STEALING A GOLD BATHTUB; STEALING A BUILDING.

June 11, 2007 at 7:01 PM · Architecture

STEALING A GOLD BATHTUB; STEALING A BUILDING. The news for this week included a report that a gold bathtub weighing 170 pounds and worth almost a million dollars was stolen from a Japanese hotel. Police are mystified. This is a real coup. I think it falls short of the theft of most of a several-story building, which happened in the early seventies in New York. The building was the first cast-iron building in New York, the Bogardus Building. It could be stolen because it had been disassembled and stored as part of a restoration project. The theft is described in this excerpt from CAST-IRON ARCHITECTURE IN AMERICA by Margot Gayle and Carol Gayle. (There were actually two thefts, which may say something about New York City in the seventies). The building was later replicated, as shown in this picture. The thieves sold the building as scrap iron.

6 comments

Mary Jane June 12, 2007 at 4:18 PM

Nick was so taken by the story of the stolen gold bathtub, he used it in his standup comedy routine. He imagined someone taking a bath and ruminating, “Hmm, it could be gold.” The delivery just captured the whole absurdity of the situation.

Annalisa June 17, 2007 at 9:37 PM

I also liked Nick’s line, “If you manage to steal a gold bathtub, keep it. You’ve earned it.” (Pardon me for misremembering the exact phrasing, Nick. Feel free to correct as necessary.) I think the audience really liked that story.

Can you sell scrap iron for enough money to make it worth stealing a building’s worth of it? Sounds like a lot of hassle.

Philip June 17, 2007 at 9:41 PM

Annalisa, copper is being stripped off buildings in our area because copper prices are high.

Annalisa June 17, 2007 at 9:44 PM

You’re kidding! So thieves sneak up to people’s houses in Fairfield County and sneakily shave the top layer of copper off of people’s copper drainpipes or whatever? How bizarre.

Philip June 17, 2007 at 11:16 PM

If you google “copper theft”, you will see articles about thefts in Arizona and along Italian railroads. Thefts from street lights and even from live power lines in Arizona. Theft from signaling equipment in Italy. Much of it is sold in China. And here is the link for Darien and New Canaan thefts: http://www.topix.net/content/trb/1447849145016941485339330134180857835479

Lee July 10, 2007 at 9:58 PM

Those wily copper bandits are striking old homes in Petersburg now!