The Pros and The Con

During the 70's, the city of New York was plagued by street con artists committing swindles with losses exceeding a million dollars. The Queens confidence team consisting of NY City Detectives Ted Farce known as Backstage and Andy Camera known as Soft-Shoes, was formed to combat these crimes. At first, their focus was the borough of Queens and later encompassed the entire city of New York.

This is the true story of how Ted and Andy's ingenuity and creativity helped reduce the number of crimes dramatically. The street names were created and used as a psychological tool to instill fear into the criminals that they will be found and prosecuted. Their reputation spread to other states, creating a legacy that still exists today.

Major cases were solved with the help of their confidential informant Judith. She furnished critical, valuable information on wanted criminals. This information led to their arrests for multiple swindles after years on the run. Our Informant contacted Detective Ted Farace, Backstage, after 50 years and was instrumental in motivating him to write this true story.