Leading Economic Indicators: New York Post Stays After Local Angle To Profile Former White Collar Employees Who Now Strip

It took them a week after running that initial AP report but the Post finally found three examples of local women laid off from “respectable” jobs who now strip, and of course three examples does a trend piece make:

Randi Newton, 28, who lives in Midtown, was a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley before the crash but was fired.

“A few nights after I got laid off, I went with friends to a strip club to get drunk and forget my unemploy ment troubles,” Newton said. “The manager offered me a job as a dancer. I thought it was different. And fun.”

Today, Newton, who calls herself an “independent contractor,” pole dances at Rick’s Cabaret in Murray Hill three or four nights a week and says she makes “$160,000 a year on tips alone.”

“It was very odd seeing a strip club being better run than a major brokerage firm, not to mention I’ve never had problems with sexual harassment at Rick’s,” she said.

Leading Economic Indicators: Grifters!

Oh my god, it’s like Bill the Butcher will be standing around the corner! Grifters are back:

You’ll never see them coming.

A handful of clever grifters have been scamming unsuspecting passersby in midtown with just a pair of broken glasses, cops warn.

The con artists bump into their mark, flash a pair of prebroken glasses to the ground and then begin angrily demanding cash to pay for the “smashed” specs.

The scam has become so widespread that cops from Manhattan’s Midtown North Precinct put out flyers with the photos of some of the worst scammers — known as “fraudulent accosting recidivists” — for the sheer number of times they have run their schemes.

“The scam is an oldie but a goodie. The victims get flustered and sometimes turn over the cash just to get the suspect to shut up and leave them alone,” a police source said.

Nair (Naim) Jabbar had two pairs of broken eyeglasses in a bag when cops arrested him last month. The ex-con bumped into his latest victim on W. 53rd St. and Fifth Ave., court records show.

“You broke my glasses! You own me $125!” Jabbar, 41, yelled.

But when his victim asked him to come back to his office to figure out a solution, Jabbar slunk off, court papers said.

Jabbar’s 29-year-old lookout, Jshawn Lewis, had $1,478 in cash in his pockets, police said.

Jabbar, who had just been charged in December with an eyeglass scam, was sentenced to 90 days in jail for this last hustle. He gets out April 18.

Leading Economic Indicators: Nexis Hits For The President Of The Metal Detector Association

Or, the inevitable story on metal detector dudes:

The big accessory at the beach this summer might not be sunglasses or a bucket and shovel — but a metal detector.

With the economy at low tide and gold near record highs, the city is likely to see a spike in treasure hunting this season, experts told the Daily News.

“Oh, New York City will be looking at one hell of a gold rush this season,” said Bob Lundy, president of the Empire State Metal Detector Association.

“Treasure hunters will be combing the beaches looking for valuables like never before. Gold is skyrocketing in value, and with unemployment, people have a lot more idle time.”

. . .

Michael Chaplan said sales of his 2005 book, “The Urban Treasure Hunter” — a guide to finding everything from spare change to the Lindbergh ransom money — are up 50%.

“New York City is very good for treasure hunting because it has all the different levels of American civilization this country has ever seen,” he said.

Beaches are prime hunting grounds because people leave behind valuables they stashed under towels, and forget to take off watches before hitting the surf.

“My girlfriend has nice rings on every finger,” Lundy said. “I’m wearing my second Rolex.”

Incomplete Jingle Leads To Company’s Demise

There was always something about “one eight-hundred M-A-T-T-R-E-S” that made you ponder what exactly the last “S” stood for and which also made you sort of forget to actually call in the end:

Once a major borough success story, Long Island City’s 1-800 Mattress has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to papers filed with the federal bankruptcy court.

Dial-a-Mattress Operating Corporation, which operates 1-800 Mattress, filed for bankruptcy on March 17. The company, which has its headquarters in Long Island City, was founded more than 30 years ago in Jamaica by Ecuadorian native Napoleon Barragan. On March 23, Dial-a-Mattress International Ltd. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to papers filed with the federal bankruptcy court.

At least we now know that the company wasn’t also behind the bed bug problem, too, like people have speculated in the past about other businesses.

Ground Zero Tribute Museum — Over One Million Served!!

But an exciting moment almost turned ugly when the sirens and whistles sent everyone to the floor:

An Ohio choirgirl got a big city thrill Friday when she became the 1 millionth person to visit Ground Zero’s tribute museum.

Shaique Gamble stepped over the threshold of the Liberty St. visitor center shortly after 10 a.m. and cheers rang out.

“It was kind of funny and shocking at the same time,” said the 16-year-old, who was wide-eyed but all smiles at the surprise welcome.

“I just expected to come and take a tour and then this happened.”