Buddy’s Providence was a town for sale, federal prosecutors said, where even routine dealings with City Hall – such as applying for jobs or bidding on contracts – meant greasing a few palms. Cianci’s political life was cut short by criminal charges and a prison term for corruption. He passed away Thursday morning, his employer WLNE and friend Artin Coloian said.
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June 24, 2002: Cianci is convicted of one count of racketeering conspiracy.
DONNIS: Cianci said identity politics were not a big part of his political success.
Vincent “Buddy” Cianci was more than a wisecracking political rogue or the larger-than-life mayor of Providence. “And I’m running”, he said at the time.
IAN DONNIS, BYLINE: The 74-year-old Cianci was a picture of jagged contrasts.
Elorza defeated Cianci in the mayor’s race in 2014. Everyone who studied at Brown in the ’90s, as I did, heard the same rumors: He had arrived at a frat party on a horse; he had married a woman named Nancy Ann and made her Nancy Ann Cianci. The former mayor of Providence, R.I. was a tightly-wound bundle of contradictions.
In fact, Cianci died after he was rushed from the set of a local ABC affiliate to a hospital Wednesday night after suffering severe stomach pains, the station said.
With the support of civic and business leaders, he transformed the city into a waterfront tourist destination replete with gondolas and ornate walkways and bridges, while also trumpeting its historical sites and its world-class educational and cultural institutions. Years later, he went to prison for corruption.
Cianci was forced to resign from the mayor’s office twice after being convicted of felonies.
His next two terms were marked by reductions in crime and the development of downtown amenities such as a popular skating rink and the high-end Providence Place mall, which opened in 1999.
He started his own line of pasta sauce and managed to have it put on display in the window of Cartier on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
“Buddy Cianci always got behind whatever charitable or non-prof efforts we were doing – in Providence and throughout Rhode Island”.
During that time, he used his outsized personality to sell his city – and himself – to a national audience. May Almighty God be good to him, forgive his sins, and reward the many good things he accomplished during his time on earth.
He unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and reflected on his actions with a blend of remorse and bravado.
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Although no cause of death has been confirmed, Cianci was diagnosed with what he called “curable” colon cancer in January 2014.
