Aiello, the fifth of six children, was born on West 68th Street, Manhattan, the son of parents, Frances (née Pietrocova), a seamstress, and Daniel Louis Aiello, a laborer, who deserted his children and wife, who had lost her eyesight and become legally blind. For many years, Aiello publicly condemned his father but the two reconciled in 1993, although Aiello harbors a resentment of his father's conduct. He moved to the South Bronx when he was seven, and later attended James Monroe High School.