Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a Passover gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
The Schmooze

Up For Grabs: Bernie Madoff’s Monogrammed Velveteen Slippers

Want to walk a day in Bernie Madoff’s shoes? Now you can. The Wall Street Journal reports that over 400 pieces of Madoff’s personal property will be sold at auction next month, including Madoff’s monogrammed velveteen slippers. Other auction items include the desk where he did business, a diamond engagement ring (reportedly 10.5 carats) and a Steinway grand piano. All of the items will be sold during a live and online auction, held in New York on November 13 by the U.S. Marshals Service.

These high-priced items were seized from Bernard Madoff’s New York City and Montauk, Long Island, homes, following his criminal prosecution last year. The first government auction of Madoff’s possessions took place one year ago; expected to bring in $500,000, it raised more than twice that amount.

Can’t make it to New York for the auction? Not to worry. An auction of items confiscated from Madoff’s Palm Beach home will likely take place in Florida once the home is sold. Even more good news: Proceeds generated from the New York auction will go to the victims of Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.