Upper East Side Thief is a Bank Robbing Fiend

A report is linking the man suspected of robbing 16 banks throughout the city this year to over 50 other hits across the country throughout the last two decades. Eric Manson has been pegged as the man who has robbed a number of banks in fancy east side neighborhoods around Manhattan as well as ones in Brooklyn and Queens starting in March. Manson was just let out of federal prison in 2007 after serving time for other robberies, including a dozen here in town he confessed to in 1998. He also committed 40 more in California in the '90s where he was known as the "change-maker bandit," asking tellers for change before demanding thousands in cash. Nowadays he simply passes cashiers a threatening note saying to give him hundreds of dollars. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly recently noted that banks have made themselves more vulnerable over the years by being open more hours and not having tellers behind glass.