Stomping Ground: Growing Up On the Streets of Greenwich Village

by Dom Perruccio, Charles Messina (Contributor)

Dom Perruccio was a popular, outgoing kid raised on the narrow, winding streets of Greenwich Village. He had many choices growing up in the stay on the street, stay in school, do nothing with your life, or do something. Those choices involved strict rules and learned codes of behavior to keep him from getting killed or arrested in a world of gang culture and hoodlum mentality. In this blisteringly honest coming-of-age narrative, Don, along with co-writer and fellow Greenwich Village native Charles Massena, explains how he survived the darker side of Greenwich Village, a place generally depicted as a bohemia for artists, non-conformists, and vagabonds. He painstakingly exposes the free-spirited Shangri-La—recalling the 1969 gay rights Stonewall uprising, the 1976 Washington Square riot, and recurring, clandestine Mafia hits. In this sobering memoir of a life lived in the street and on the edge, Don divulges that Johnny, a powerful figure in the neighborhood and an embodiment of all that a life of crime had to offer, came into and corrupted his family. He turned their normal existence into a life of crime, lies, and deceit. When his mother died in 1993, a resurrected Don says, “That was the toughest time of my life. Losing my mother tore me apart. The one thing that gave me the strength to survive losing her was the birth of my daughter, Vanessa. I had to keep it together. I had to be a father.”

186 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2020

About the author

The book details Perruccio’s upbringing in the rough and tumble Italian American neighborhood of the South Village in the 1970s and 80s. Through various anecdotes and stories, focusing primarily on the influence of a criminal culture on his early life, Perruccio provides an insider’s look at the violent ways and strict codes of honor that ruled the lower Manhattan streets of his youth. It also includes his struggles with alcohol and relationships, as well as the salvation of his mother’s love and devotion.

The uniqueness of the co-author’s connection also makes Stomping Ground a standout of personal storytelling. Upon commencing their collaboration, Perruccio and Messina knew that they were both from “The Neighborhood”, having grown up just blocks away from one another, albeit nearly a generation apart. However, unbeknownst to the writers, there was another connection between the two of them that went beyond geography. They were practically family! Messina’s cousin and Perruccio’s brother had been married! This unbelievable discovery and coincidence only strengthened their resolve to complete Stomping Ground. Itmade for an even stronger, more open creative experience between the authors, the result of which is a book of greater truth and insight.

With Messina’s guidance, Perruccio revisits his boyhood experiences, relating how bad influences threatened to destroy his life, and tracing his personal journey and transition from a wily NYC street kid to a responsible son, husband, and father, against the backdrop of a violent Mob influenced environment and an ever-changing American culture.

Whether you’re from “The Neighborhood,” or grew up in a neighborhood, or ever grew up at all, Stomping Ground is a must-read memoir of misspent youth and mastered maturity.