The call came in August from Franny Rizzo, Frank's son, the former city councilman. Rizzo's widow, Carmella, had died at the age of 101. The family wanted to sell the house, which is itself a piece of controversial history: A firestorm erupted when Rizzo bought the 8,000-square-foot house for 90 grand in 1973; the mayor's salary was only $40,000 a year. He somehow managed to finance $410,000 worth of upgrades to the house, including a walk-in fridge in the basement that, when Romani opened it, was still full of what he assumed was victory champagne from the 1970s.