Scammer Anna Delvey’s Art Work Is On Display To Help Make A Sale On Netflix’s ‘Owning Manhattan’ 

Owning Manhattan is the latest addition to Netflix’s growing empire of reality shows set in the world of luxury real estate. The show follows Ryan Serhant (formerly of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing) and a dozen hand-picked agents in his real estate brokerage, SERHANT, as they hustle to make million dollar deals all over New York City. As with any show set in the Big Apple, the city and all its eclectic residents are just as entertaining as Serhant himself.

One of New York City’s most notorious personalities gets a surprising mention in Episode 2: Anna Delvey. The notorious con artist posed as a wealthy heiress to make a name for herself in the highest circles of the city’s art scene. Over the course of four years, Anna Delvey defrauded and swindled banks, hotels, and former friends for $275K. She served four years in prison for attempted grand larceny, larceny in the second degree, and theft of services, and later became the subject of a Netflix miniseries, Inventing Anna, starring Emmy winner Julia Garner.

Let us set the scene. SHERHANT agent Jade Shenker is a rarity at the brokerage because she is interested in commercial real estate. “My goal at SERHANT is to run the best commercial division that New York has ever seen and make it sexy,” Jade shares with the audience in one of her confessionals. As Ryan Serhant observes, commercial real estate in NYC is a “20 trillion dollar industry.” So, it’s a no brainer that he would allow Shenker to pursue the field.

The building in question is a unique commercial real estate property in Hell’s Kitchen. The 11th avenue silver structure features many different sized windows and is zoned for the performing arts. A unique building needs a unique buyer, and Jade has found that in her client, Fation. While he’s impressed with the building, he isn’t impressed with the listing price of $10M. “$7M is where I’d feel comfortable,” Fation tells Jade. “Maybe $7.4M is something I’m willing to agree to.”

Even with a legitimate offer in her hand, Jade knows it’s her duty to get the seller as many offers as possible. To achieve that, she hosts a party at the building to showcase its amenities like the gorgeous views from the rooftop and a first floor perfectly set up to be an art gallery. On the night of the party, the space is covered in provocative art work. As people flood in to check out the scene, one of the agents, Jordan H, is transfixed by one painting in particular while walking the room with Jade.

The camera pans towards a wall of art featuring a familiar looking girl with caramel brown hair and thick black glasses. In one painting, the girl looks over her shoulder at a brick apartment building with a smaller, but fancier version of herself painted under the words “No one is safe.” Taking in the work, Jordan H asks Jade: “Like, who is this artist?” “That’s Anna Delvey’s art,” reveals Jade. “Seriously!” says Jordan H in disbelief. “I can’t believe that.”

In his confessional, Jordan H observes: “Jade has a very interesting collection of clientele.” As the show cuts back to Jade’s guests oohing and awing over Anna’s art, Jade has her own confessional. “I am friends with [Anna’s] manager-publicist,” explains Jade. “And through that, I’ve developed a relationship with her.” We return to the party and focus on another one of Anna Delvey’s works—a woman in a chic hooded, black trench coat on the go.

“While she was in jail, she decided to start painting,” explains Jade. She adds: “It was all over social media and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s put her paintings up, and let’s get people interested enough to get their phones out and take videos of this art.'” Like a true saleswoman, Jade knows that people putting Anna Delvey’s work on social media will also capture “the walls of this building and the lighting and the incredible ceiling height.” In that moment, it’s very clear why Jade is a rising star at SERHANT.

In the next episode, Jade meets with Fation and his wife, Cathy, for drinks and some good news. Their 7.4M offer was accept by the seller! “This will be one of many deals that we do together, I promise,” says Fation. “You definitely have my business going forward.” Jade smiles and cheers her client, basking in the knowledge she’s just earned a $444K commission on the deal. “You don’t need a boring man in a suit to sell commercial real estate,” says Jade confidently to the camera.