It’s Halloween soon. On the one hand, the disguises. On the other, paranoid fear. A new plague is spreading on the streets of New York, he reports Stunned. Several Art gallery have been robbed in recent days. The profile of the criminals? Teenagers pretending to be art students. In small groups, they show up with totebag in hand and headphones on. “Two guys came to ask me real questions on the workssays the gallery owner Cindy Rucker. Then, while I was distracted while answering, another teenager took my credit card from my wallet. While they had also given me their emails so that I could send them the photos! “
“I closed the door in their face”
Rest assured, no artwork it was not stolen. Young people are more likely to target employees’ belongings. Several thousand dollars were spent following bank card theft. Last weekend, five galleries were robbed in Manhattan. Among the victims, the Derosia Gallery, Nicodim and Hashimoto Contemporary. Other gallery owners saw groups of young people circulating near their neighborhood and therefore warned their colleagues. Monday 17 October Takako Tanabe from gallery Ulterior wrote on the forum for members of the New Art Dealer Alliance (NADA): “Surprised, they came back a second time in my gallery. This time there were two boys, one with a bicycle. They just asked me “is this an art gallery?” and I replied that I was locked before I slammed the door in his face. ”
The Betty Cunningham Gallery is the biggest victim of these thefts. In a series of emails to its employees, the gallery writes: “Unfortunately two young people entered the gallery claiming to be art students. They stole several personal items, including a wallet. Employees learned of the thefts about twenty minutes after the boys left. The thieves had already spent several thousand dollars. The galleries have reported all thefts to the authorities but, so far, no arrests have been reported.
