By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A string of thefts at an upscale Manhattan retirement home has residents pointing fingers at their caretakers, the New York Daily News reported.
Three female residents of the Hallmark Battery Park — a 13-story independent and assisted living apartment building — reported nearly $60,000 in missing jewelry during the summer months, the News said.
One of the victims, Rhoda Galembo, 89, said $30,000 worth of jewelry — including the diamonds from her wedding band, which her late husband had converted into a $10,000 bracelet — was missing when she returned from vacation in July, according to the paper.
The other two women, 90 and 98, had also been away when their valuables were taken, police told the News.
Galembo's daughter, Phyllis Galembo, complained that Hallmark staffers, who have keys to residents' apartments and receive notifications when they go on vacation, did nothing when she reported the incident. There are no security cameras at the facility, the paper said.
"If they had said to me, 'Let's think about what we can do to make the place safer,' I would not be so dissatisfied," Galembo told the News.
Officials at the parent company of Hallmark said they were conducting their own probe, according to the paper.
Residents at the Hallmark, which houses an indoor pool, library and restaurant-style dinning room, pay a minimum of $5,075 a month, according to RetirementHomes.com.
