Danny Greene

Daniel John Patrick ‘Danny’ Greene was an Irish American mobster and associate of Cleveland mobster John Nardi during a gang war during the 1970s.

Greene gained power first in a local chapter of the Longshoremen’s Association, where he was elected president in the early 1960s. Greene pushed into Cleveland rackets and began competing with the Mafia for control of the city. He set up his own outfit called the Celtic Club. After being forced from the teamsters he began acting as an enforcer for mobster Alex ‘Shondor’ Birns. Competing gangsters set off dozens of bombs, many successful.

He became viewed as a threat by other crime figures, including Birns. The relationship between Greene and Birns soured.

Birns put out a contract on Greene, but despite many attempts could not kill him. Greene retaliated. On March 29, 1975 Birns was killed in an explosion attributed to Greene. On May 12, 1975 an explosion destroyed Greene’s building, but he was unhurt. A second, more powerful, bomb failed to explode. So began the war between the Licavoli crime family and Greene’s Celtic Club.

Alex ‘Shondor’ Birns death car.
In 1976, 36 bombs exploded around the Cleveland area. It’s said Greene killed at least eight of the Mafia hit men sent to assassinate him. Greene played up the stories of the Mafia’s failed assassination attempts. His bravado and flamboyance added to his aura of invincibility.

On May 17, 1977, Greene’s longtime ally John Nardi was killed by a bomb. On October 6, 1977, Greene left an office building and approached his car. The automobile parked next to his exploded, killing Greene instantly. Danny Greene’s murder started a crime crackdown.

‘Kill the Irishman’ is a 2011 film starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Christopher Walken, and Val Kilmer.

Hitman Ray Ferritto flipped and 22 convictions were made in relation to Greene’s death. It decimated the mob in Cleveland.