A much-loved security guard, Nicola Tanzi, 64, who was a treasured member of Brooklyn’s Italian community, has been identified as the victim brutally murdered outside a subway station earlier this week.
The shocking news of Tanzi’s death on Tuesday has left friends and congregants of both Roman Catholic churches he attended in deep mourning.
“Nicola was genuinely one of the kindest and friendliest individuals I’ve ever known,” remarked Anthony Mammoliti, a deacon from St. Athanasius St. Louis Church, part of the Dominic Parish in Bensonhurst.
“If you counted him as a friend, it meant a lot. He would go above and beyond for those he cared about.”
Originally from Italy, friends say Tanzi moved to New York City around 20 years ago.
He worked as a security guard near the Metro Tech station, where he reportedly held the door for 25-year-old David Mazariegos, a man with a troubling history.
Sources indicate that Mazariegos found Tanzi’s typically pleasant demeanor irritating and confessed to violently attacking him, stomping on his head numerous times.
This senseless act ultimately took Tanzi’s life and left his friends and family in disbelief.
Carmine Lacaro, a co-owner of a flower shop close to Tanzi’s home in Bay Ridge, shared that Tanzi hailed from Bari, a beautiful coastal city in southern Italy.
Lacaro mentioned that Tanzi lived alone and would often stop by the flower shop for espresso. On the day of his death, he requested one final cup.
“He was just a really nice guy,” Lacaro noted. “Always joking around, almost like family to us.”
According to Lacaro, Tanzi had planned to leave his job as a security guard next year and spend more time at the flower shop to help out.
Word of Tanzi’s passing reached St. Dominic’s Church, where he served as an usher and attended Mass multiple times a week. Mammoliti remarked that women from the congregation are “numbed by sadness, disbelief, and anger.”
Many in the community also noted Tanzi’s regular attendance at the Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen churches in Carroll Gardens, which are affiliated with the city’s Italian heritage.
Tanzi was committed to the Marian Guards d’Ororata church, which was established by immigrants from his hometown of Mora in Bari.
“He had a deep devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows and was active during her feast day in September, carrying the statue in the procession,” Mammoliti said.
The last time Mammoliti saw Tanzi was a couple of weeks ago during Sunday Mass, where a friend helped him through the door.
“He would help with collections, guide everyone to their seats in church, and assist elderly women with doors—all the good deeds you would expect from someone like him,” he shared.
In Mammoliti’s view, “If there was one thing that summed up Nicola, it was his dedication to his beliefs. If he had survived, I truly believe he would have eventually found it in himself to forgive his attacker.”
