Results tagged “cash”

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.

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."

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.

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.

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).

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."

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.)

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.

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.

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....

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...

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...

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...