Crazy Eddie and the SY community in Brooklyn
November 22nd, 2007 by fieldus
An interesting NY Times article on the tightly knit Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn. Among their number, Eddie Antar aka Crazy Eddie - the name familiar to me from trips to LI when his stores were advertised everywhere
For many years, the most famous SY in the world was Eddie Antar, known professionally as Crazy Eddie. In the ’70s, he revolutionized the home electronics business and created an empire.
Nobody did retail theater better than Crazy Eddie. His souk-smart salesmen — many of them relatives and friends from the enclave — choreographed the shopping experience, waltzing the zboon (SY slang for “customer”) in well-rehearsed steps toward the be’aah, the sale. His ads (“His prices are insane!”) were commercial performance art. And when he was caught defrauding his investors for almost $100 million dollars and subsequently fled to Israel, Eddie provided an international drama that ended in extradition and prison.
The Crazy Eddie case became a cause célèbre, shattering longstanding community rules of silence and decorum. Eddie’s J-Dub wife, Debbie, caught him in flagrante delicto with his mistress, who also happened to be a J-Dub named Debbie, on the last day of December 1983 — a confrontation remembered among old-timers as the New Year’s Eve massacre. The massacre was a real bean-spiller, and it was followed by the testimony of Eddie’s first cousin (and partner and C.F.O.) Sam E. Antar on how the illegal schemes had been carried out. This gave the United States Attorney prosecuting the case, Michael Chertoff (now the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security), more than enough to work with. Eddie went away for six years.
The souk smart phrase above reminds me of 2 Danish guys I knew in Fort Lauderdale back in 1994/5. They both worked at Florida Swap Shop selling electronic goods. They were clean cut, nordic, young fellows and I remember them reporting that their Israeli boss had remarked:
‘If I looked like you, or you could sell like me, now that would be a winning combination!’.
An interesting blog post from Sam Antar - Eddie’s cousin and former CFO of Crazy Eddie’s. Something to read before going shopping on Tottenham Court Road - or 5th Ave.
Tags: brooklyn business judaism nyc people place tottenham court road world
More on Eddie and Sam Antar.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A teenage girl has filed a $50 million lawsuit against a New York billionaire, saying he sexually abused her when she was 14.
Louis Kestenbaum”s attorney says the allegations are false and motivated by money. Kestenbaum is also the CEO of Fortis properties and the ODA a goverment funded organisation in the williamsburg section of Brooklyn NY
The girl, now 17, claims Louis Kestenbaum invited her to his Florida mansion in 2005 to perform a massage for $300. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims he demanded she remove her clothes, then sexually assaulted her.
The girl, her father and stepmother are seeking more than $50 million.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A teenage girl has filed a $50 million lawsuit against a New York billionaire, saying he sexually abused her when she was 14.
Louis Kestenbaum”s attorney says the allegations are false and motivated by money. Kestenbaum is also the CEO of Fortis properties and the ODA a goverment funded organisation in the williamsburg section of Brooklyn NY
The girl, now 17, claims Louis Kestenbaum invited her to his Florida mansion in 2005 to perform a massage for $300. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims he demanded she remove her clothes, then sexually assaulted her.
The girl, her father and stepmother are seeking more than $50 million.
I just want to add that this louis kestenbaum is the father of JOEL KESTENBAUM the president of the ODA organisation in Brooklyn NY and fortis corp . this is major news what a pig
Any fool can see that this post about Louis Kestenbaum is a fake.
It takes about a minute to see that the real Associated Press article about the charges isn’t about Kestenbaum at all, but someone named Jeffrey Epstein.
Here is a link to the real article:
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jan/24/new-york-billionaire-accused-2nd-lawsuit-sex-minor.
Who kind of animals would say these things? Everyone in the Jewish community knows it’s the Schlesingers, Victor and Gershy, and their computer guy Zilu Sofer, who are trying to slander Kestenbaum’s name. Both the Jewish community and non-Jews know that the Schlesingers are crooks and criminals, and can see how stupid they are to take an article about someone else and change the names around just for spite.
Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum, the Rabbi of Kiryas Joel is being accused. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP)-
A teenage girl has filed a $50 million lawsuit against a New York rabbi, saying he sexually abused her when she was 14.
Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum’s attorney says the allegations are false and motivated by money. Teitelbaum is the Rabbi of Kiryas Joel, a Chasidic community in upstate New York.
The girl, now 17, claims Aron Teitelbaum invited her to his Florida mansion in 2005 to perform a massage for $300. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims he demanded she remove her clothes, then sexually assaulted her.
The girl, her father and stepmother are seeking more than $50 million.
Rabbi Mendel Teitelbaum a son of Aron Teitelbaum said “The family is in shock ” but had no comments when asked.
Louis Kestenbaum from williamsburg the ODA and fortis is an old diviant and crook, he was on trial just recently in ohio for similar diuretic acts, He is known as a vulgar person who behaves like an animal in the presence of good looking women, What about the story in Romania ? He was jailed briefly there when the old satmar rebbi died and he wasnt able to be at the levia.. or the story with girls in thailand asia? Bottom line Louis kestenbaum is bad news I would not let my kids and so would alot of people in williamsburg not allow their kids near him. he is just a doberman in disguise of a human
I would like to make it clear that the posts above do NOT constitute the views of fieldus.com.
Since all the above is hearsay, I’m closing comments on this subject.