The New York City Art Crime Walking Tour was my thesis for my MA in Art Crime: Theft, Forgery and Cultural Preservation at the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) in Amelia, Italy in 2011.
New York City, The Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps, a city of less than 500 square miles and more than 8 million people generated $2.7 billion in auction revenue in 2010 and the entire creative economy is $21.2 billion, making it the art capital of the world. Compound this with the city’s numerous public and private collections and you create a city of opportunity for the criminals of the art world.
The thesis is the first step in compiling the most complete collection of art crimes occurring in the five boroughs, culminating in the creation of an actual walking tour where participants can explore, in depth, the crimes against art committed in New York City.