NEW YORK (NYTimes) - David Blaine, the celebrity magician and performance artist, is "under active investigation" by the New York Police Department after two women accused him of sexual assault.

Blaine, 45, has become one of the most well-known magicians in popular culture with his mix of dangerous stunts and illusions.

He has embarked on several seemingly death-defying tasks in an effort to test his endurance and promote his television specials.

In 1999 in New York, he was buried underground in a plexiglass coffin for a week.

He hung in a glass box above the Thames River in London for 44 days in 2003.

In 2006, he tried and failed to break the Guinness world record for holding one's breath underwater by submerging himself in a tank outside Lincoln Centre.

Blaine was accused two years ago of raping a woman in London in 2004.

After an investigation, police declined to pursue further action.