The New York Observer » Max Abelson

Wall Street’s New Eliot Ness

Gotham loves a good christening. So when The Journal introduced Preet Bharara as "the new sheriff of Wall Street" on Nov. 22, it was a cinematic day for the second-year U.S. attorney for the Southern District and his wide investigation into insider trading. Three hedge funds connected to the multibillionaire Steven A. Cohen were raided, Read More

A Season of Giving for the Mega-Rich

The 269th wealthiest American was waiting for a train in Trenton, N.J. "How much is this, sir?" asked Leon Cooperman, who started Goldman Sachs' asset management arm, then the hedge fund Omega Advisors. "A dollar fifty-nine, for water?"

Mr. Cooperman, according to Forbes, is worth $1.5 billion. "Exorbitant," he sighed, "exorbitant water bill."

Two days earlier, Read More

Peter G. Peterson Returns to New York for Comfortable Socks

Observer readers may have lately noticed a new column by the Tuscan-born Four Seasons owner Julian Niccolini, who has referred to himself as a "restaurateur, actor, beekeeper, journalist and winemaker." So far, Mr. Niccolini has written just like he runs his restaurant: with well-combed, neatly pinstriped, slightly demented glee. This reporter spent time with Read More

Dastardly Named Samuel Phineas Upham Arrested for $11 M. UBS Tax Fraud

The name Samuel Phineas Upham has the stormy Dickensian ring of a villain, or at least a frightening great-uncle. Back in the 1800s, in fact, a man with the same name was "the Civil War's most notorious counterfeiter." Some things don't change: According to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New Read More

The Ladies of Fifth Avenue: Prominent Women Captured in Art Along Museum Mile

These women knew how to enter a room--and stay there in a permanent collection. The personalities, the tastemakers, the artists and intellectuals of their time, they were photographed and painted by superstars. These artworks have become some of the highlights in museums along Fifth Avenue, meaning these women, or their images, arguably occupy some of Read More

No More Secrets

To hear the White House and State Department tell it, WikiLeaks' publication of sensitive diplomatic documents will undermine the war on terror, jeopardize relations with allies and give hope to the nation's enemies.

Talk about an overreaction. In fact, the controversy should remind us that government officials, especially those engaged in international affairs, have gotten Read More

The Insider Trading Extravaganza and the Year of Wall Street’s Big Yawn

"They better be fucking confident that they're right before they destroy reputations," a major New York hedge fund manager was saying just before midnight on Monday. Attorney General Eric Holder had confirmed an investigation of Wall Street that afternoon, 10 days after The Journal had broken news of a three-year insider-trading probe that "could eclipse Read More

What We Love This Week (December 1- December 8)

Steve Eisman’s $7 B. Hedge Fund FrontPoint On Death’s Door

FrontPoint Partners, one of the most important hedge funds in the country, may not live to see another Thanksgiving. According to several news reports, its investors want to pull about $3 billion from the $7 billion hedge fund, whose Steve Eisman had one of the most famous epiphanies of the housing Read More

More from Rattner on Cuomo on Rose: The Greatest Interview Ever?

There have been some excellent, low-voice, black-room Charlie Rose interviews this year, as always. Just last month, in fact, there was one with troubled financier Steven Rattner. He was back last night, but this time he had spectacles on. Another difference is that his disgust for New York State Attorney General and Governor-Elect Andrew Read More

Requiem for a Banker

There was a peculiar buzzing sound coming from somewhere inside the Credit Suisse meeting, a mildly annoying vibrating bleep. Paul Calello, the bank's commodities and derivatives chief, checked his briefcase. The buzzes got louder.

His daughter had decided to send her Tamagotchi toy pet to work with him, and it was hungry. Mr. Calello stopped Read More

Wall Street Drinks In an Up Market

Who needs CNBC with all the action that's been going on in the Grill Room over the last week? It's more interesting to watch the news happen in real time in the Four Seasons--especially when Adriana stops in.

Wall Street was the talk of the restaurant in the last week, as bankers and dealmakers showed Read More

Battle of the Sharpies: Cartoonists Square Off With Their Pens

According to Matt Diffee, there are 10 reasons why a cartoon might be rejected from The New Yorker: too lowbrow, too politically incorrect, too dark, too weird, too political, too difficult to "get," too dumb, too bad, too dirty, too all-of-the-above.

But at Fisticuffs, an Iron Chef-like battle of the cartoonists, held last Thursday night Read More

Fresh Art on the Fringe: Alternative Art Spaces Multiply Throughout New York

There's a whole other art world, and an increasingly vibrant one, outside the mainstream art gallery and museum system. So-called "alternative art spaces" date back more than a generation but have multiplied in recent years, especially in Brooklyn. Usually headquartered in ad-hoc, unlikely or industrial locations, these spaces showcase emerging artists and performers, and artwork Read More

A Bronze Meddle: Doing the Math on Buying a Matisse Sculpture

I keep an eye on the Impressionist and Modern art auctions because they're thought to be an early indicator of the contemporary art sales that follow. But talking to Impressionist and Modern art experts about my penchant for contemporary artists like Maurizio Cattelan or Urs Fischer always leaves me feeling like an insecure fashionista. They're Read More