Suspicious Package Forces Evacuation of Sotheby's

UPPER EAST SIDE — Sotheby’s was evacuated and part of York Avenue was shut down Monday morning as authorities investigated a suspicious package that was left in front of the famed auction house.

FDNY and NYPD units shut down York Avenue between E. 71st and E. 73rd streets to both vehicles and pedestrians until officials confirmed that the package — a large wooden box — did not pose a threat.

The area has been the site of union protests for nearly eight weeks as art handlers from the Teamsters Local 814 battle with the auction house.

The protestors again set up on the sidewalk Monday morning in front of Sotheby’s, along with their giant inflatable rat.

Vinny Caveezo, 45, had the early protest shift and arrived around 5:30 a.m. He witnessed the entire event, from the package drop off to the police cordoning.

A little after 6 a.m., Caveezo said he saw a tall, white man wearing jeans and a baseball cap wheeling the package on a dolly down the west side of York Avenue between East 72nd and East 71st streets.

The man crossed York Avenue at East 71st Street and dropped the box on the sidewalk in front of Sotheby’s. Caveezo said the early morning drop-off was “totally odd.”

“That’s not the procedure,” he said. “You can’t leave property like that.”

“Security here will not sign for anything like that,” he added.

Caveezo said the word “Sotheby’s” was written in stencils across the box, and even that seemed suspicious. He has been an art handler for 11 years, and the crates he has worked with never have the Sotheby’s name written on them in stenciled lettering.

But the box was nicely built, Caveezo added, and looked as though it was custom made for a piece of artwork.

Sotheby’s, too, thought the package looked suspicious and contacted the police around 7 a.m., according to a statement from the auction house.

“We notified the authorities who told us to evacuate the building while they investigated. The crate was empty and Sotheby's employees were allowed to return and the police will be investigating this further,” Sotheby’s statement said. “We take the safety and security of our workforce, visitors, clients and property seriously, and reacted swiftly under the circumstances.” 

Mark Karacsony, 35, another union member, said he arrived at Sotheby’s around 7:30 a.m. and saw the package. But he wasn’t worried, even when the cops forced them to leave the area around 9 a.m.

“I thought it was just a hoax,” he said. “Just a feeling.”

By late morning, the police had opened up the street to traffic, and only a chunk of the sidewalk in front of Sotheby’s remained closed to pedestrians as police dusted the box and snapped photographs.

The protestors were still there — although the rat was gone.

“The cops deflated our rat,” Caveezo said. “I guess it was a threat, too.”