Anonymous Tip Leads to Gossip Bear Recovery — No Sign of Chair

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Gossip Bar staff received an anonymous call early this evening, giving the location of the Yankee Bear snatched on 9th Avenue in the early hours of Thursday morning. The woman caller stressed: “I didn’t take it though!”

The phone call led to the recovery of the bear from near garbage bins at 404 W56th Street — just six blocks from where it was taken from outside the bar by two young women.

The two bears became a feature of the Irish bar last year after they were evicted from Yankee Stadium and Citi Field to make room for COVID testing and vaccination centers. Gossip Bar’s Teddy Bears with masks on became a Hell’s Kitchen favorite, photographed and featured around the world to show New York’s resilience and humor during the pandemic.

After our original report of the theft of the Yankee Bear, a W42ST reader shared a video showing two young women dragging the bear (and chair) along 9th Avenue in the early hours of Thursday morning past Atlas Social Club.

This evening, Kieran Greene from Gossip Bar was delighted to be reunited with the bear. There was some concern as to whether he had received any abuse during the bear-nap — especially as he was dirty and dishevilled. “He was a bit like that before,” said Greene.

When told that during the recovery operation there had been no sign of the the chair, Greene stressed: “We don’t care about the chair, we just want our bear!”