Connecticut

Coney Island family sells entire wall featuring Banksy mural to Connecticut brewery for big bucks

Published

2 months ago

January 21, 2026

Coney Island family sells entire wall featuring Banksy mural to Connecticut brewery for big bucks

Bye-bye, Banksy.

A Brooklyn family is about half a million dollars richer after selling a mural of a little robot that the iconic graffiti artist Banksy painted on their Coney Island building for 13 years ago.

The Ruoccos decade-long effort to cash in on “The Tagging Robot” ended last month, when an arts company took down an entire section of their Stillwell and Neptune avenues brick wall and shipped it off to a trendy brewery in Connecticut, the family said.

“Brooklyn family strikes gold!” Richard Ruocco, of Bergen Beach, joked to The Post Wednesday.

The Ruoccos had been trying to pawn off the famous mural since they effectively hit the art world lottery, when the enigmatic graffiti legend painted the bot on their building in the middle of the night back in October 2013, shortly after Superstorm Sandy.

The piece, which the family lovingly calls “Mr. Robot,” depicted the android spray painting a barcode, and was one of several barcode murals that Banksy blanketed across the globe that fall.

The Ruoccos initially had no idea that the graffiti was by a famous artist until swarms of gawkers came to witness the viral sensation.

They immediately protected Mr. Robot behind a roll-down gate and hired a security guard — and started looking to make a bundle off the work in the arts market.

“Why not? What are we going to do with it? Leave it on the wall and lose the money,” said Ruocco, who is cousins to the Russo family behind Gargiulo’s in Coney Island.

Unfortunately, the hype around Banksy died down and buyers were hard to come by until Ruocco’s older brother, Anthony, read that a Connecticut beer garden had acquired another Banksy mural that was left in The Bronx during the same era as “Mr. Robot.

Foolproof in Bridgeport last February installed a massive wall showing a young boy spray painting the words “Ghetto 4 Life” on a brick wall while a butler in formal attire stands beside him holding a tray of spray paint cans — which initially caused an unwelcome stir for “insulting the neighborhood,” CT Post reported at the time.

Anthony Ruocco called the brewery over the summer and “brokered the deal” to pass along the Robot mural, Ruocco said.

“We didn’t sell it for what we originally wanted. We lowered our price and he went for it. Not too many people were willing to buy a brick wall,” said Ruocco, adding that the buyer also had to pay about $75,000 for art shippers to remove and transport the mural.

Representatives for Foolproof did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

An incredible video shows Fine Art Shippers meticulously shoring up a portion of the brick wall into steel framing and jackhammering it out into one piece before shipping it off to Bridgeport, a journey first reported by Coneyologist.

Ruocco did not want to share how much cash the family received for the piece, but teased that it was for “less than half a million bucks.”

“That’s too personal. No one needs to know that, except my accountant,” he said.

He and his five siblings evenly split the sale, which leaves “enough to buy a nice car each.”

“We’re a very fair family. I know that’s what our parents would have wanted us to do. We shared everything right to the penny,” said Ruocco.

One of the siblings has already treated themselves to a cruise and Ruocco dreamed about buying a new car for his collection, though he admitted his wife would make him get rid of one before adding another.

The Ruocco siblings, now all in retirement, are planning to sell the building where the Banksy mural once lived. It had once been the site of Aiello’s catering, which the family ran from the 80s to the 90s.

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Connecticut

Man charged with murder in Hartford

Published

4 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

A man was charged with murder and interfering with police on Sunday night.

According to police, officers were dispatched to an apartment on Washington Street for a wellness check of a woman who was reportedly unconscious and not breathing.

When officers arrived, they made contact with a man in the apartment who refused to cooperate and would not allow officers access. They then had to force entry into the apartment where they located the victim suffering from severe head trauma as well as the aggressive male, police said.

The man was secured and transported to the Hartford Police Detention Facility and is being held on a million-dollar bond.

The victim was revealed to be 76-year-old Linda Anthony and was pronounced deceased on scene.

The Hartford Police Major Crimes and Crime Scene Divisions responded to the scene and assumed the investigation.

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Connecticut

Hartford police investigate a fatal vehicle accident

Published

16 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Hartford police investigate a fatal vehicle accident

Hartford police are investigating a fatal vehicle accident that occurred early Sunday morning in the area of Elizabeth and North Beacon Street.

Police say they were dispatched to the area for reports of a single vehicle crash and found a 2013 Hyundai Sonata crashed into a retaining wall on the west side of the intersection.

According to police, 31-year-old Shalique Payne of Manchester sustained serious life-threatening injuries.

He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Hartford Police Crime Division responded and is investigating the scene.

The victim has not been identified and anyone with information is asked to call the Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477).

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Connecticut

Hartford Men’s Lacrosse Completes Comeback Win Against Western Connecticut State University – University of Hartford Athletics

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Hartford Men’s Lacrosse Completes Comeback Win Against Western Connecticut State University – University of Hartford Athletics

DANBURY, Conn. – The University of Hartford men’s lacrosse team picked up a huge road victory on Saturday defeating Western Connecticut State University by a 10-8 final.

Rapid Recap:

The Wolves scored the first three goals of the contest over the first eight minutes of action. Hartford got their first goal nine minutes into the first as sophomore Shaun Wright (Frederick, Md.) buried a goal from junior Michael Novotny (Cornwall, N.Y.). After an answer from West Conn, the Hawks would score back-to-back strikes as junior Jack Hart (Grafton, Mass.) scored the first goal, followed by a snipe from junior Colin Reilly (Southington, Conn.). The Wolves would tack on a fifth goal at the buzzer to take the 5-3 advantage into the second.

The home team once again scored first to double the Hawk score, but this time Hartford battled back scoring three more times with two goals coming from sophomore Gavin Pelletier (Southington, Conn.) and the other coming from Wright. Senior Andrew Leibold (Chula Vista, Calif.) came into the goalie position making three saves as the teams were tied at 6-6 at halftime.

Junior Aidan Ezra (New Milford, Conn.) gave Hartford their first lead in the contest lighting the lamp on an assist by Wright. West Conn would respond to even the score once again. Reilly would follow it up for the Hawks on a feed from senior Aidan Kemp (South Orange, N.J.). The Wolves would even it up just a minute later to draw the score at level once again. Hartford would stay in front as Novotny scored after a save from the West Conn keeper as the Hawks led 9-8 heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was very chippy in the early stages. Ezra would get the lone goal in the period to give Hartford the 10-8 advantage. Graduate student Nick DiDomizio (Cheshire, Conn.) would cause a turnover followed by three more saves for Leibold as Hartford would pickup the 10-8 victory.

Post Game Press:
“It feels great to get a comeback win on the road against a good team”, said senior Andrew Leibold (Chula Vista, Calif.). “We showed a lot of resilience after going down early and did what we needed to do to get the job done.”

Inside The Numbers:

Wright led the offense with two goals and an assist to go with four grounders and a caused turnover in the win. Ezra and Pelletier both added two goals and an assist in the victory. Kemp led the passing with two assists, while Novotny added a score and a helper. Reilly tallied two scores and Hart picked up his second collegiate goal to end the point scorers.

Five Hawks each had one caused turnover in the win. Sophomore Ian Reynolds (Queensbury, N.Y.) went 12-19 from the face-off dot with 10 grounders to lead the way.

Sophomore CJ Ledwick (Falmouth, Mass.) stopped just a single shot in 15 minutes. Leibold (Chula Vista, Calif.) added eight saves picking up the win while just allowing three goals in 45 minutes.