By Daniel Edward Rosen 11/30/11 10:24am

art crime

web_Mihaly Kovacsevics mug shot

The Scoundrel of Washington Street: Is Mihaly Kovacsezics the Mayor of Tribeca or a Sticky Fingered Art Thief?

If you ask the well-heeled residents of the western-most parts of Tribeca what they think of Mihaly Kovacsezics, the kindly Hungarian immigrant who painted their walls, installed their televisions or, in some cases, managed their lives, they’ll tell you he was the most adorable and bighearted man in Manhattan.

And at 427 Washington Street, where, from 2007 to 2010, he worked as the handyman for artist and building owner Shirley West, Mr. Kovacsezics—better known as Mike—was everything to everyone in the co-op building: a dog-walker, a personal shopper, a bag-carrier.

At Ponte’s, an Italian restaurant where Mr. Kovacsezics worked as a contractor for 10 years, he was the good-natured handyman who performed odd jobs and enjoyed the occasional espresso at the restaurant’s bar.

“Everyone loved him here,” said Ileana Romero, a Ponte’s bartender. “He was sweet and he was very kind.”

To Shirley West’s niece, Mr. Kovacsezics was like a member of the family. “He was like the Mayor of Tribeca,” said Roxane West. “I loved him.” Read More

By Laura Gilbert 7/25/11 2:42pm

Art

bellini final

Bellini’s Queen of Cyprus Goes on View at the Met

Times may be tough for New York’s museums, but that isn’t stopping the Metropolitan Museum of Art from mounting a major loan exhibition later this year. On December 19, the museum opens “The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini,” a blockbuster that will include about 160 works from more than 40 museums around the world. Read More

By Andrew Sarris 11/10/03 12:00am

Ambitious Cub’s Rise and Fall: Shattered Glass Cuts Fact From Fakery

Billy Ray’s Shattered Glass , from his own screenplay, based on Buzz Bissinger’s September 1998 Vanity Fair article, impressed me much more than I’d expected, particularly after reading some adverse reviews by my esteemed colleagues. I had the same experience recently with Veronica Guerin , another film about a journalist. In both films, many critics Read More

By Joe Conason 9/10/01 12:00am

Hevesi’s Lame Defense Offends Common Sense

Even the dullest campaign can provide a peek into the

political underworld. In New York’s Mayoral race, that moment of tabloid truth

arrived when Alan Hevesi suddenly had to explain an unusual favor he once

performed for a major contributor-and all of his opponents except one rushed to

his defense.

The most sensational aspect Read More

By Ralph Gardner Jr. 10/16/00 12:00am

New York on the Danube

I rarely go on press junkets, not because I fear they might compromise my journalistic integrity, but because I never get invited. And when I have gone-for example, to the Caribbean a couple of times years ago-my hosts have had the audacity to expect me to spend precious tanning time visiting hotel properties. However, when Read More