Results tagged “money”

It's getting increasingly difficult to hide from the tax man in New York State, thanks to improved automation, more efficient use of third-party data and tougher disclosure laws. Tax revenue obtained through "enforcement actions" has increased 40 percent during the past six months, bringing in an extra $185 million, and crushing some small businesses along the way. In fact, the Empire State is getting so good at shaking down taxpayers that one analyst tells the Times other states "envy" New York!

They say he runs the city like a business, so it's only fitting that after a poorer-than-expected performance in last week's election, Mayor Bloomberg's campaign workers are afraid they won't get big bonuses this year. In past elections, the billionaire former bond trader and media mogul has paid out-of-pocket bonuses of as much as $400,000 — "a highly unusual perk in municipal politics, a world not typically associated with lavish pay," the Times reports. But after defeating Democratic rival Bill Thompson by just 4.6 percentage points, campaign workers are starting to worry about paltry bonuses.

This year (and last) the annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade was scaled back after sponsors were hit with budget cuts and donations slowed down. As of October 12th only three floats were expected (down from the normal 20).

Last year residents of a Perry Street townhouse, one that is home to Carrie Bradshaw in a fictional world, put up a chain and a sign threatening away any fans taking photos on the stoop. Since fans allegedly are ignoring the sign, they have added a new one. This time around it's attached to a money drop box, and asks if you take a photo, to donate to a charity for orphaned animals. Hear that Carrie fans? For every photo you take, and dollar you don't donate, you are killing kittens and puppies. VanishingNY spotted the new system, and calls for a new tax in the city: a Tourist & Yunnie Nuisance Tax.

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.

Amanda Ernst is dancing for pennies as the new editor of Mediabistro's Fishbowl NY. This morning she appeared on the Today Show with her financial guru, telling the tale of how she went from making $50K/year at Condé Nast to just $1,666/month (about $20K/year) at the house of Laurel Touby. Livin' the dream. Some tips: cut out your gym membership, New York Times subscription, and social life whilst earning extra bucks babysitting.

Pro tip for all you artists out there: make your work look exactly like a photograph and you will win cash prizes! The NY Times reports that 50-year-old Brooklyn painter Ran Ortner was awarded the grand prize of $250,000 last night at ArtPrize, a public competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Mayor Bloomberg continued to shock the political world by revealing he has spent about $65 million on his mayoral campaign so far—three times what his challenger, Democrat City Comptroller Bill Thompson has. Hey, if you're going to be the richest New Yorker—and 8th richest American—you've got to spend it somehow right?

Oh Brooklyn, you frugal little borough you. The Daily News reports that you are now one of the five most penny-pinching communities in America; one Crown Heights resident explaining, "People in Brooklyn know how to survive. We're resilient."

It's not just us city folk who appreciate the art institutes here. The New Yorker reports that Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, has received quite a generous donation from a neighbor of his Vermont house who passed away. They say, "Two years ago, when Lowry heard that a man named Michael H. Dunn, from the town of Derby, just across the lake from him, had dropped dead of a heart attack, and that his estate, in excess of ten million dollars, had been left to MOMA, he was flabbergasted."

A disgruntled New Yorker is suing the Bank of America for "1,784 billion, trillion dollars." It gets weirder: The suit, filed by Dalton Chiscolm last month, is being reviewed by the same federal judge who sentenced Bernard Madoff to a 150-year prison sentence. Judge Denny Chin has called the lawsuit "incomprehensible" and demanded that Chiscolm explain his claims, and elaborate on charges that he received "inconsistent information from a 'Spanish womn" reached by phone at the bank.

Leave it to starving artists to create a new kind of currency! The Brooklyn Torch Project consists of a group of creatives whose aim is to "create a local currency to benefit the local area businesses and artists" and "bring together both artist communities and immigrant communities in our area to improve integration of social groups and economies and boost our pride." The Daily News reports on the idea today, noting the Treasury Department is totally cool with people printing their own money in the U.S.; it will be subject to the same taxes as the dollar, and the exchange rate will be one to one (though "businesses might provide incentives for shoppers to spend money locally, ultimately raising the Torch's value"). The artists point out that there is a similar program in Ithaca, which began in 1991; “An Ithaca HOUR will generate 30 times more economic activity than [a dollar] will," meaning more money for the community. Expect to see Torch bucks being passed around Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bushwick by the Fall; currently the group is looking for a design to grace the bills, and you can help!

The High Line is now the most expensive oasis in the city. The NY Post reports that the park is expected to get $522,388 to $671,641 per acre for yearly maintenance and operations. Bryant Park used to be the priciest piece of land, spending around $479,166 per acre—and on average, city parks get $9,555 an acre. But even after getting $1 million of city (taxpayer) funds annually, the big news here is that the operators are definitely pushing through a "controversial new tax on neighborhood property owners so the managers can spend even more."

New York magazine's cover story this week is titled "Is Goldman Sachs Evil? Or Just Too Good?", giving the once-over to the investment bank that just reported $3.44 billion in second quarter profits less than half a year after receiving $10 billion in TARP money from the government. The feature by Joe Hagan examines the bailout, the culture, and the firm's relationship with D.C. Then there are quotes like this one from former "Sheriff of Wall Street" and Love Gov Eliot Spitzer—"If all we are getting are newly empowered and capital-rich hedge funds that benefit from market volatility, then we are not only rebuilding the same edifice, but we’re contributing to the underlying rot in our economy"—as well as one from GS's communications director, "The cult of the individual, which I think has been a disadvantage to so many of the firm’s competitors, really doesn’t exist here. The more you have acceptance, the easier it is to be effective." And another Wall Street veteran puts it this way: "The god is Goldman. You subjugate yourself to that god, and in return we will make you a gazillionaire."

Forget about cash cows, the Wildlife Conservation Society has informed us that the New York Aquarium has just launched a program that will allow visitors to get up close and personal with their sea lions... for a price.

It's summertime in the city, whether or not the weather's caught up yet, and it's likely you are currently sitting in a freezing cold air-conditioned office. Yesterday NY1's Pat Kiernan Twittered about a USA Today graphic that claimed "2/3 of Americans say air conditioning a 'necessity'," which actually seems slightly low.

Ugh, with the financial crisis totally shredding mommy and daddy's investment portfolio, many young adults in Hipsterland are being forced to find jobs. Times reporter Christine Haughney talked to some landlords and people in the real estate industry, who confirm the tragic trend: parents are cutting back on their contributions to rent and apartment down payments, in some cases eliminating their support entirely. Landlord Ernie DiGiacomo says that instead of getting checks from his tenants' parents, some of them are moving back in with their parents!

The Brooklyn Museum has been robbed! No, we're not talking about Albany, or a good old fashioned caper, rather a former payroll manager stole more than $620,000 from the institution. The NY Post reports that Dwight Newton, 40, siphoned the money into bank accounts he held with his wife. He "faces fraud charges for drafting 38 bogus electronic checks between April 2005 and December 2005, authorities said." As of now there's no evidence that his wife, Donna Tricarico, was involved. Though one might find it odd that the 49-year-old who just retired from the Brooklyn DA's Office where she was a detective took no notice of the extra $620K coming into their bank accounts. As for Newton, he had left the museum last summer to work for a non-profit called Action Against Hunger, where he was arrested. The Daily News has a photo of him fleeing from court; the museum's spokeswoman said that "the losses were covered by insurance."

You'd think over-charging for drinks (including water) for all these years would have given them a nice financial cushion...but allegedly Webster Hall is in debt and in danger of closing. DBTH reports that "the club is in serious arrears to the City, State and vendors, and may be on the verge of declaring bankruptcy." It's the usual story of overdue rent, bounced checks, back taxes, bills piling up and creditors knocking on the door. "They are looking for some kind of bail out from the state (for the taxes issues) and the landlord (apparently they would like their rent lowered by half until things "get better")." Guess their new Studio venture hasn't been bringing in the cash, but maybe the bridge & tunnel crowd that pack into the place on club nights can help bring in the $600K they need. Nightclub shenanigans aside, it would be a shame to see the place shutter, considering it's been open since the late 1800s and hosting music since the 1950s.

You know how the Queens Museum of Art was offering up miniature real estate on their panorama? It's pretty much the only place you can put your name on a landmark or apartment for such a low price. Well, now for some more coin you can put your name on the life-size versions of things! The NY Post reports that if you have $5 million to spare, your name could grace Central Park's tennis center, and for around $2 million you could sponsor the Chelsea Recreation Center. Times are tough, so any name will do! The list of available locations that will gladly accept your cash and take on your name include the restored pool in Williamsburg's McCarren Park (maybe Vice or American Apparel has $3 million for this one); "the track and field house proposed for Ocean Breeze Park on Staten Island ($2 million); and the sports facility being built at Mill Pond Park near Yankee Stadium in The Bronx ($2 million)." Since there is no advertising allowed in parks, the cash will get the donor a plaque, perhaps with a corporate logo. Are we that far away from walking across the Brooklyn Bridge presented by Verizon Wireless?

A judge ruled that a 2001 incident where Charlene Marshall complained about mother-in-law Brooke Astor won't be heard by the jury. Marshall's husband, Anthony, is Astor's only son and is on trial for allegedly forging her will to gain $60 million. Astor's social secretary recounted Charlene that ranted, "She's f---ing killing him!"—referring to Astor and her husband—"If he dies before she does, I get nothing!" Prosecutors hoped to enter the statements into the trial, because they says it points to why Anthony Marshall would have wanted to take his mother's money—to sate his wife's greed. The Post reports that prosecutor Joel Seidemann explained it as, "It's all for Charlene. She's in the mix. It's unavoidable. They can say there is no elephant in the room. But there is an elephant in the room." The Daily News' Joanna Molloy uses her column to wonder why the trial is suddenly about Charlene Marshall, the woman who left her minister husband for the heir of Brooke Astor. A friend of Charlene Marshall's tells Molloy, "[Charlene] is an extremely compassionate woman. She's active at St. James Church. She brings Communion to shut-ins ... She listens. She helps people in pain ... She's not a golddigger at all." Brooke Astor didn't much like Charlene, FWIW.

A Chase bank employee is being blamed for dropping the dime about a Long Island dentist's $800,000 individual account to her husband. The NY Post reports that while Nazita Aminpour and David Shamash "have a joint account at a Chase branch in Kew Gardens, Queens," Aminpour also had the secret account. Well, secret until a bank employee cold-called Shamash, "telling him he should take his small fortune out of the low-interest account and make other investments with Chase." Aminipour's suit says that once Shamash heard about the money, he "began harassing [Aminpour], asking for money from the funds that he can invest in the stock market and to cover a margin call he had on his stock account." The suit adds that Shamash "alienat[ed]" Aminipour until she gave him $155,000 "to save her marriage and restore order in the marital home." Aminipour says Chase violated non-disclosure laws and wants the bank to pay her the $155K plus legal fees.

It's really no secret that C. Lo has been dealing with some serious cash flow problems. Even if one isn't able to translate her many rants on MySpace or Twitter, there tends to be a common theme to the tirades involving mysterious Cobains popping up around the country and buying houses with her and Frances Bean's money. Or something. On March 18th she wrote, in part:

"we were just looking at Cobains over 100 years of age, there are none so these peopel ALL HAVE PROPERTY< they all own PROPERTY, there are 1000s and 1000s of these using my and my daughters surname. Kurt is DEAD. yet he owns under his ssn over 2000 properties, under a few other names even more, do you get it? they stole HIS money were forced to use HIS surname and bought REAL property."

Police are looking for a cousin of a former Jets linebacker in connection with two murders. Investigators suspect a cousin of Jonathan Vilma, who now plays for the New Orleans Saints, has been using in Vilma's unoccupied Westchester County condo, where two men were apparently killed. The victims were believed to be involved in a "black paper scheme": Con men tell gullible people that smuggled paper money has been dyed many times black and that a special bleach is needed to take the dye away—but really the black paper is just construction paper. Newsday reports, "With black paper found in the condo, and black paper and bleach found in the dead men's Bronx apartment, detectives said the victims scammed the wrong people." Police also found blood in the condo; the victims' bodies were dumped in Queens and Brooklyn. Vilma is not suspected in the killings; his agent said the player "was in complete shock that anyone was in the house other than his real estate agent."

After Rep. Anthony Weiner revealed his hesitance about running for mayor this fall, reporters asked Mayor Bloomberg if his wealth was intimidating to other potential candidates. The mayor, the 17th richest man in the world, is reportedly spending $80 million (or 0.5% of his wealth) on his campaign. Politicker NY, which has video of the extended answer, reports that Bloomberg said, "There’s no evidence to me that there are fewer candidates running... We don’t preclude you from running because you got a better education than I did or are better looking or more photogenic.” Related: The NY Times' Clyde Haberman explains Bloomberg's "we love rich people" remark by way of the Mayor's budget data that "show... people earning $500,000 or more a year make up 1 percent of New York taxpayers but account for nearly 50 percent of the income taxes that the city collects."

Remember the other day how Councilman Bill de Blasio was all, 'Leave billboards ALONE!' because, he says, the Department of Buildings has been slapping billboard owners with huge fines over supposedly minor infractions? And some of you cynics in the audience were quick to insinuate that the honorable gentleman from Park Slope was only making a stink because he's in bed with the outdoor signage industry? Well, maybe you were right. Just days after calling attention to the vast hardships endured by billboard owners, de Blasio, who is running for public advocate, has accepted $8,000 in campaign donations from billboard companies, the Post reports. Not too shabby! Maybe this will motivate de Blasio to finally do something to protect the poor tobacco industry and persecuted fast food restaurants and the defenseless auto industry?

Time to break out the world's smallest violin again: With President Obama's proposed $500,000 cap on executive compensation—at firms receiving federal bailout money—the plight of the rarefied rich is examined in the NY Times. Today, the Times gives us details like this: "Private school: $32,000 a year per student. Mortgage: $96,000 a year. Co-op maintenance fee: $96,000 a year. Nanny: $45,000 a year. We are already at $269,000, and we haven’t even gotten to taxes yet." Then there's the personal trainer, the gowns for the galas, children's private tutors, four-star vacations... OMFG, Houston is looking pretty good! Holly Peterson, who wrote The Manny and whose dad Peter founded the Blackstone group, puts it dramatically: "Five hundred thousand dollars means taking their kids out of private school and selling their home in a fire sale.” A few days ago, the Times asked some people to remember back when they made $500,000.

In his $6.6 million divorce settlement two years ago, big shot real-estate lawyer Steven Simkin (pictured) paid his ex-wife Laura Blank $2.7 million to buy out her half of their Madoff investment, which he thought was worth $5.4 million. Now, according to his attorneys, the "account" is worthless, "literally not worth the paper on which the parties' valuation rested." So Simkin wants some of that money back, because "Laura has been unjustly enriched, having received millions of dollars based on an illusory and exaggerated value attributed to the 'account.'" Blank, who works for CUNY, tells the Post she isn't really feeling Simkin's pain: "What he's doing is outrageous. He made a poor investment choice and it's his problem." Just as every bum's lot in life is his own responsibility, regardless of who he chooses to blame!

A YouTube video titled "NYPD corruption at its best," depicts undercover NYPD officers stuffing cash in their pockets during a raid at embattled Staten Island bar "Beer Goggles" (MySpace). The surveillance tape was recorded back in November 2007 when cops busted the bar for promoting gambling; three employees were arrested but the charges were eventually dropped.

10-year-old Kemoy Gourzang was walking to school in East Flatbush Friday morning when he found a wallet on the sidewalk stuffed with over $500 in cash. But instead of doing what we would have done at his age—blow it all on Transformers and Garbage Pail Kids—Gourzang took the wallet to his school's principal, who used a business card in the billfold to contact the owner. The unidentified man was so relieved to have it back that he gave Gourzang a $100 finders fee, which the honorable little lad promptly invested on a video racing game called Midnight Club 3. "I was pretty excited," he tells the Daily News. "I went straight to Toys 'R' Us." But Gourzang still has $50 left, and is apparently going for the title of sweetest little boy in all the land: The rest of the money will be spent on Valentine's Day, "to buy a Teddy bear with angel wings, milk chocolate and maybe a necklace. For my mom."