Information #1

     My father, Henry Hill was born to an electrician, Henry Hill Sr., and a stay-at-home mother, Carmela Costa Hill on June 11, 1943. He lived in Brooklyn with his other eight siblings, and when he reached the age of eleven-years-old, he needed to find a job to contribute to the finances of his family. Near his home in Brownsville, Brooklyn, there was a Cabstand owned by a man who intrigued my father greatly. So, when he was told to find a job after-school, he chose to apply for a job working for Paul Vario, a big-time mobster, at his Cabstand. Dad got the job and began working under one of Paul Vario's closest assets and friends, James Burke [1]. Dad loved all the cars, jewelry power, and suits that when in and out of the Cabstand, but the object that Hill was fascinated by most, was the respect the men had for one another. Dad's mom was thrilled that her son had gotten a job working for a fellow Sicilian, like herself. After his mother approved of his job, he decided to work at the Cabstand full-time and dropped out of school at the young age of fourteen years old. Unfortunately, his father found out and would beat him severely, but dad never quit his job with Vario. In fact, his father's abuse only pushed him further and further towards the men that looked after him. What he was not fully aware of at the time, was that his boss's, Vario and Burke, were a part of the infamous Lucchese Crime family, and would eventually end up as an associate like themselves [2]. The Lucchese crime family was known for gambling, extortion, drug trafficking, Airport hijackings, and murder. The family-owned a lot of unions which meant they had power over the political and economic men and women in New York. In no time at all, what started as a simple Cabstand job, turned into a job with the most notorious crime family in the Big Apple [3].

[1] "Who was Henry Hill? Everything You Need to Know."

[2] Pileggi

[3] Gonzalez