Did you realize that Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is the route of choice for colorful Boston mobsters? Last summer, William Coyman, 75, had a heart attack on a Penn Station train platform when he got off an Amtrak train from Boston. The AP reports, "As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification. Inside, they found the stuff that "Law & Order" episodes are made of: $179,980 in cash, bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags." Chung chung! more ›

An airline passenger going through security at JFK airport last night was relieved of $5,000 cash by a quick-fingered TSA officer, authorities say. A TSA spokesperson tells us the employee has been working for the TSA for over four years, and she's been identified as Alexandra Schmid. She was allegedly caught on surveillance camera taking the cash from a passenger's jacket as it moved along the X-Ray conveyor belt at the A checkpoint in Terminal Four. more ›

There's nothing more annoying than paying for goods and services with legal tender. We prefer to use a rectangle of plastic that creates enough cognitive dissonance to enable us to forget the whole thing happened until the end of the month. Finally, a brave consumer has fired the first shot in the war against bigoted cash-only establishments in the Lower East Side. Reader @iambovine passes along this photo outside the bar Marshall Stack this afternoon. Good luck sleeping tonight, you casholes! more ›

More details have trickled out about Osama bin Laden's demise: He had 500 Euros (about US $742-745) and two phone numbers sewn into the clothes he was wearing when Navy SEALs raided his compound. According to Politico, those were "sure signs that he was prepared to flee his compound at a moment’s notice." more ›

People will do crazy things to avoid paying taxes, so add this one to the long list: Sewing $170,000 into underwear. The feds arrested a Queens woman last summer at JFK Airport for trying to enter the country without declaring the money. According to the Daily News, "Claire Abdeldaim's real estate booty consisted of 1,699 $100 bills," and a U.S. Customs agent told his supervisor, "We got a big one." more ›

Jessie Little, the 90-year-old Harlem resident who was mugged in his apartment building earlier this month, is getting some more holiday cheer. A day after getting $470 from an anonymous WCBS 2 viewer ($370 to replace his stolen money, plus another $100 from Santa), he got another $1,000 in cash and gift cards! The Daily News reports that Key Food "felt compelled to help Little after they read about the man's ordeal in the Daily News" (he was mugged after leaving a Key Food). Little, who was a cook for the merchant marines for 30 years, said, "I've been all over the world, and I had to come home to get robbed." more ›

A one night stand in Hell's Kitchen proved particularly unsatisfying when a thug stopped mid-coitus to rob his partner of a BlackBerry and $40. The two had just met and went back to the victim's place on 43rd Street near Ninth Avenue at 7:15 p.m., according to the Post's police blotter. They were going at it when all of a sudden the thief took out a knife, grabbed the 34-year-old victim's valuables and left. Before even finishing! Scant information on this one, unfortunately: no mention of the victim's gender or where the thief kept his knife (was he wearing a holster?). But then again, you might not want to reveal the juicy details to a cop either. more ›

The cash windfall from a major marijuana money-laundering ring has gone up in smoke. Investigators recently raided an apartment at 153 Mulberry Street (next to the Italian American Museum) and seized $1.1 million in cash believed to be profits from a large-scale hydroponic pot operation. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Daniel McGehean, the apartment's 32-year-old tenant, and Canadian national Richard Doyon, 37. (According to the Daily News, they also seized an incriminating photo of McGehean standing in a marijuana field.) more ›

Cops want your help finding a bald man who may have been involved in the killing of former Brighton Bazaar owner Vladimir Tolstykh last year. In March two hooded thugs beat the purveyor of salty salads and blini to death, stealing thousands of dollars and Russian candy, says the Daily News. His widow Rita, who’s taken over the Brighton Beach grocery, thinks it was an inside job. "Somebody knew the whole schedule—how it worked, what time he came in," she said. Now police have released surveillance footage of another man fleeing the scene and are offering a reward of $32,000 for tips leading to his arrest. Take a crack at it: call (800) 577-TIPS or report online. Video after the jump. more ›

The state's budget might be the least of Governor Paterson's monetary woes. New filings reveal that Paterson has just $620,000 in available cash to spend on the upcoming Democratic primary, while his likely rival Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has a whopping $12 million on hand. With Cuomo sitting on nearly 20 times as much money as Paterson, insiders are already saying the Governor doesn't stand a chance. "A governor with $600,000 on hand less than a year before the general election is a dead duck," said Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. more ›

According to everyone involved, yesterday’s gun buyback in the Bronx was a marvelous success! Four churches collected 1,216 firearms in a limited-time, no-questions-asked cahs4guns event. “In the fight against gun violence, everything helps, and I am proud that we were able to take so many guns out of circulation,” said Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. in a statement. Gun relinqhishers can use the money to feed their families and pay their mortgages—or just blow it all on drugs and knives. more ›

To deflect criticism from the massive bonuses it will soon pay out to employees, Goldman Sachs is considering expanding a program forcing top earners to give a percentage of their salaries to charity, the Times reports. more ›

A couple who found a wallet filled with $5,000 in cash at Bloomindale's returned it to its grateful owner. According to the Post, couple Sandi Castro and Bruce Migliaccio saw the wallet on a scarf display. Castro said, "I felt panicked for him and felt like I needed to get it back to him as soon as possible." They asked a store manager to put the wallet in a safe while they called American Express, which then called owner Robert Slatkin. They inititally refused his repeated offers of a reward, but they finally "relented and Slatkin gave the couple $300 and an open invitation for them to use the indoor pool in his posh Upper East Side apartment building -- a perk they won't be turning down." more ›

A nice story: One Wednesday, UPS driver John Piontkowski was driving and making deliveries in Randolph, NJ when he spotted a bank bag in the street—and inside was $5,200 in cash! The Daily Record reports, "Piontkowski found a Bank of America deposit slip in the bag and saw the money came from Stuyvesant Liquors in Jersey City." Without hesitating, Piontkowski headed to a Bank of America and turned over the money. The store owner Don Knaus were running errands and somehow lost track of the money; he was grateful when the bank called to say their money had been found. The couple later thanked Piontkowski in person—and with a "very nice" reward. more ›

This year's annual Halloween Parade will see more tricks than treats, as the NY Post reports that sponsors have been spooked by the recession and are holding back on their usual monetary support. more ›

Bloomberg News says that Americans are hoarding $3.5 trillion in cash, "giving money managers increasing confidence that the stock market rally under President Barack Obama will continue through the end of the year." One investor said, "There’s an enormous stockpile of liquidity on the sidelines. The reinvestment of cash could help fuel the market." And there's even smack-talking about some cautious investors, with one sniffing, "Many of the fund managers I talk to that have missed this rally or underplayed this rally are sitting with way too much cash." more ›

According to Newsday, "a robbery of cash and marijuana in Oceanside Friday developed into a melee involving four, police said, when the initial victim apparently tried to strike back by stealing an iPod." Seriously! Here's how it unraveled: Christopher Cagno, 20, allegedly demanded $160 cash and pot from Dylan Peitz, 18, on a street. Cagno managed to take the items and was fleeing in friend Christopher Haig's car—but the car was moving so slowly that "Peitz jumped partially through a window, grabbed Haig's iPod and tried to run." Naturally, Cagno and Haig chased Peitz and a fight broke out. Enter Peitz's girlfriend, Alyssa Reilly, 19, who introduced a knife and slashed at Cagno and Haig. All were arrested and charged with assault—Reilly faces additional charges of possession of a deadly weapon (the knife), Cagno has additional charges of robbery (the cash and pot) and drug possession (the pot) and Peitz has additional charges of petty larceny (the iPod theft) and possession of a deadly weapon (maybe the knife?). The four will be arraigned today in Hempstead. more ›

Last week, Inwood resident and schoolteacher Jason Holt was told by the Drug Enforcement Agency that his Inwood apartment was being targeted, so the feds put him up in a hotel for a little while. After that, the NY Times reports, "On Wednesday, the agents told him an arrest had been made and let him go home, but provided no details. At school Thursday morning, Mr. Holt checked the news online and got his answer." A cop, told by a drug dealer that there was $900,000 in the apartment's floor, was arrested for asking someone (who was a police informant) to help him "subdue" Holt with a stun gun and steal the cash. The news also explained why his apartment had been either broken into (the floors were torn up) or attracted odd activities (his lock's cylinder was stolen; a woman with young child said she left something there, etc). Holt, who said of apartment 4D, It seemed like a great find, a great deal," is now looking for a new place. more ›

Two years ago, we mentioned how Columbia students were being suckered by a scam artist couple into giving up cash. The "broken bottle" scam involved the couple bumping into a stranger and dropping a bottle--and then asking the stranger to pay them for the bottle's contents (vitamins for the "pregnant" wife). more ›

A new variation on the apartment rent in cash scam: The NY Post reports a woman was swindled out of $100,000 (meant for two apartments at 410 West 53rd Street) by the broker she met on Craigslist who "legitimately rented her a different Manhattan home two weeks before." Ah, the ol' reel them in and then scam them. The client says broker Leif Lopez showed her the apartments, which she planned to sublet to tourists. She signed contracts and paid in cash--because he said "he would give me a huge deal on the apartments"--but then Lopez never gave her the keys. Lopez, charged with grand larceny, is currently being held on $7,500 bail. The victim says, "I've been depressed since this happened to me. I lost all the money I had." more ›

The tabloids have caught wind of a bird smuggling operation uncovered by customs officials at JFK airport: For years now people have been sneaking Guyanese finches called Towa Towas into New York. The birds are used by Brooklyn’s Guyanese community for singing competitions; people place bets on two birds, and a judge decides which one has the lovlier song. (Here’s YouTube video of a Towa Towa singing.) more ›

When cops raided a suspected drug operation in Washington Heights last week, they found that the alleged dealers had a little business going on the side: a day care service. Police arrested Donald Crespo and Akwasiba Radellant not just for drug possession, but child endangerment because the fire alarms in the apartment were deactivated and pacifiers were dirty. more ›

If there is no such thing as bad publicity, then we suppose yesterday's Cash Tomato promotion was a resounding success - if a melee as people tried to grab money works for you. The event, which involved giving away $29 to individuals in honor of Leap Year - wait, make that $29 attached to tomatoes, resulted in a Union Square riot with one person hospitalized and police and paramedics on the scene. more ›

When a deal is too good to be true, remember, it might not be true - that it might be a nightmare. On Long Island, there have been two incidents where people are enticed by a Craigslist ad selling a Porsche, only for "sellers" to beat up and attempt to rob the potential buyers. Newsday reports that two Suffolk County residents were interested in buying a 2002 Porsche, which was listed on Craigslist for $44,000.... more ›

Brooklyn postal worker Michael Olivio was arrested by feds last week for stealing mail he was supposed to deliver when he suspected that cards contained cash or checks. After residents on his postal route began to complain that they were not receiving certain expected pieces of mail, postal inspectors began an elaborate investigation. First they mailed decoy greeting cards to establish that mail was indeed disappearing along Olivio's route. They followed that up by mailing... more ›

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... more ›

An 80-year-old woman was robbed of $75,000 by two men posing as flower delivery guys more than a week ago. The two men fooled the Lower East Side woman into letting them into her apartment by telling her they had a floral delivery for her, showing her a dozen roses. They then bound her with tape and ransacked her apartment. Connie Nieves said the thieves made off with her and her husband's life savings. The... more ›