October 6, 1977
An Irish-American mobster who gave away green pens, had a green office with a green rug, flew the Irish flag outside his home and named his gang the Celtic Club, Danny Greene saw himself as a modern-day Celtic warrior, a Brian Boru or Cuchulain from legend. And together with another independent working outside the purview of the mob, John Nardi, he went to war with the Cleveland Mafia and blew the city apart.
To some in Greene’s home turf of Collinwood on the east side of Cleveland, he was a hero, the Collinwood Robin Hood, who would distribute turkeys and hams on Christmas and Easter and never let a local family go hungry. But that was only one side of the complicated Greene. He was also a union leader who embezzled money from the Longshoreman Union’s coffers, was a known FBI informant and tried to take control of the Cleveland rackets, no matter what the cost.
The local Cosa Nostra was not giving up without a fight, but for long time they didn’t seem to be equal to the task of eliminating him. Every hitman they sent after Greene came back having failed, if they came back at all. There was an aura about the guy, a certain mystique, and it seemed to be growing. Greene didn’t avoid the mob—he publicly taunted them, daring them to bring it on.
The story is told of how Greene confronted a branch of the Hell’s Angels as they tried to set up shop in his neighbourhood. He entered the dilapidated hangout with a lit stick of dynamite by way of illustration. If the bike gang caused any trouble, Greene promised, he would blow them to kingdom come—hideout and all. He then removed the fuse from the dynamite, and walked away.
Every day that Greene survived, every moment that he went against the status quo—blowing up his enemies as he did so—the prestige of the Cleveland family suffered. The situation became so dire that families from other parts of the country offered to send over help if the Cleveland mob could not tend to its own backyard. Greene just seemed to be invincible.
But he wasn’t, of course. Finally in May of 1977 Greene’s partner John Nardi was killed—by a bomb, naturally enough. Then on October 6 of that year Greene met his own end. Exiting a dentist’s office, he got into his car just as the automobile next to his exploded. Losing his legs and an arm, he died instantly.
However, the death of Danny Greene initiated an investigation that brought down the top players of Cleveland’s Mafia and eventually put a dent in La Cosa Nostra nationwide. Though Greene was no longer around to see it, he and Nardi had beaten the mob.