Clay Tiffany spent the late 1990s ranting into a camera on public access television in Ossining, New York, accusing local officials of corruption. Most people who knew him didn’t particularly like him. But one of his recurring targets, a police officer he called a “rogue cop” turned out to be right more than anyone expected, in a story that eventually brushed up against Jeffrey Epstein’s final days in federal custody.
Who Was Clay Tiffany?
Tiffany was a Briarcliff Manor resident who hosted a cable access show called Dirge for the Charlatans, which aired out of an Ossining studio in the late 1990s. He used the platform to call out what he saw as corruption and scandal in local government and the Briarcliff school district, naming names and rarely holding back.
He was also a perennial candidate for the Briarcliff Board of Education, running seven times without winning a seat, and he had a habit of showing up unannounced to confront officials and journalists he disagreed with.
Dirge for the Charlatans: Tiffany’s Public Access Show
The show made Tiffany a known, if divisive, figure in Westchester County. Longtime Westchester journalist Phil Reisman once described him as an iconoclastic gadfly on a quest for truth, someone who aspired to a kind of nobility even when his methods crossed the line of civility. Not everyone agreed. Tiffany’s confrontational style, including public heckling of then-DA Jeanine Pirro, made him unpopular with many residents who felt he went too far.
The Nick Tartaglione Conflict
Among Tiffany’s regular targets was Nick Tartaglione, a young Briarcliff Manor police officer. Tiffany repeatedly accused Tartaglione on air of being a rogue cop, a claim many dismissed at the time as one of Tiffany’s exaggerations.
The accusations escalated the conflict between the two men. In 1999, while Tiffany was swimming alone in the Hudson River, Tartaglione assaulted him.
From Assault to Lawsuit
Tiffany sued Tartaglione and the Briarcliff Police Department over the assault, and continued discussing the case on his show. The renewed attention led to a second, more severe beating that hospitalized Tiffany and left him with lasting injuries. The FBI opened an investigation, and Tiffany eventually won a $200,000 settlement from the village and Tartaglione. Tartaglione was fired from the police department, though he was later rehired before ultimately leaving the force.
How Tartaglione’s Story Later Intersected With Jeffrey Epstein
Years after his encounters with Tiffany, Tartaglione’s life took a far darker turn. He became involved in drug dealing upstate and was later convicted of murdering four of his drug associates; he’s now serving a life sentence.
While awaiting trial at the Manhattan Correctional Center, Tartaglione was housed in the same unit as Jeffrey Epstein in the days and weeks before Epstein’s death in his cell, which the New York City medical examiner ruled a suicide a finding that has remained a subject of public scrutiny and speculation. That overlap is what has drawn renewed attention to the Tiffany-Tartaglione story decades after it first played out on local public access television.
The “Movie Star” Connection
The story has caught the attention of Gary Cohen, an Emmy-winning producer known for documentary work on ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, who has expressed interest in developing a documentary about Tiffany, Tartaglione, and the events connecting them. Separately, actor John C. Reilly created a character for the comedy series Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule that bears a strong resemblance to Tiffany and his public access persona though the show is not a direct depiction of him.
Neither project should be mistaken for a completed film about Tiffany; as of this writing, the documentary remains in early development, contingent on locating surviving footage of his original broadcasts.
Tiffany’s Death and Legacy
Clay Tiffany died in his Ossining home in March 2015 of natural causes; he was 69 or 70 years old, and reports indicate he may have been dead for up to two weeks before he was found. Despite the public feuds and mixed reputation he built during his broadcasting years, his accusations against Tartaglione dismissed by many at the time proved to have more substance than most people gave him credit for.
FAQ
Who was Clay Tiffany?
He was a Briarcliff Manor, New York resident who hosted a public access television show called Dirge for the Charlatans in the late 1990s, using it to accuse local officials of corruption.
Why is Clay Tiffany connected to Jeffrey Epstein?
He isn’t directly. The connection runs through Nick Tartaglione, a police officer Tiffany accused of misconduct years earlier. Tartaglione was later convicted of murder and was jailed alongside Epstein shortly before Epstein’s death.
Is there a movie about Clay Tiffany?
Not yet. Documentary producer Gary Cohen has expressed interest in the story, but as of this writing, no film has been made.
Conclusion
Clay Tiffany was, by most accounts, a difficult and polarizing figure but his years of on-air accusations against a police officer he called dangerous turned out to anticipate a much darker story that later intersected with one of the most scrutinized deaths in recent memory. It’s a reminder that local, unpopular voices sometimes catch things bigger outlets miss.
7. Sources
- Yonkers Times “Clay Tiffany – Gadfly, Truthteller, Pest, Movie Star” by Dan Murphy (November 16, 2023)
- Daily Voice “Clay Tiffany, Noted Gadfly, Found Dead In Ossining” (April 3, 2015)
- Daily Voice “Quadruple Homicide Case Draws Attention To Ossining Gadfly Clay Tiffany” (December 22, 2016)
