Bad Idea Jeans: Telling People About $75K in Cash You Keep at Home

A little follow-up to the story about the 80-year-old woman who was robbed of tens of thousands of dollars from her Lower East Side apartment. Earlier this month, Connie Nieves had let in two men posing as flower deliverymen (note to self: Delivery men rarely work in pairs when they only have one dozen roses), who then tied her up and ransacked her apartment of the cash.

Nieves said, "How can I not open the door? They have flowers, they say [my husband sent] them to me, and, besides, they were young kids." She suspects that the bakery where her husband, 65-year-old Mike Rodriguez, mentioned the cash and their plans to open a bodega or restaurant, sent the thieves. Nieves kept $15,000 in a drawer, $15,000 (for her burial) in a purse, and $43,000 in another bag, hanging under some coats - all money that Rodriguez was supposed to put into the bank. The police are looking for suspects in the 20s and 30s.

Today, Nieves says about her husband, "There's no love between us." She added to the Daily News, "I don't go out, he's the one who likes to go out. He's got a big mouth."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on November 12, 2007 12:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Elderta

You still get no lollipop.

ihateallbrokers

ROTFL!

ihateallbrokers

OMG!

ihateallbrokers

LOL!

Toby von Meistersinger

Given the fact that there is a bank on practically every block in the city, there is no reason to keep large amounts of money hidden at home unless the money was gotten through means that were not kosher, so you wouldn't want to have it in the bank.

JacqueMehoff

her first suspicion should have been, Flower deliveries in the projects???

yes, this wasn't the projects but pretty damn close.

wait, I'm wrong, the husband is one of them romantic types, yeah, that's it.

Rocknrope

Did she also yell at her husband, "You clumsy poop!" (see Daily News pic for reference)

Karen

Beleive it or not, I used to work with a woman, who not only routinely carried around in her purse, about $900 in cash, and $1500 in travelers' checks, but also wore at least 20 gold necklaces around her neck (these necklaces were pretty grody looking too, I don't think she ever took them off for cleaning, and a shower didn't seem to be doing it), 6 or 7 gold bracelets on one arm, 5 watches on the other arm, and at least 2 rings on each finger. She fell once, and the base of one of her fingers was badly gashed by the pressure of the rings cutting into it. She also got mugged one day, and good thing she had on a heavey coat, because if someone had seen all that gold she was wearing,they'd probably have broken her neck and arms to get it off her. As it was, she had her purse stolen. Believe it or not the cops got it all back! Did she ever clean out her purse, and get a bank account? Nope. She said she didn't trust banks, and all her money was either in her purse, or at home-she told everyone at work this. I expected to hear at any time, that her apartment had been broken into and she'd been found dead. So far, it hasn't happened.

Novanglus

If there's no love between them, why would she think her husband would be sending her flowers?

MarygraceNYC

My first thought was the husband was in on it. No love lost between these two.

lemon

You have a drawer specifically for dirty underwear? I hope that money is "laundered" before the thief spends it! (Applause)

midtown

Over-under has husband arrested on Friday.

RoDogg

I keep around $25,000 in my dirty underwear drawer, just in case anyone wanted to know. Let me know if you want my address.

Dave Hogarty

From yesterday's stories on the heist, I love how Nieves started berating her husband on the spot when he got home, in front of the cops.