A Manhattan art dealer who snatched a pricey piece of street art from the wall of the Dream Downtown hotel – but returned it a few hours later once he sobered up – has been charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, cops said.
Investigators said Yoneh Mizrahi, 28, was easy to track down because he used his Mastercard to buy booze at the hotel’s rooftop club around 3 a.m. Aug. 16 – then walked out of the W. 16th Street hotel holding the portrait of Vogue editor Diana Vreeland in full view of surveillance cameras.
The painting was returned to the hotel by 7 p.m. – wrapped and delivered by messenger – almost by the time it was discovered missing.
On Mizrahi’s Linkedin page, the Brooklyn resident identifies himself as an art dealer at Eden Fine Art who likes wine, travelling, rock concerts and “making money” – but his boss told The Post he may not be able to count on them much longer for a salary.
“It’s very, very embarrassing to him and to our gallery. If it is proved that he did something like that, it is clear he will be fired immediately,” said a woman at the gallery who identified himself as a relative of owner Cathia Klimovsky.
Mizrahi was hired about two months ago and he passed an employment check. There was “no problem of past problems,” he said. “He’s modest. He’s a nice person.”
Police valued the painting, part of an exhibit by street artist Bradley Theodore, at $20,000, but said it was insured for $45,000.