A Mob bookie and loan shark who carried a hard wooden rod to help collect debts, Nick “The Stick” Lococo worked for the administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley of Bridgeport.
Nick lived right at the edge of Bridgeport in Chinatown and belonged to the Outfit’s Chinatown Crew. From 1997 to 2002 he managed a long-running city program called “Hired Truck.” City Hall outsourced its hauling work to private sector hired trucks on a corrupt pay-to-play basis. A number of the trucking firms hired were run by Daley pals from Bridgeport.
Contractors paid bribes for the work and then were paid boatloads of money to haul loads for the city. But often they did next to nothing at all. Their trucks would sit, and sit. For hours.
In addition to paying bribes for favored treatment Hired Truck contractors tended to be generous in their campaign contributions to the Mayor and his allies. They also tended to purchase their insurance from the Mayor’s brother John. Of Bridgeport.
Of the 49 people charged in Hired Truck, 33 had worked for the City of Chicago. The only one of the 49 not convicted was Nick “The Stick.”
There was a reason for that.
Lococo had been charged in late 2004 with fraud several years prior, when he dealt himself into Hired Truck to the tune of $90,000 a year. As a general foreman for the city’s transportation department, Lococo wasn’t allowed to have an ownership stake in any company contracting with the program. That wouldn’t do, according to the tale told by prosecutors.
The feds said a middleman struck a deal on Nick’s behalf with the owner of another trucking firm in the program, who would disguise Nick’s truck as one of his and funnel related Hired Truck proceeds back to Nick. In return he’d get a bigger serving of his own from the same gravy train. Which Nick of course could arrange. Neat and clean.
So, Nick was one more guy on the hook, indicted by federal prosecutors over Hired Truck. But then there was something else.
If you’re a Mob manager it’s never good to be wondering if one of your crew might rat you out, and the bosses. So it’s not happy-time when reporters are asking a federal prosecutor if your guy is going to be a cooperative witness in a criminal prosecution. Yet those questions were being asked about Nick after his Hired Truck charges. And along with bland denials by the feds, getting ink.
Then it got even worse for Nick. A Teamsters Union probe included allegations he’d solicited bribes from members of Local 726 who sought city jobs or who already worked for the city but wanted juicy overtime pay for snow removal work. This didn’t lead to charges. But again, news coverage raised questions.
Was The Horse Bribed?
Somehow Nick had an accident.
He liked to ride horses, was the thing.
Shortly after being indicted in connection with Hired Truck, Nick “The Stick” was out riding. It was southwest of Chicago in Monee. In a big field. Suddenly his steed took off at a hard gallop. And then just as suddenly, stopped short.
Nick was thrown from the saddle, injured badly, and died soon thereafter. The service was at St. Jerome’s in Bridgeport. He would be buried where guys like him often were, at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in west suburban Hillside.
It was unclear if anyone had bribed the horse.
Better Government For Whom?
In helping to run Hired Truck for the Daley Administration, Nick “The Stick” Lococo was in distinguished company. City of Chicago workers who collected bribes from contractors seeking Hired Truck work included John “Quarters” Boyle, and a top Water Department official named Donald Tomczak.
Boyle had previously done time on an embezzlement rap for stealing almost four million dollars – mostly in nickels, dimes, and quarters – as an employee of the Illinois Tollway Authority. Boyle also participated in a political action committee that worked to support Mayor Richard M. Daley and his preferred candidates. It was called Citizens For Better Government. A co-chairman was a city worker with an earlier conviction for vote fraud.
As for Tomczak, he took $400,000 in dirty money to grease the wheels for favored Hired Truck contractors. Boyle got seven years, Tomczak 47 months.
What Was Dumped There…?
When Hired Truck haulers did have loads to empty they often dumped them at the old Stearns Quarry in Bridgeport. Starting in 1836, limestone from the quarry was used to help build Chicago. Then for many years it was a dump. Now it’s part of a nicely landscaped piece of Bridgeport called Henry C. Palmisano Nature Park. It opened in 2009. Part of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s city beautification campaign, it was named after a local nature enthusiast who ran an outdoors store.
You can stand on a hill of nicely turfed-over refuse and see the downtown skyline and the active view of Interstate 55. The whole park’s design is state of the art. The quarry has become a serene pond at a lower elevation. It’s reached by a lovely walkway. In the park is also built-in exercise equipment. Ex-convicts of the political class and others stride purposefully on the paths.
Steps from the park’s northern tip on Halsted is the Taipei Cafe. Try the oyster omelette, the plum-flavored fried sweet potato, and the braised pork over rice. For dessert, stroll east a few short blocks to nab a limoncello-cream Panettone off the shelf from Gio’s, at 27th and Lowe.
By all means if you’re in Chicago you should come to Bridgeport and enjoy Henry C. Palmisano Nature Park.
Just don’t forget the real nature of the place.