While they were sitting at the table, the maître d'hôtel accidentally poured wine on Phyllis' dress, then tried to dry it with a dirty rag.
Later that night, Vario sent two carloads of men armed with pipes and baseball bats to assault the waiters after the restaurant had closed.
[2] Vario's junkyard in Canarsie, Brooklyn is where he reportedly oversaw criminal operations that included hijackings, loansharking, bookmaking and fencing stolen property.
His associates were reputed to have been involved in criminal dealings at John F. Kennedy Airport, extorting money from shippers and airlines in exchange for labor peace.
In 1965, mobster Jake Columbo died, and Vario quickly took control of his illegal gambling operations in the Cedarhurst and Inwood sections of Long Island.
[2] In late 1965, Long Island officials arrested Vario along with eight others and charged them with controlling a gambling ring.
[2] Months later in June 1966, Nassau County officials arrested Vario and seventeen others and charged them with running a bookmaking operation.
[2] Vario was also involved in legitimate businesses that included a flower shop, a bar, a restaurant, and a taxi stand.
[8][9] In 1970, Vario was cited for contempt of court and was sent to the Nassau County Correctional Facility on Long Island for seven months.
[2] On April 7, 1972, law enforcement placed an electronic listening device inside Vario's trailer at the junkyard and started gathering evidence against him.
He had allegedly advised Frank Heitman, a convicted gambler, to flee to Florida to avoid testifying to a grand jury in Nassau County.
To arrest Vario, police had to chase his car for 20 minutes through the streets of Brooklyn before he finally stopped for them.
He had served as underboss in the Lucchese crime family until the new boss Anthony Corallo had replaced Vario with Salvatore Santoro.
He and co-conspirators were charged with extorting over $350,000 from air cargo companies at JFK airport, threatening them with labor problems if they did not pay.