Good morning. It's Thursday. I cannot get enough of Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, the bogus European heiress who was convicted of swindling New York City's elite, using the money they invested in a fake private club to furnish her lavish lifestyle. While behind bars, she was the subject of a Netflix show, "Inventing Anna." Last weekend she was released from detention on a separate charge of overstaying her visa. Hours later she gave an interview to my colleague Emily Palmer. |
 | | Ben Rayner for The New York Times |
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Fresh off a stint covering the trial of the notorious cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo, Palmer was eager to take up a lighter sort of assignment. Her editor, Jim McKinley, suggested that she look into the unusual case of Sorokin, a 20-something con artist who had been particularly successful at parting wealthy New Yorkers from their cash. |
"There was no blood or gore," Palmer told me. "So I said yes." |
Despite the dash of Hollywood theatrics in the streaming version, the courtroom drama was anything but, Palmer said. "Grand larceny is not the most interesting 'how-to' of crimes," she said. "It was photoshopping bank statements and her sort of convincing banker men to fall at her feet." |
'The thing is, I'm not sorry.' |
It was a jailhouse interview with Sorokin that piqued Palmer's interest. Sorokin's love of fashion — and her disdain for anyone who dressed poorly, in her eyes — was a trope of the Netflix show. It's also true about the real Sorokin, said Palmer, who dressed in business formal clothing when interviewing Sorokin, even at Rikers Island. |
At Rikers, Sorokin was frank with her. "The thing is, I'm not sorry," she told Palmer the day after she was sentenced in 2019 to four to 12 years in prison for grand larceny, among other charges. "I'd be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything. I regret the way I went about certain things." |
After serving out her criminal sentence, Sorokin, who is from Germany, was soon rearrested by immigration officials on charges of overstaying her visa. Palmer covered Sorokin's exploits while in detention as well. She went from con artist to artist, selling drawings she made while serving time. Her art dealer, Chris Martine, posted her $10,000 bond to secure her release, he said. |
While in detention she had access to the internet and stayed in touch with Palmer. It was Sorokin herself who told Palmer the day she would be released. |
When your source is a con artist |
To secure the interview, the day of Sorokin's release from the Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen, N.Y., Palmer waited for about five hours outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Lower Manhattan where Sorokin was transferred. |
The interview was conducted at Sorokin's new one-bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side, where she is under house arrest. |
With a character like Sorokin, who has a documented history of manipulation, a reporter must be on guard. It is clear, Palmer said, that Sorokin loves the spotlight: She regularly reaches out with updates. |
"You have to make sure you are not being manipulated no matter who you're talking to, but in some ways, knowing you're talking to a convicted con artist it's somewhat easier, because I'm constantly second-guessing everything," Palmer said. And as a reporter, she said, "that's what you should be doing — no matter who you're talking to." |
'She's not playing it safe.' |
In her new apartment, Sorokin must wear an ankle monitor while her immigration case continues to make its way through the courts. |
"I guess everyone will have to come to me, now," Sorokin told Palmer during the interview, which was conducted just 20 minutes after immigration officials dropped her off at her home. |
And they have, so to speak: Since Palmer's interview, Sorokin has been deep in a whirlwind media tour, all from the comfort of her home, interviewing with talk shows, magazines and news programs. |
In her new apartment, she is permitted to have guests; her friend, Neffatari Davis, or Neff, a stalwart champion in the Netflix series, no longer lives in New York City and has not yet visited, Palmer said. |
One guest who has showed up has been her personal stylist. She designed a monogram — the initials "A.D." after Sorokin's alter ego — and the pair recently conducted a fashion shoot in the Lower East Side apartment. |
In the shoot, Sorokin stands in stilettos atop a copy of The New York Times, the glittering monogram affixed to her ankle monitor. |
"She said this is her second chance and she's trying to fix things, and I do think that she sees this as Anna Delvey 2.0," Palmer told me. "I think she sees this as a chance to make something of the last handful of years being behind bars." |
Expect showers and wind gusts, with temperatures near the high 60s. Showers and wind gusts persist in the evening, plus thunderstorms. Temps will dropping to around the high 50s. |
In effect until Monday (Shemini Atzeret). |
 | | Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times |
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My friend Barbara and I were walking on 55th Street toward Lexington Avenue. It was a hot, muggy, gray afternoon in late August. |
A gust of wind kicked up suddenly, tossing bits of tattered papers, leaves and other debris in our direction. Then the rain started: big drops at first, then a steady cascade. |
"It smells like soot with a mix of Chinese noodles," I said as we rushed along. "Weird. Only in Manhattan." |
"Right," Barbara said. "Rain does smell." |
Just then, a man who was walking ahead of us turned around. |
"It's called petrichor," he said, and then he just kept going. |
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — S.M.N. |
| Melissa Guerrero, Hannah Fidelman and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
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