A SHOPLIFTER AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME
The Times has a feature by the amazing beat reporter Michael Wilson on a particular pro shoplifter who used our Target to support his entire lifestyle — and drug habits — for the past two years. Until recently, when a new manager watched and waited. This was the technique: “He popped through the sliding front door, where a security guard stood posted. No sense trying to sneak in — the guards all knew him on sight. In his head, a timer was ticking, like a shot clock. Ninety seconds. That was how long it would take for the police to respond to the 911 call the security guard would be making right now. He hurried past the guard to get to the pharmacy area downstairs. The nearest route down was the escalator going up.” It’s a great read.

LEAVING A LEGACY OF ART
Artnet has a feature on Tribecans Susan and Michael Hort, and how they have transformed personal loss — the death of two of their children, including longtime Tribecan Peter Hort — and a keen eye for emerging talent into a collection of over 5,000 works of art. They are now installing a lot of their collection to an art center in Chatham, New York, called Art Omi Pavilions. From Artnet: “They’ve taken risks on acquiring works by unknown artists since 1985, buying far, wide, and deep. You name it—they’ve got it. From a hot young star of the moment to top artists like Cindy Sherman, and Marlene Dumas. Art fills their triplex in Tribeca as well as 7,000 square feet of storage in New York and New Jersey. But as the Horts are getting older, there’s an urgent matter at hand. ‘What will we do with all our art?’ Susan asked.”

NYC x TAYLOR WALKING TOUR
The Post has a story on Taylor Swift walking tours, and I guess they include her house(s) on Franklin as well as the campus of NYU (though she did not give the commencement speech there — it was at Citi Field), her house on Cornelia Street, and MilkBar, because she once ate a cake from there.

THE RENAISSANCE OF 175 WATER
A while ago, the promoters of 175 Water (between John and Maiden Lane) asked me to come tour and do a feature — but I could not understand the concept, since they said they would offer below market rates for artists without explaining how. The Times now explains it: it has become the “talk of downtown and a hot spot for parties with outrageous guest lists.” “Known as the WSA building (short for Water Street Associates), the 31-story structure, at 175 Water Street, has become a nexus for the kind of people who might not otherwise set foot in this neighborhood of bankers and brokers. It is owned by developers who have been awarded a $41.3 million discretionary tax break from a recently established New York City government program to help pay for their vision and the $150 million renovation that goes with it.”