Beloved churchgoing Italian security guard ID’d as victim randomly beaten to death by NYC madman

A warmhearted security guard — who was a beloved fixture in Brooklyn’s tight-knit Italian community — was identified as the victim randomly beaten to death by a sadistic madman outside a subway station this week, The Post has learned.

The senseless death of Nicola Tanzi, 64, on Tuesday quickly sent waves of sorrow among his friends and fellow congregants at the two Roman Catholic churches he devoutly attended.

“Nicola is for all purposes, one of the most congenial, friendly individuals that you could ever meet,” said Anthony Mammoliti, deacon at St. Athanasius-St. Dominic’s Parish in Bensonhurst.

“If you were his friend, that was something very, very powerful. He’ll do anything for his friends.”

Tanzi originally hailed from Italy and settled in New York City roughly two decades ago, his friends said.

He worked as a security guard near the MetroTech station where he allegedly held a door open for David Mazariegos, 25, a deranged crook with a lengthy rap sheet.

Mazariegos dementedly confessed to disliking Tanzi’s typically kind gesture and unleashed a brutal assault, stomping on the guard’s head up to 15 times, sources have said.

The attack ultimately claimed Tanzi’s life, leaving those who knew him in disbelief.

Carmine Racaro, who co-owns “Flowers By Emil” near Tanzi’s apartment in Bay Ridge, said the security guard was originally from Bari, a picturesque port city in southern Italy.

Tanzi, who lived alone, regularly stopped by the flower shop for espresso and did so one last time the day he died, Racaro said.

“He was always kind,” Racaro said. “Always kidding around. He was like family to us.”

The kindly Tanzi planned to retire next year from his rough security guard and spend his golden years at the flower shop, Racaro said.

“He said he wanted to come help us out here,” the florist said.

Word of Tanzi’s death rippled through St. Dominic’s, where he volunteered as an usher and attended Italian mass on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Mammoliti said.

The women who joined Tanzi for those services “are beside themselves with grief, disbelief, and anger,” the deacon said.

Fellow parishioners at St. Dominic’s said Tanzi also attended Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen in Carroll Gardens, a neighborhood with long ties to the city’s Italian community.

Tanzi belonged to that church’s congregation of Maria SS Addolorata, founded by immigrants from the town of Mola in his native Bari.

“He was very devoted to the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows, and he would be there on her feast day in September and he would carry the statue in the procession,” Mammoliti said.

Mammoliti said he last saw Tanzi two weeks ago during a Sunday Italian Mass, where his friend held the door open for him.

“He volunteered to be an usher to take up the collection, and to assist anyone to find their seats in the church, open doors for the elderly women, the normal good things you’d expect from people,” he said.

“If I had to sum up Nicola, I’d say he tried to live his faith… If he had survived the attack, I can assure you from my interactions with Nicola, in time he would have forgiven his assailant.”