In September 2017, the elder Zottola was walking near his Bronx home when an assailant clubbed him over the head, sources said.
Two months later, a gun-wielding thug tried unsuccessfully to force Sylvester Zottola into a car at Meagher Avenue and the Throgs Neck Expressway, sources added.
The most vicious run-in came on a late December night when Sylvester Zottola walked in on three burglars ransacking his home.
One burglar pulled a knife and stabbed Zottola in the neck, putting him in critical condition in Jacobi Medical Center.
Before this he was shaping up to be the real Teflon Don.
I invoke my right under the 5th amendment of the United States constitution and decline to answer the question.