The Statue of Liberty | blog

Robert De Niro and former tennis champion John McEnroe are among victims of a multi-million pound New York art scam, according to the US authorities.

Lawrence Salander, the owner of Manhattan’s Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, is accused of selling art belonging to other people and keeping the proceeds, selling the same piece of art more than once, and luring wealthy investors into bogus or non-existent investment opportunities.

According to the authorities, he used the proceeds of his fraud to fund an opulent lifestyle of private jet trips, a lavish party for his wife and the purchase of a 66-acre (26-hectare) country estate, as well as in a failed effort to corner the Renaissance art market.

By: telegraph.co.uk     Read more >>

Taxi driver Kone Mahamadou avoids walking the streets near his Harlem home at night, convinced violence threatens to reclaim the neighborhood – even if NYPD statistics say otherwise.

“If you walk these streets, especially at night, you know crime is definitely not down,” said Mahamadou, 44, who lives near Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. and W. 131st St.

“It’s not safe. I don’t know where they get these statistics.”

Crime is still plummeting across the five boroughs – including Harlem’s 32nd Precinct, where Mahamadou lives – continuing a trend that began 15 years ago, according to the NYPD.

Yet many residents worried about the nation’s battered economy think crime is actually surging – an impression that does not surprise experts.