Screwed
SINCE 2002, AL GOLDSTEIN hasn't managed to do much of anything right. He's been busted for harassing people, he's been sued, his property's been seized, he's had a few "heart attacks," he's gone bankrupt, his son won't talk to him, he lost his job as a greeter at the 2nd Ave. Deli and these days he's living at the Bellevue homeless shelter.
Al's always been a very clever man, as well as the cheapest of publicity whores (he's managed to get himself in the news more often these past two years than in the entire decade prior to that). Which leaves us wondering about this latest small and sad chapter from Goldstein's storied life. Was it the act of a penniless and pathetic man, or just another bid to keep his name in the papers?
Here's the deal: It's virtually impossible to get busted for shoplifting from a Barnes & Noble. That's why you can find dozens of tables selling "used" art books within a three-block radius of any major B&N in Manhattan. To avoid lawsuits, employee policy is very stringent. In order to get busted, you essentially have to take a book off the shelves, walk up to a guard and say, "Hey, Kojak-I'm going to steal this book," then walk out the door. It takes some real effort on the part of the thief.
So what of Al Goldstein? Did he want to trade his bed at the shelter for one in the 20th Precinct (and later, after another faked heart attack, the hospital) for the night? Did he just want to get into the Post again, given that he hadn't been there in a few weeks? Or is he just an incredibly incompetent thief, albeit a health-conscious one?
We love Al Goldstein and consider him a valuable New York icon, but this is just silly. Someone give the man a job already.