D'Amico was born and raised in the Knickerbocker Village public housing tenement building where his uncle Alfred Embarrato, Cousin Anthony Mirra, cousin Richard Cantarella and fellow mobster Benjamin Ruggiero resided. He is also a cousin of Paul Cantarella, Frank Cantarella and Joseph Padavano. He was a close friend of New York Post Superintendent of Deliveries, Robert Perrino and Anthony Mirra. In the 1970s he met undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone, but did not suffer the vicious aftermath as his cousin Mirra did. D'Amico is not to be confused with Gambino crime family Capo John D'Amico, to whom he is not related, nor is he related to expert sports analyst Joseph D`Amico.