Facebook Twitter

LISTEN: ’Crazy’ Eddie Antar was NYC’s Original Retail Gangster

SHARE LISTEN: ’Crazy’ Eddie Antar was NYC’s Original Retail Gangster

A sketch showing the famous TV face of “Crazy Eddie,” radio DJ Jerry Carroll, and the chain’s actual owner, Eddie Antar.

Courtroom sketch by Ida Libby Dengrove, c/o the University of Virginia Law Library

Gary Weiss, author of Retail Gangster: The Insane, Real-Life Story of Crazy Eddie, explains how a Kings Highway sales-tax hustle grew into an era-defining media blitz and nine-figure stock fraud before the whole thing collapsed.

Subscribe to FAQ NYC on AppleSpotify, or pretty much everywhere podcasts are found.

The Latest
On Friday morning, historic rains doused New York City and crippled the subway system. That afternoon, a little-noticed 39-page audit called on transit officials to do better.
Property owners argued that 2019 reforms violated their rights and is “destroying” housing. Yet profits are still plentiful.
From food stamps to immigration court to parks access, millions of people locally could soon feel the brunt of Washington’s dysfunction.
At the Jefferson Street shelter, migrants were left to face the deluge while carrying what possessions they could, before the city eventually reversed course.