Nick Nuccio was the son of Sicilian immigrants who were among the earliest settlers of Ybor City, an immigrant-founded neighborhood in Tampa, Florida originally based on the cigar industry.

Like most Sicilians who arrived in Ybor City in the late 1800s, Nuccio's mother was from the town of Santo Stefano Quisquina, while his father was from nearby Palermo.

[1] The many Cuban, Spanish, and Sicilian residents of Ybor City were often referred to as "Latins" by Tampa's "Anglo" community, and as the disparate immigrants worked, went to school, and socialized together in their largely self-sufficient neighborhood, they formed a common identity strong enough that their descendants still call themselves by that term over a century later.

For several subsequent decades, his name was visible on sidewalks, park benches, seawalls, and virtually every other piece of concrete laid by Hillsborough County during his long tenure.

[6] While in the mayor's office, Nuccio continued his enthusiasm for public works projects and strove to keep his neighborhood constituents happy by personally helping to solve problems, believing that government's role was to "have a positive influence in people's lives.

[6] After lunch, Nuccio often enjoyed a short nap at home, after which the mayor would finally arrive at his downtown office, where he would stay late into the evening.

[6] During his 1959 reelection campaign, challenger Julian Lane depicted him as an old-fashioned machine-era politician and easily defeated the incumbent with a pledge of "honest government" and "sound business practices".