Mysterious Blinking Device Found on Staten Island Home Tied to Gambino Ex-Husband, Police Inspect

Christina Liverano awoke at 3 a.m. on a Thursday in January, her heart pounding as she peered out the window of her Staten Island home. Outside, a strange object blinked ominously on her stoop, its green light casting an eerie glow. The 40-year-old mother of two children, aged 11 and 13, froze. The package, wrapped in white tape and humming with what she assumed was a ticking mechanism, was no ordinary gift. It was a message—possibly a threat—from her ex-husband, Mark Liverano, a low-level associate of the Gambino crime family. "I'm still recovering," she told the Daily Mail. "I woke up earlier than usual and looked outside, and I saw this blinking device on my stoop and immediately called the police." The device was later identified as non-threatening by NYPD bomb experts, but the terror it ignited in Christina was real. "It was horrible," she said. "I am recovering from the most horrible day of my life."

The incident came just weeks after Christina filed for divorce, a decision that had already set off a cascade of chaos. Mark Liverano, 58, had been arrested in December on charges including aggravated harassment, stalking, and extortion. Yet even behind bars, he was allegedly waging a campaign to rekindle the marriage. "He has been begging me to get back together from behind bars," she said. "He sent me two bouquets of flowers today after this incident, one for me and one for my daughter. It's crazy. It became a really toxic relationship." The flowers, delivered hours after the bomb scare, were accompanied by a note that read: "Happy Valentine's Day, I miss you, love always Mark."

The package was just one in a string of unsettling events. Christina recounted how Mark had allegedly threatened to shoot her and her children with an AR-15, leading to his arrest. "He said, 'I will come to your house and blow up your head with my AR-15, and your kids' head with my AR-15 also,'" she recalled, describing the moment as "the most terrifying phone call of my life." His threats extended beyond words. "Several restaurant owners in Staten Island have approached me to say, 'your husband called, he knows you're here, and you have to leave.' It happened to me four times," she said. "He is very, very jealous. He doesn't want me talking to anyone, he doesn't understand we're getting divorced. He's very possessive."

Christina's ordeal has been compounded by the specter of her husband's mob ties. Mark Liverano, a man with a violent history, was once charged with manslaughter for shooting a bouncer to death. Yet, when asked about her husband's alleged connections to the Gambino family, she shrugged. "I thought it was just a bunch of old guys hanging out, reminiscing about the old days," she said. "I didn't think stuff like this still really went on." The reality, however, has been far more sinister. "I had to rethink his past after several incidents left me feeling terrified," she admitted.

The couple's relationship had begun with a collision—literally. Christina and Mark met by chance in the parking lot of a tanning salon when she crashed her Porsche into a sign. "He insisted that I give him my phone number, and when I refused, he said, 'I know where you live anyway, and I know where you work out, so I'll see you around,'" she recalled. The flirtation escalated, leading to a "dream wedding" at the exclusive River Café in Manhattan. "It was like a dream come true," she said, "because I was married once before and I went through a very difficult divorce. He was my knight in shining armor when he came along."

But dreams can sour. Christina, a PhD candidate, and Mark, who spent most of his life in prison, had grown apart. "He wanted more of a party lifestyle and I wanted a business and a serious lifestyle," she said. Their final break came in December, when she filed for divorce, only for Mark to launch a relentless campaign to sabotage her. "He was refusing to allow it to end," she said. "He would wait for me outside, as I was getting my nails done, demanding to talk to me." The tension spilled into the streets of Staten Island. When the Daily Mail visited the property last week, the house and surrounding area remained taped off, a ghost of the family that once lived there.

Mark Liverano is currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, facing a nine-count indictment that includes charges of stalking, extortion, and weapon possession. His legal team, led by Joseph Corozzo Jr., a lawyer with ties to the Gambino family, has drawn scrutiny from prosecutors, who argue Corozzo should be removed from the case. Meanwhile, Christina continues to navigate the fallout, determined to move forward. "I had a whole other life before him," she said. "I want to continue my life in peace. I want to continue my professional career, my education. I think there's been enough damage as point. And I wish him the best."

The story of Christina Liverano is not just a tale of a fractured marriage—it's a glimpse into the shadowy undercurrents of the Gambino crime family and the dangers that come with being entangled in its web. For Christina, the battle is far from over. As she rebuilds her life, the streets of Staten Island remain a reminder of the violence and terror that once threatened to consume her.