final time the day he died, Racaro mentioned.
“He was at all times type,” Racaro mentioned. “All the time kidding round. He was like household to us.”
Tanzi deliberate to retire subsequent yr from his tough safety guard gig and spend his golden years on the flower store, Racaro mentioned.
“He mentioned he needed to return assist us out right here,” the florist mentioned.
Phrase of Tanzi’s demise rippled by St. Dominic’s, the place he volunteered as an usher and attended Italian Mass on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Mammoliti mentioned.
The ladies who joined Tanzi for these companies “are beside themselves with grief, disbelief, and anger,” the deacon mentioned.
Fellow parishioners at St. Dominic’s mentioned Tanzi additionally attended Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen in Carroll Gardens, a neighborhood with lengthy ties to town’s Italian neighborhood.
Tanzi belonged to that church’s congregation of Maria SS Addolorata, based by immigrants from the city of Mola in his native Bari.
“He was very dedicated to the Blessed Mom, Our Woman of Sorrows, and he could be there on her feast day in September, and he would carry the statue within the procession,” Mammoliti mentioned.
Mammoliti mentioned he final noticed Tanzi two weeks in the past throughout a Sunday Italian Mass, the place his pal held the door open for him.
“He volunteered to be an usher to take up the gathering, and to help anybody to seek out their seats within the church, open doorways for the aged girls, the traditional good belongings you’d count on from individuals,” he mentioned.
“If I needed to sum up Nicola, I’d say he tried to stay his religion … If he had survived the assault, I can guarantee you from my interactions with Nicola, in time he would have forgiven his assailant.”
