Timeline of New York City crimes and disasters
Encyclopedia
17th century
- 1643 - Kieft's WarKieft's WarKieft's War, also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between settlers of the nascent colony of New Netherland and the native Lenape population in what would later become the New York metropolitan area of the United States...
between LenapeLenapeThe Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
or WappingerWappingerThe Wappinger were an American tribe native to eastern New York. The term "Wappinger" may also refer to:* Wappinger, New York, the Town of Wappinger named for the tribe...
and Dutch colonists. Events partially took place within what would become the five boroughs. - 1668 - First yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemicEpidemicIn epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
in the city.
18th century
- 1703- Yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic kills more than 500 people. - September 21, 1776 - Approximately 1000 houses, a quarter of the city, are destroyed in a fireGreat Fire of New York (1776)The Great Fire of New York was a devastating fire that burned through the night of September 21, 1776 on the west side of what then constituted New York City at the southern end of the island of Manhattan...
a week after British troops captured the city during the American RevolutionAmerican RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. Arson is speculated (with George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
and the British being among those blamed) and, during a round-up of suspicious persons by British forces, Nathan HaleNathan HaleNathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...
is arrested. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1274.html - August 3, 1778 - Fire near Cruger's Wharf destroys 64 homes. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/fire/11-20/ch14pt2.html
- 1794 - Minor yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic leads to creation of Bellevue HospitalBellevue Hospital CenterBellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as "Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest public hospital in the United States. Located on First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television...
. - 1795 - Yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic kills 732 between July 19 and October 12, from a total population of about 50,000. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=194570 - December 9, 1796 - The "Coffee House Slip Fire" destroys about 50,000 structures near Murray Wharf. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/fire/11-20/ch14pt2.html
- 1798 - The "great epidemic", a major yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic, kills 2086 people from late July to November. http://web.archive.org/web/20091028154321/http://geocities.com/bobarnebeck/NYC98.html Epidemics occur in several other years, but this was the worst of them all. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=194570
19th century
- 1805 - Yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic, during which as many as 50,000 people are said to have fled the city. - May 19, 1811 - Close to 100 buildings burn down on Chatham StreetPark Row (Manhattan)Park Row is a street located in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was previously called Chatham Street and during the late 19th century it was nicknamed Newspaper Row, as most of New York City's newspapers located on the street to be close to the action at New...
. - 1819 - Yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic. - September 3, 1821 - The Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane causes a storm surge of 13 ft in one hour, leading to widespread flooding south of Canal StreetCanal Street (Manhattan)Canal Street is a major street in New York City, crossing lower Manhattan to join New Jersey in the west to Brooklyn in the east . It forms the main spine of Chinatown, and separates it from Little Italy...
, but few deaths are reported. The hurricane is estimated to have been a Category 3 event and to have made landfall at Jamaica BayJamaica BayJamaica Bay is located on the southwestern tip of Long Island in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, and the town of Hempstead, New York/hamlet of Inwood...
, making it the only hurricane in recorded history to directly strike what is now modern New York City. - 1822 - Last major outbreak of yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
in the city. - May 15, 1824 - The boiler of steamship Aetna explodes as the ship is en route in New York HarborUpper New York BayUpper New York Bay, or Upper Bay, is the traditional heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and often called New York Harbor. It is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne.It...
. At least 10 passengers are killed, and many more seriously injured. - 1832 - CholeraCholeraCholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
pandemicPandemicA pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
reaches North America. It breaks out in New York City on June 26, peaks at 100 deaths per day during July, and finally abates in December. More than 3500 people die in the city, many in the lower class neighborhoods, particularly Five Points. Another 80,000 people, one third of the population, are said to have fled the city during the epidemic. http://earlyamerica.com/review/2000_fall/1832_cholera.html http://www.virtualny.cuny.edu/cholera/1832/cholera_1832_new.html - December 16, 1835 - The New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock ExchangeThe New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
and hundreds of other buildings are destroyed by the Great FireGreat Fire of New YorkThe Great New York Fire was a conflagration that destroyed the New York Stock Exchange and most of the buildings on the southeast tip of Manhattan around Wall Street on December 16–17, 1835....
which rages for two days in the Financial District. Efforts to stop the fire are limited by sub-zero temperatures which freezes water in hoses, wells, and the East RiverEast RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
. 23 insurance companies are wiped out by the resulting claims. - July 25, 1841 - Mary Cecilia RogersMary RogersMary Cecilia Rogers , also known as the "Beautiful Cigar Girl", was a 19th-century murder victim whose story became a national sensation in the United States...
, a young woman known popularly as "The Beautiful Cigar Girl", disappeared and her dead body was found floating in the Hudson RiverHudson RiverThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
three days later. The details surrounding the case suggested she was murdered. The death of this well-known person received national attention for weeks. The story became immortalized by Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
in his story "The Mystery of Marie RogetThe Mystery of Marie Roget"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt", often subtitled A Sequel to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe written in 1842. This is the first murder mystery based on the details of a real crime. It first appeared in Snowden's Ladies' Companion in three installments, November and...
." Despite intense media interest and an attempt to solve the enigma by Poe, the crime remains one of the most puzzling unsolved murders of New York City. - 1848-1849 - CholeraCholeraCholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
outbreak begins in December 1848, its spread initially limited by winter weather. By June 1849, it reaches epidemic proportions. 5071 city residents are killed. http://www.virtualny.cuny.edu/cholera/1849/ - 1854 - CholeraCholeraCholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic kills 2509. - July 13–17, 1863 - Approximately 50,000 people riotNew York Draft RiotsThe New York City draft riots were violent disturbances in New York City that were the culmination of discontent with new laws passed by Congress to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. The riots were the largest civil insurrection in American history apart from the Civil War itself...
in protest of President Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's announcement of a draft for troops to fight in the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Over 100 are killed and many African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s flee the city. The movie Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
takes place during the draft riots. - 1866 - CholeraCholeraCholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic kills "only" 1137, its spread having been limited by the efforts of the new Metropolitan Board of Health, and enforcement of sanitation laws. http://www.virtualny.cuny.edu/cholera/1866/cholera_1866_set.html - July 30, 1871 - A boiler explosion aboard the Westfield II Staten Island FerryStaten Island FerryThe Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry service operated by the New York City Department of Transportation that runs between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island.-Overview:...
kills 125 among hundreds of Manhattanites making a weekend trip to the beaches. - December 25, 1876 - A stage lamp ignites scenery and starts the Brooklyn Theater FireBrooklyn Theater FireThe Brooklyn Theater Fire was a catastrophic theater fire that broke out on the evening of December 5, 1876 in the city of Brooklyn, New York, United States. The conflagration claimed the lives of at least 278 individuals, with some accounts reporting over 300 dead. 103 unidentified victims were...
during a performance of "The Two Orphans", killing at least 276 people, primarily patrons in the upper gallery.http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Newspaper/BSU/1876.Bklyn.Theatre.Fire.html - January 13, 1882 - A train wreck occurs just south of Spuyten Duyvil CreekSpuyten Duyvil CreekSpuyten Duyvil Creek is a channel connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal, and on to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.Spuyten...
when a local train from TarrytownTarrytown, New YorkTarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
crashes into the tail end of an express from AlbanyAlbany, New YorkAlbany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, which had stopped on the tracks to make an emergency repair. At least 10 persons were killed, including a state senator. - May 30, 1883 - A rumor that the Brooklyn BridgeBrooklyn BridgeThe Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
is going to collapse causes a stampede that kills 12. http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/wksdfl.Html - March 12–13, 1888 - The Great Blizzard of 1888Great Blizzard of 1888The Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great Blizzard of '88 was one of the most severe blizzards in United States' recorded history. Snowfalls of 40-50 inches fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and sustained winds of over produced snowdrifts in excess of...
, or "White Hurricane", paralyzes the Eastern seaboard from MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
to MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
; in New York City causing temperatures to fall as much as 60 degrees. About 21 inches (53 cm) of snow fall on the city, but enormous winds whip it into drifts as much as 20 feet deep. Regionally, over 400 people are said to have died in the storm's path. http://www.teachervision.fen.com/lesson-plans/lesson-3826.html - August 5–13, 1896 - A heat wave prostrates the city, with temperatures exceeding 90°F for nine days both day and night, with stagnant air and oppressive humidity. In all, 420 people die, mostly in crowded tenements in areas such as the Lower East SideLower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. - September 13, 1899 - Henry H. Bliss becomes the first person killed in an automobile accident in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
when he steps off a streetcar at 74th Street and Central Park WestCentral Park WestCentral Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the United States....
and is struck by a taxicabTaxicabA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
.
20th century
- January 8, 1902 - A train collision in the original Park AvenuePark Avenue (Manhattan)Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
tunnel kills 17 and injures 38. - June 15, 1904 - The General SlocumGeneral SlocumThe PS General Slocum was a passenger steamboat built at Brooklyn, New York, in 1891. The General Slocum was named for Civil War officer and New York Congressman Henry Warner Slocum. She operated in the New York City area as an excursion steamer for the next thirteen years under the same ownership...
, carrying 1300 to a picnic site on Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, catches fire while on the East RiverEast RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
alongside Astoria, QueensAstoria, QueensAstoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...
. Over 1000 passengers are killed, a major factor in the demise of the Little GermanyLittle Germany, New YorkLittle Germany, known in German as Kleindeutschland and Deutschländle and called Dutchtown by contemporary non-Germans, was a German immigrant neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City...
neighborhood. - March 14, 1905 - Fire swept through an overcrowded tenement at 105 Allen StreetAllen Street (Manhattan)Allen Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan which runs north-south through the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of Chinatown, and the Lower East Side. It is continued north of Houston Street as First Avenue, and south of Canal Street by Division Street and Pike Street. ...
on the Lower East SideLower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, killing at least twenty people and injuring numerous more. - June 25, 1906 - Stanford WhiteStanford WhiteStanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
is shot and killed by Harry Kendall Thaw at what was then Madison Square Gardens. The murder would soon be dubbed "The Crime of the Century". - August 9, 1910 - Reformist Mayor William Jay GaynorWilliam Jay GaynorWilliam Jay Gaynor was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, as well as stints as a New York Supreme Court Justice from 1893 to 1909.-Early life:Gaynor was born in Oriskany, New...
is shot in the throat in Hoboken, New JerseyHoboken, New JerseyHoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
by former city employee James Gallagher. He eventually dies in September 1913 from effects of the wound. - March 25, 1911 - 145 employees, mostly women, are killed in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fireTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fireThe Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history...
near Washington Square ParkWashington Square ParkWashington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
, some by being forced to jump from the building by the fire. http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/ - September 22, 1915 - 25 are killed during construction of IRT Subway in collapse on Seventh Avenue between 23rd and 25th Street.
- July 30, 1916 - The Black Tom explosionBlack Tom explosionThe Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916 in Jersey City, New Jersey was an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materiel from being used by the Allies in World War I.- Black Tom Island :...
set off by German saboteurs at a munitions arsenal on a small island in New York HarborNew York HarborNew York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
kills seven in Jersey City, New JerseyJersey City, New JerseyJersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
and causes damage as far as the BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
waterfront and even Times SquareTimes SquareTimes Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
. - 1918 - The "Great Influenza Pandemic" rages across the country and worldwide. On one particularly virulent October day, 851 people died in New York City alone.
- November 1, 1918 - The actions of a substitute motorman filling in during a strike lead to a subway crash in FlatbushFlatbush, BrooklynFlatbush is a community of the Borough of Brooklyn, a part of New York City, consisting of several neighborhoods.The name Flatbush is an Anglicization of the Dutch language Vlacke bos ....
. The Malbone Street WreckMalbone Street WreckThe Malbone Street Wreck, also known as the Brighton Beach Line Accident of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company , was a rapid transit railroad accident that occurred November 1, 1918, beneath the intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Ocean Avenue, and Malbone Street, in the community of Flatbush, Brooklyn...
kills 97 people heading home from work and injures a hundred more. http://www.nycsubway.org/bmt/brighton/malbone01.html - September 16, 1920 - The Wall Street bombingWall Street bombingThe Wall Street bombing occurred at 12:01 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of New York City. The blast killed 38 and seriously injured 143...
kills 38 at "the precise center, geographical as well as metaphorical, of financial America and even of the financial world." AnarchistsAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
were suspected (Sacco and VanzettiSacco and VanzettiFerdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
had been indicted just days before) but no one was ever charged with the crime. - August 24, 1928 - A subway crash caused by a defective switch below Times SquareTimes SquareTimes Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
kills 16 and injures 150. - August 6, 1930 - The disappearance of Joseph Force Crater, an Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court. He was last seen entering a New York City taxicab. Crater was declared legally dead in 1939. His mistress Sally Lou Ritz (22) disappeared a few weeks later.
- March 19, 1935 - The arrest of a shoplifter inflames racial tensions in Harlem and escalates to rioting and lootingHarlem Riot of 1935The Harlem Riot of 1935 was Harlem's first race riot, sparked off by rumors of the beating of a teenage shoplifter. Three died, hundreds were wounded and an estimated $2 million in damages were sustained to properties throughout the district, with African-American owned homes and businesses spared...
, with three killed, 125 injured and 100 arrested. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/episode6/topic4/e6_t4_s3-ra.html - August 11, 1937 - Heavy rains cause a tenement in New BrightonNew Brighton, Staten IslandNew Brighton, formerly an independent village, is today a neighborhood located on the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City, USA. The neighborhood comprises an older industrial and residential harbor front area along the Kill Van Kull west of St. George.The village of New Brighton was...
to collapse, killing 19. - September 21, 1938 - The New England Hurricane of 1938New England Hurricane of 1938The New England Hurricane of 1938 was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869...
strikes Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/38hurricane/ and continues into New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, killing 564. In New York City, ten people are killed and power is lost across upper Manhattan and the Bronx. - November 16, 1940 - "Mad Bomber" George MeteskyGeorge MeteskyGeorge P. Metesky , better known as the Mad Bomber, terrorized New York City for 16 years in the 1940s and 1950s with explosives that he planted in theaters, terminals, libraries and offices...
plants the first bomb of his 16-year campaign of public bombings. - August 1, 1943 - A race riotRace riotA race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...
erupts in Harlem after an African-American soldier is shot by the police and rumored to be killed. The incident touches off a simmering brew of racial tension, unemployment, and high prices to a day of rioting and looting. Several looters are shot dead,with blood everywhere, and about 500 persons are injured and another 500 arrested. - July 28, 1945 - A B-25 MitchellB-25 MitchellThe North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
bomber accidentally crashesB-25 Empire State Building crashThe B-25 Empire State Building crash was a 1945 aircraft accident in which a B-25 Mitchell piloted in thick fog crashed into the Empire State Building...
into the 79th floor of the Empire State BuildingEmpire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
, killing 13 people. - June 25, 1946 - Fire destroys the St. George terminal of the Staten Island FerryStaten Island FerryThe Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry service operated by the New York City Department of Transportation that runs between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island.-Overview:...
, killing 3 and injuring 280. - May 13, 1949 - Holland Tunnel fireHolland Tunnel fireThe Holland Tunnel fire occurred on the morning of Friday, May 13, 1949, in a hazardous materials truck passing through the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. The 1996 motion picture Daylight starring Sylvester Stallone, was loosely based on this...
caused by exploding truck carrying eighty 55-gallon drums of carbon disulfideCarbon disulfideCarbon disulfide is a colorless volatile liquid with the formula CS2. The compound is used frequently as a building block in organic chemistry as well as an industrial and chemical non-polar solvent...
seriously damages the tunnel's infrastructure and injures 66, with 27 hospitalized, mostly from smoke inhalation. - February 1, 1957 - Northeast Airlines Flight 823Northeast Airlines Flight 823Northeast Airlines Flight 823 was a scheduled flight departing from New York City's LaGuardia Airport en route to Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida on February 1, 1957, but crashed shortly after takeoff...
crashes on Rikers IslandRikers IslandRikers Island is New York City's main jail complex, as well as the name of the island on which it sits, in the East River between Queens and the mainland Bronx, adjacent to the runways of LaGuardia Airport. The island itself is part of the borough of the Bronx, though it is included as part of...
on takeoff from LaGuardia AirportLaGuardia AirportLaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
, killing 21 of the 101 on board. - February 3, 1959 - American Airlines Flight 320American Airlines Flight 320American Airlines Flight 320, registration N6101A, was a Lockheed L-188A Electra en route from Chicago Midway International Airport to New York City's LaGuardia Airport on February 3, 1959. It crashed into the East River on approach; 65 of the 73 on board died. It was the first crash for the...
crashes in the East RiverEast RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
on approach to LaGuardia AirportLaGuardia AirportLaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
, killing 65 of the 73 people on board. - December 16, 1960 - Mid-air collision1960 New York air disasterThe 1960 New York air disaster, also known as the Park Slope Plane Crash, was a collision on December 16, 1960, between two airliners, United Airlines Flight 826 and Trans World Airlines Flight 266 over New York City, in which Flight 266 crashed into Staten Island and 826 into Park Slope, Brooklyn...
between TWATrans World AirlinesTrans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
Flight 266 (inbound to Idlewild Airport, now JFKJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
) and United AirlinesUnited AirlinesUnited Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
Flight 826 (inbound to LaGuardia AirportLaGuardia AirportLaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
) over Miller Field, Staten Island. http://www.unfriendlyskies.com/first_chapter.html The TWA aircraft crashed at the site, killing all aboard, while the United aircraft continued flying for about eight miles until it crashed in the Park Slope section of BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, narrowly missing a school. All 134 aboard the aircraft died, along with six persons on the ground in Brooklyn. - March 1, 1962 - American Airlines Flight 1American Airlines Flight 1American Airlines Flight 1 was a domestic, scheduled passenger flight from New York International Airport , New York to Los Angeles International Airport, California that crashed shortly after take-off on 1 March 1962. All 87 passengers and eight crew died in the crash...
crashes immediately after takeoff from Idlewild Airport, killing all 95 on board. - October 3, 1962 - 23 are killed and 94 injured when an improperly maintained and operated steam boiler explodes and rips through a New York Telephone Company cafeteria at lunchtime.http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C13FF3558137A93C6A9178BD95F468685F9&scp=9&sq=telephone%2Bcompany+boiler+explosion+
- November 30, 1962 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 512Eastern Air Lines Flight 512Eastern Air Lines Flight 512 was a DC-7B flying into New York City. On November 30, 1962 it crashed during a go around after failing to land at Idlewild Airport in the fog. Out of the 51 passengers and crew on board, 25 were fatally injured....
crashes when trying to make a go-round after failing to land at Idlewild Airport in the fog. 25 of the 51 on board are killed. - April 20, 1963 - Three brush fires on Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
destroy 100 homes. - August 28, 1963 - The Career Girls MurdersCareer Girls MurdersThe "Career Girls Murders" was the name given by the media to the killings of Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie in their apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, USA on August 28, 1963...
: Emily Hoffert and Janet Wylie, two young professionals, are murdered in their Upper East SideUpper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
apartment by an intruder. Richard Robles a young white man was ultimately apprehended in 1965 after investigators erroneously arrested and forced a false confession from a black man, George Whitmore who was completely innocent of the crime. Although Whitmore was compelled to wrongfully spend many years incarcerated he was eventually released after his innocence was established, while Robles, now 64, remains in prison as of 2007.http://www.evesmag.com/wyliehoffert.htm - March 13, 1964 - Kitty GenoveseKitty GenoveseCatherine Susan "Kitty" Genovese , was a New York City woman who was stabbed to death near her home in the Kew Gardens section of Queens, New York on March 13, 1964....
is stabbed 82 times in Kew GardensKew Gardens, QueensKew Gardens is a triangular-shaped neighborhood in central Queens bounded to the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway , to the east by Van Wyck Expressway and 131st Street, to the south by Hillside Avenue, and to the west by Park Lane, Abingdon Road and 118th Street...
, QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
by Winston Moseley. The crime is witnessed by numerous people, none of whom aid Genovese or call for help. The crime is noted by psychology textbooks in later years for its demonstration of the bystander effectBystander effectThe bystander effect or Genovese syndrome is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases where individuals do not offer any means of help in an emergency situation to the victim when other people are present...
, although an article published in the New York Times in February 2004 indicated that many of the popular conceptions of the crime were instead misconceptions. http://www.oldkewgardens.com/kitty_genovese-005.html Moseley, now 72, remains incarcerated as of 2007. - July 18, 1964 - Riots break out in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
in protest over the killing of a 15-year old by a white NYPD officer. One person is killed and 100 are injured in the violence. - February 8, 1965 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 663Eastern Air Lines Flight 663Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 was a scheduled, domestic passenger flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Atlanta, Georgia, that crashed near Jones Beach State Park, New York, on February 8, 1965. Flight 663 had scheduled stopovers at John F...
crashes at Jones BeachJones Beach State ParkJones Beach State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, in the hamlet of Wantagh, on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by the Meadowbrook State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway and Ocean Parkway .The park is renowned for...
when after takeoff from JFKJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
it is forced to evade inbound PanAmPan American World AirwaysPan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
Flight 212. All 84 on board are killed. - February 21, 1965 - Black nationalistBlack nationalismBlack nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
leader Malcolm XMalcolm XMalcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
is assassinated at the Audubon BallroomAudubon BallroomThe Audubon Ballroom was a theatre and ballroom located on Broadway at 165th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, north of Harlem in New York. It is best known as the site of Malcolm X's assassination on February 21, 1965....
by three members of the Nation of IslamNation of IslamThe Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
. - November 9, 1965 - New York City is affected as part of the Northeast Blackout of 1965Northeast Blackout of 1965The Northeast blackout of 1965 was a significant disruption in the supply of electricity on November 9, 1965, affecting Ontario, Canada and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, and New Jersey in the United States...
. - October 17, 1966 - A fire across 23rd St. from Madison SquareMadison SquareMadison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the principal author of the United States Constitution.The focus of the square is...
kills 12 members of the New York City Fire DepartmentNew York City Fire DepartmentThe New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...
when a floor collapses beneath them. It was the worst day in the FDNY's history until September 11, 2001.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/nyregion/17fire.html?ex=1318737600&en=c453cd041a693984&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss - October 8, 1967 - James "Groovy" Hutchinson, 21, an East Village hippie/stoner, and Linda Fitzpatrick, 18, a newly-converted flower child from a wealthy Greenwich, ConnecticutGreenwich, ConnecticutGreenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
family, are found bludgeoned to death at 169 Avenue B, an incident dubbed "The Groovy Murders" by the press. Two drifters later plead guilty to the murders. http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,902103,00.html - July 3, 1968 - BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n immigrant and Neo-Nazi, Angel Angelof, opens fire from a lavatory roof in Central ParkCentral ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, killing a 24-year old woman and an 80-year old man before being gunned down by the police.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,712127,00.html - June 28, 1969 - A questionable police raid on the Stonewall InnStonewall InnThe Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall is an American bar in New York City and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United...
, a Greenwich VillageGreenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
gayGayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
bar, is resisted by the patrons and leads to a riotStonewall riotsThe Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
. The event helps inspire the founding of the modern gay rights movement. - March 6, 1970 - Greenwich Village townhouse explosionGreenwich Village townhouse explosionThe Greenwich Village townhouse explosion was the premature detonation of a bomb as it was being assembled by members of the American radical left group, Weatherman – later renamed the Weather Underground – in the basement of a townhouse at 18 West 11th Street between Fifth Avenue and...
: Three members of the domestic terrorist group the WeathermenWeatherman (organization)Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
are killed when a nail bombNail bombThe nail bomb is an anti-personnel explosive device packed with nails to increase its wounding ability. The nails act as shrapnel, leading almost certainly to greater loss of life and injury in inhabited areas than the explosives alone would. The nail bomb is also a type of flechette weapon...
they were building accidentally explodes in the basement of a townhouse on 18 West 11th Street.http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/brinks/1.html - May 21, 1971 - Two NYPD officers, Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini,are gunned down in ambush by members of the Black Liberation ArmyBlack Liberation ArmyThe Black Liberation Army was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981...
in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. The gunmen, Herman Bell and Anthony Bottom, still in prison as of 2007, were rearrested in jail in connection with the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer.http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/24/COPKILLED.TMP - April 7, 1972 - Mob Boss Joey Gallo is gunned down at Umberto's Clam House in Little ItalyLittle Italy, ManhattanLittle Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
. The incident serves as the inspiration for the Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's epic "Joey" recorded in 1975. - August 22, 1972 - John WojtowiczJohn WojtowiczJohn Stanley Wojtowicz was an American bank robber whose story inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.-Background:...
and Salvatore Natuarale hold up a Brooklyn bank for 14-hours, in a bid to get cash to pay for Wojtowicz' gay lover's sex change operation. The scheme fails when the cops arrive, leading to a tense 14-hour standoff. Natuarale is killed by the police at JFK Airport. The incident served as the basis for the 1975 film Dog Day AfternoonDog Day AfternoonDog Day Afternoon is a 1975 drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Frank Pierson, and produced by Martin Bregman. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, Penny Allen, James Broderick, and Carol Kane. The title refers to the "dog days of summer".The film was...
. - February 10, 1973 - 40 workers are killed in an explosion while cleaning an empty LNG tank in Bloomfield, Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. http://www.silive.com/specialreports/index.ssf/2011/03/lng_explosion_kills_40_destroy.html - March 3, 1973 - The 102-year-old Broadway Central Hotel at 673 BroadwayBroadway (New York City)Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
collapses, killing four residents. - January 24, 1975 - Fraunces TavernFraunces TavernFraunces Tavern is a tavern, restaurant and museum housed in a conjectural reconstruction of a building that played a prominent role in pre-Revolution and American Revolution history. The building, located at 54 Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street, has been owned by Sons of the Revolution in...
, a historical site in lower Manhattan is bombed by the FALN killing 4 people and wounding more than 50. - June 24, 1975 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 66Eastern Air Lines Flight 66Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, a Boeing 727-225 with registration number N8845E, departed from New Orleans Moisant Field, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport on the afternoon of June 24, 1975. The aircraft carried 124 persons, including 116 passengers and 8 crew.As the aircraft was on its...
from New Orleans strikes the runway lights at Kennedy airportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
, probably due to wind shearWind shearWind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
. 113 of the 124 people on board are killed. http://www.super70s.com/Super70s/Tech/Aviation/Disasters/75-06-24(Eastern).asp - December 29, 1975 - A bomb explodes in the baggage claim area of the TWATwaThe Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....
terminal at LaGuardia AirportLaGuardia AirportLaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
, killing 11 and injuring 74. The perpetrators were never identified. http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/12/24/ctv.laguardia/ - July 29, 1976 - David BerkowitzDavid BerkowitzDavid Richard Berkowitz , also known as Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer and arsonist whose crimes terrorized New York City from July 1976 until his arrest in August 1977.Shortly after his arrest in August 1977, Berkowitz confessed to killing six people and...
(aka the "Son of Sam") kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks that terrorized the city for the next year. - November 25, 1976 - NYPD officer Robert Torsney fatally shoots unarmed 15-year old Randolph EvansRandolph EvansRandolph Evans was a 15-year old Brooklyn boy who was shot and killed by NYPD officer Robert Torsney on November 26, 1976. Evans was a ninth-grader at Franklin K...
in Cypress HillsCypress Hills, BrooklynCypress Hills is a sub-section of the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, lying north of City Line and south of Cypress Hills Cemetery, in the far northeastern corner of Brooklyn. It is abutted on the west by Bushwick and on the east, across the Brooklyn–Queens border, by...
, BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Torsney is found not guilty by reason of insanity the following year and is released from a mental hospital in 1979. - May 16, 1977 - A New York Airways helicopter idling at the helipad on the MetLife BuildingMetLife BuildingThe MetLife Building, originally called the Pan Am Building, is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
- then the PanAm Building - toppled over and its rotor blade sheared off. The blade killed four people on the roof and then fell over the edge and down 59 stories and a block over to Madison Avenue where it killed a pedestrian. - May 25, 1977 - A fire at the Everard Baths at 28 West 28th St. in Manhattan killed 9 patrons.
- July 13–14, 1977 - New York City again loses power in the blackout of 1977New York City blackout of 1977The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout affected most of New York City from July 13, 1977 to July 14, 1977. The only neighborhoods in New York City that were not affected were in southern Queens, and neighborhoods of the Rockaways, which are part of the Long Island Lighting...
. Unlike the previous blackout twelve years earlier, this blackout is followed by widespread rioting and looting. Many neighborhoods, most notably Bushwick, were almost completely devastated. - October 12, 1977 - "Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning." During Game 2 of the 1977 World Series1977 World Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1977 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe Dodgers drew first blood off Don Gullett in the first when Davey Lopes walked and scored on a Bill Russell triple. Ron Cey made it 2–0 on a sacrifice fly...
between the New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and the Los Angeles DodgersLos Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, a fire rages out of control at an abandoned elementary school near Yankee Stadium. The images and a dramatic statement on national television by sportscaster Howard CosellHoward CosellHoward William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
is widely seen as the symbolic nadir of a dark period in city history. The story of 1977 in New York City is later featured in such works as the movie Summer of SamSummer of SamSummer of Sam is a 1999 crime-drama based around the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.-Plot:Summer of Sam is the story of a group of people in New York City in the summer of 1977, a time when the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer...
by Spike LeeSpike LeeShelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
and the non-fiction book Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City by Jonathan Mahler. - October 12, 1978 - Sid ViciousSid ViciousSid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
allegedly stabs his girlfriend Nancy SpungenNancy SpungenNancy Laura Spungen was the American girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. Spungen has been the subject of controversy among music historians and fans of the Sex Pistols.-Early life:...
to death in their room in the Hotel ChelseaHotel ChelseaThe Hotel Chelsea, also known as the Chelsea Hotel, or simply the Chelsea, is a historic New York City hotel and landmark, known primarily for its history of notable residents...
. - May 25, 1979 - Six year-old Etan PatzEtan PatzEtan Kalil Patz was a kidnapped American child. He was 6 years old when he disappeared in lower Manhattan, New York on May 25, 1979. At the time, news coverage of Patz's disappearance was made into a media circus in the New York City area. He is arguably the most famous missing child of New York...
vanishes after leaving his SoHoSoHoSoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
apartment to walk to his school bus alone. Despite a massive search by the NYPD the boy is never found, and was declared legally dead in 2001.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DE1330F937A15755C0A9679C8B63 - March 14, 1980 - Ex-Congressman Allard Lowenstein is assassinated in his law offices at Rockefeller CenterRockefeller CenterRockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
by Dennis SweeneyDennis SweeneyDennis Sweeney was an anti-Vietnam War protestor and civil rights activist in the 1960s. He worked with SNCC in their voter registration drives in Mississippi...
, a deranged ex-associate.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D81230F934A35752C1A965958260&sec=&pagewanted=4 - December 8, 1980 - Ex-Beatle John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
is murdered in front of his home in The DakotaThe DakotaThe Dakota, constructed from October 25, 1880 to October 27, 1884, is a co-op apartment building located on the northwest corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City...
. - June 22, 1982 - Willie TurksWillie TurksWillie Turks was a subway car maintenance worker who was fatally beaten by a white mob in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, New York...
, an African-American 34-year old MTAMetropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
worker is set upon and killed by a white mob in the Gravesend section of BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. 18-year old Gino Bova was convicted of second-degree manslaughterManslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
in 1983. - October 29, 1984 - 66-year old Eleanor BumpursEleanor BumpursEleanor Bumpurs was an African-American woman who was shot dead on October 29, 1984, by police officers called to assist her city-ordered eviction from her apartment in the Bronx. The New York City Housing Authority was evicting her because she was four months behind in her rent of $96.85 per month...
is shot and killed by police as they tried to evict her from her Bronx apartment. Bumpurs, who was mentally ill, was wielding a knife and had slashed one of the officers. The shooting provoked heated debate about police racism and brutality. - December 22, 1984 - Bernhard GoetzBernhard GoetzBernhard Goetz is an American man best known for shooting four young African American men who tried to mug him on a New York City Subway train, resulting in his conviction for illegal possession of a firearm. He came to symbolize New Yorkers’ frustrations with the high crime rates of the early...
shoots four men on a subway who tried to rob him, generating weeks of headlines and many discussions about crime and vigilantism in the media. - December 16, 1985 - Mob boss Paul CastellanoPaul CastellanoConstantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
is shot dead in a gangland execution on E. 46th Street in Manhattan. - July 7, 1986 - A deranged man, Juan Gonzalez, wielding a machete kills 2 and wounds 9 on the Staten Island FerryStaten Island FerryThe Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry service operated by the New York City Department of Transportation that runs between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island.-Overview:...
. In 2000 Gonzalez was granted unsupervised leave from his residence at the Bronx Psychiatric Hospital.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9506E5DC123DF935A15750C0A9669C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fS%2fSwords - August 26, 1986 - The preppie murder: Jennifer Levin an 18-year old student is murdered by Robert Chambers in Central ParkCentral ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
after the two had left a bar to have sex in the park. The case was sensationalized in the press and raised issues over victims' rights, as Chambers' attorney attempted to smear Levin's reputation to win his client's freedom. - November 19, 1986 - 20-year old Larry Davis (criminal)Larry Davis (criminal)Larry Davis , who changed his name to Adam Abdul-Hakeem in 1989, was a New Yorker who shot six New York City police officers on November 19, 1986 when they raided his sister's Bronx apartment. The police said that the raid was executed in order to question Davis about the killing of four suspected...
opens fire on NYPD officers attempting to arrest him in his sister's apartment in the Bronx. Six officers were wounded, and Davis eluded capture for the next 17 days, during which time he became something of a folk hero in the neighborhood. - December 20, 1986 - A white mob in Howard Beach, Queens, attacks three African-American men whose car had broken down in the largely white neighborhood. One of the men, Michael Griffith is chased onto Shore Parkway where is he hit and killed by a passing car. The killing prompted several tempestuous marches through the neighborhood led by Al SharptonAl SharptonAlfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
. - May 19, 1987 - 11-year old Juan Perez is mauled and killed by two polar bears after he and his friends sneak into their enclosure at the Prospect Park ZooProspect Park ZooThe Prospect Park Zoo is a zoo located off Flatbush Avenue on the eastern side of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York City. Its precursor, the Menagerie, opened in 1890. The present facility first opened as a city zoo on July 3, 1935 and was part of a larger revitalization program of city parks,...
that night.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6D91538F934A15756C0A961948260&n=Top%2fNews%2fScience%2fTopics%2fZoos - July 9, 1987 - 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger, a girl afflicted with Down SyndromeDown syndromeDown syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
, is abductedKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
and murdered in Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
by a sex offender and suspected mass murderer, Andre Rand. - November 2, 1987 - Joel SteinbergJoel SteinbergJoel Steinberg , a former New York criminal defense attorney, attracted international media attention when he was accused of murder and convicted of manslaughter in the November 1, 1987, death of a six-year-old girl, Elizabeth , whom he and his live-in partner Hedda Nussbaum had illegally adopted...
and his lover Hedda NussbaumHedda NussbaumHedda Nussbaum is an American woman who was the caretaker for a six-year old girl who died of physical abuse in 1987. The death of the girl, known as Lisa Steinberg, sparked a lengthy and controversial trial and media frenzy...
are arrested for the beating and neglect of their 6-year old adopted daughter Lisa Steinberg who died two days later from her injuries. The case provoked outrage that did not subside when Steinberg was released from prison in 2004 after serving 15 years. - April 14, 1989 - Trisha MeiliTrisha MeiliThe Central Park Jogger case involved an assault and rape that took place in New York City's Central Park on April 19, 1989. The victim was Trisha Meili. Five juvenile males were tried and convicted for the crime...
(aka the Central Park Jogger) is violently raped and beaten while jogging in Central ParkCentral ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. The crime is later attributed to a group of young men who were practicing an activity they called "wilding". However, DNA evidence later proved the originally charged teens innocent; a convicted serial rapist confessed to the crime. - August 23, 1989 - Yusuf Hawkins an African-American 16-year old student is set upon and murdered by a white mob in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in one of the city's worst-ever racial attacks.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE0DB113AF933A25752C1A967958260&pagewanted=print - January 25, 1990 - Avianca Flight 52Avianca Flight 52Avianca Flight 52 was a regularly scheduled flight from Bogotá to New York via Medellín, Colombia. On Thursday, January 25, 1990, the aircraft performing this flight, a Boeing 707-321B registered as , crashed into the village of Cove Neck, Long Island, New York after running out of fuel...
to Kennedy airportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
crashes at Cove Neck, Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, after missing an approach and then running out of fuel. 73 of 158 passengers are killed. - March 7, 1990 - 12-year old Haitian immigrant David Opont is mugged and set on fire by a 14-year old assailant, who remained anonymous because he was tried as a minor. The attack created an outpouring of support throughout the city for Opont who eventually recovered from his burns. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0DB1339F934A35757C0A965958260&sec=health&pagewanted=print
- March 8, 1990 - The first of the copycat Zodiac Killer Heriberto SedaHeriberto SedaHeriberto "Eddie" Seda is an American serial killer who struck New York City from 1990 to 1993. Before being caught on June 18, 1996, Seda killed three people and critically wounded four. Seda is believed to have admired San Francisco’s Zodiac Killer for avoiding capture. Seda was convicted in...
's eight shooting victims is wounded in an attack in Brooklyn. Between 1990 and 1993, Seda will wound 5 and kill 3 in his serial attacks. He is captured in 1996 and convicted in 1998. - March 25, 1990 - Arson at the Happyland Social Club at 1959 Southern Boulevard in the East Tremont section of the Bronx kills 87 people unable to escape the packed dance club. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/happyland/
- September 2, 1990 - UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
tourist Brian Watkins is stabbed to death in the Seventh Avenue - 53rd Street station by a gang of youths. Watkins was visiting New York with his family to attend the US OpenU.S. Open (tennis)The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
Tennis tournament in Queens, when he was killed defending his family from a gang of muggers. The killing marked a low point in the record murder year of 1990 and led to an increased police presence in New York.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2DD1F31F937A15754C0A964958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fS%2fSubways - November 5, 1990 - Rabbi Meir KahaneMeir KahaneMartin David Kahane , also known as Meir Kahane , was an American-Israeli rabbi and ultra-nationalist writer and political figure. He was an ordained Orthodox rabbi and later served as a member of the Israeli Knesset...
, founder of the Jewish Defense LeagueJewish Defense LeagueThe Jewish Defense League is a Jewish organization whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"...
, is assassinated at the MarriottMarriott InternationalMarriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
East Side Hotel at 48th Street and Lexington Avenue by El Sayyid NosairEl Sayyid NosairEl Sayyid Nosair is an Egyptian-born American citizen, convicted of involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing...
. - August 19, 1991 - A Jewish automobile driver accidentally kills a seven-year-old African-American boy, thereby touching off the Crown Heights riots, during which an Australian Jew, Yankel Rosenbaum, was fatally stabbed by Lemrick NelsonLemrick NelsonLemrick Nelson, Jr. is an African-American man who stabbed Hasidic student Yankel Rosenbaum to death during the racial unrest of the 1991 Crown Heights riot...
. - August 28, 1991 - A 4 train4 (New York City Subway service)The 4 Lexington Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored green on station signs, route signs, and the official subway map, since it uses the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in Manhattan....
crashes just north of 14th Street – Union Square, killing 5 people. MotormanMotormanA motorman is the person who operates an electrified trolley car, tram, light rail, or rapid transit train.The term refers to the person who is in charge of the motor in the same sense as a railroad engineer is in charge of the engine. The term was gender-neutral...
Robert Ray, who was intoxicated, fell asleep at the controls and was convicted of manslaughter in 1992.http://www.peele.net/lib/asleep.html - December 28, 1991 - Nine people were crushed to death trying to enter the Nat HolmanNat HolmanNat Holman was one of the early pro basketball players and one of the game's most important innovators.-Career:...
gymnasium at CCNY. The crowd was trying to gain entry to a celebrity basketball game featuring hip-hop and rap performers including Heavy D and Sean CombsSean CombsSean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00EEDD1038F937A15750C0A96E958260&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss - March 22, 1992 - Ice buildup without subsequent de-icing causes US Airways Flight 405 to crash on takeoff from LaGuardia AirportLaGuardia AirportLaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
. 27 of the 51 on board are killed. - December 10–13, 1992 - A noreaster strikes the US Mid-Atlantic coast. The storm surge causes extensive flooding along the city shoreline.
- December 17, 1992 - Patrick Daly, Principal of P.S. 15 in Red Hook, BrooklynRed Hook, BrooklynRed Hook is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6. It is also the location where the transatlantic liner, the , docks in New York City.- History :...
is killed in the crossfire of a drug-related shooting while looking for a pupil who had left his school. The school was later renamed the Patrick Daly school after the beloved principal. http://www.brooklynda.org/Redhook/red_hook.htm - February 26, 1993 - A bomb planted by terrorists explodes in the World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
's underground garage, killing six people and injuring over a thousand, as well as causing much damage to the basement. See: World Trade Center bombing - June 6, 1993 - The Golden VentureGolden VentureOn June 6, 1993, at around 2 a.m., the Golden Venture — a ship bearing 286 illegal immigrants from China along with 13 crew members — ran aground on Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York after a mutiny by the smugglers. The ship had set sail from Thailand, stopped in Kenya and circled the...
, a freighter carrying 286 illegal immigrants from ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
runs aground a quarter-mile off the coast of Rockaway, QueensRockaway, QueensThe Rockaway Peninsula, informally The Rockaways, is the name of a peninsula of Long Island, all of which is located within the New York City borough of Queens. A popular summer resort area since the 1830s, Rockaway has become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods...
killing 10 passengers.http://www.eastwestmagazine.com/content/view/62/40/ - December 7, 1993 - Colin Ferguson shoots 25 passengers, killing six, on a Long Island Rail RoadLong Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
commuter train out of Penn Station. - March 1, 1994 - 1994 New York school bus shooting - Rashid BazRashid BazRashid Baz is a Lebanese-born immigrant and convicted murderer who, in the Brooklyn Bridge shooting, shot and killed 16-year old Ari Halberstam on March 1, 1994, while driving on the ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge .-The Shooting:While driving on the approach ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge from the FDR...
a Lebanese-born Arab immigrant opens fire on a van carrying members of the Lubavitch Hasidic sect of Jews driving on the Brooklyn BridgeBrooklyn BridgeThe Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
. A 16-year old student, Ari HalberstamAri HalberstamAri Halberstam was a yeshiva student from a distinguished family associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, who was killed in a terrorist shooting in New York City....
later dies of his wounds. Baz was apparently acting out of revenge for the Cave of the Patriarchs massacreCave of the Patriarchs massacreThe Cave of the Patriarchs massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred when Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler and member of the far-right Israeli Kach movement, opened fire on unarmed Palestinian Muslims praying inside the Ibrahim Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs site in Hebron in the...
in HebronHebronHebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
, West BankWest BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
.http://www.arihalberstam.com/php/1.php - August 31, 1994 - William TagerWilliam TagerWilliam Tager is a Charlotte, North Carolina, man who murdered NBC employee Campbell Montgomery because of his belief that television networks were watching him and sending him signals...
shoots and kills Campbell Theron Montgomery, a technician employed by NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, outside of the stage of the Today show. Tager is also identified as one of possibly two men who assaulted CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
anchor Dan RatherDan RatherDaniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
on Park AvenuePark Avenue (Manhattan)Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
in 1986. - December 22, 1994 - Anthony BaezAnthony BaezAnthony Ramon Baez was a 29-year old security guard who died on December 22, 1994. His death occurred early in the morning on Cameron Place in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx, New York. The fatal encounter began when the man, Anthony Baez, and his brothers hit a police car more than once with...
, a 29-year old Bronx man dies after being placed in an illegal chokehold by NYPD officer Francis X. Livoti. Livoti is sentenced to 7 and a half years in 1998 for violating Baez' civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
.http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9841,morales2,686,5.html - December 8, 1995 - A long racial dispute in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
over the eviction of an African-American record store-owner by a Jewish proprieter ends in murder and arson. 51-year old Roland Smith, Jr., angry over the proposed eviction, set fire to Freddie's Fashion Mart on 125th Street125th Street (Manhattan)125th Street is a two-way street that runs east-west in the New York City borough of Manhattan, considered the "Main Street" of Harlem; It is also called Martin Luther King, Jr...
and opened fire on the store's employees, killing 7 and wounding four. Smith also perished in the blaze.http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/12/09/MN74133.DTL - March 4, 1996 - Second Avenue DeliSecond Avenue DeliThe Second Avenue Deli is a certified-kosher delicatessen in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It relocated to 162 East 33rd Street in December 2007...
owner Abe Lebewohl is shot and killed during a robbery. The murder of this popular deli owner and East VillageEast Village, ManhattanThe East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
fixture remains unsolved as of 2007.http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1998/099817.shtml - June 4, 1996 - 22-year old drifter John Royster brutally beats a 32-year old female piano teacher in Central ParkCentral ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, the first in a series of attacks over a period of eight days. Royster would go on to brutally beat another woman in ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, rape a woman in Yonkers and beat a woman, Evelyn Alvarez to death on Park AvenuePark Avenue (Manhattan)Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
on the Upper East SideUpper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
of Manhattan. In 1998 Royster was sentenced to life in prison without parole.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C03E0DA113BF930A25752C1A960958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fA%2fAlvarez%2c%20Evelyn - July 17, 1996 - TWA Flight 800TWA Flight 800Trans World Airlines Flight 800 , a Boeing 747-131, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 20:31 EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 persons on board. At the time, it was the second-deadliest U.S...
departs Kennedy airportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
and crashes in the Atlantic OceanAtlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
south of Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, killing all 230 people on board. http://www.ntsb.gov/events/twa800/ - February 23, 1997 - Abu Ali Kamal, a 69-year old PalestinianPalestinian peopleThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
immigrant opens fire on the observation deck of the Empire State BuildingEmpire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
, killing one and wounding six before taking his own life.http://www.s-t.com/daily/02-97/02-25-97/a05wn036.htm In 2007 Kamal's daughter told the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
that the shooting was politically motivated.http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/498674p-420269c.html - May 30, 1997 - Jonathan Levin a Bronx teacher and son of former Time WarnerTime WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
CEO Gerald Levin is robbed and murdered by his former student Corey Arthur.http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/11/nyregion/maximum-term-in-slaying-of-teacher.html?ref=coreyarthur - August 9, 1997- Abner LouimaAbner LouimaAbner Louima is a Haitian who was assaulted, brutalized and forcibly sodomized with the handle of a bathroom plunger by New York City police officers after being arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997....
is beaten and sodomized with a plunger at the 70th precinct house in Brooklyn by several NYPD officers led by Justin Volpe. - November 7, 1997 - A Manhattan couple, Camden Sylvia, 36, and Michael Sullivan, 54, disappear from their loft at 76 Pearl Street in Manhattan after arguing with their landlord over a lack of heat in their apartment. The landlord, Robert Rodriguez, pleaded guilty to tax evasion, larceny and credit card fraud following the missing persons investigation. The couple is presumed dead.http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/27/nyregion/landlord-of-missing-manhattan-couple-to-be-paroled-in-month.html
- September 2, 1998 - Swissair Flight 111Swissair Flight 111Swissair Flight 111 was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland...
departs Kennedy airportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
and crashes off the coast of Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. - January 3, 1999 - 32-year old Kendra Webdale is killed after being pushed in front of an oncoming subway car at the 23rd Street (BMT Broadway Line)23rd Street (BMT Broadway Line)23rd Street is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 23rd Street, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, it is served by the N train at all times and the R train at all times except late nights....
station by Andrew Goldstein, a 29-year old schizophrenic. The case ultimately led to the passage of Kendra's LawKendra's LawKendra's Law, effective since November 1999, is a New York State law concerning involuntary outpatient commitment. It grants judges the authority to issue orders that require people who meet certain criteria to regularly undergo psychiatric treatment. Failure to comply could result in commitment...
. - February 4, 1999 - Unarmed African immigrant Amadou Bailo Diallo is shot and killed by 4 New York City police officers, sparking massive protests against police brutalityPolice brutalityPolice brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
and racial profilingRacial profilingRacial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
. - March 8, 1999 - Amy WatkinsAmy WatkinsAmy Watkins was a social worker from Topeka, Kansas, who was murdered while walking down the street on March 8, 1999, in Brooklyn, New York. Her death sparked widespread dismay in New York City, where the murder rate had been steadily dropping since 1990, and days later 300 marchers expressed...
a 26-year old social worker from KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
who worked with battered women in the Bronx, is stabbed to death in a botched robbery near her home in Prospect Heights, BrooklynProspect Heights, BrooklynProspect Heights is a neighborhood in the northwest of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The traditional boundaries are Flatbush Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway to the south, and Washington Avenue to the east...
. Her two assailants were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. http://tspweb02.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/07-02-01/2001070203_s01_NY.html - October 31, 1999 - EgyptAir Flight 990EgyptAir Flight 990EgyptAir Flight 990 was a regularly scheduled flight from Los Angeles International Airport, California to Cairo International Airport, Egypt, with a stop at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York...
departs Kennedy airportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
and crashes off the coast of Nantucket. http://www.ntsb.gov/events/EA990/ - May 24, 2000 - Five employees of a Flushing, QueensFlushing, QueensFlushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
, Wendy'sWendy'sWendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
restaurant are killed and two are seriously wounded during a robbery that netted the killers $2,400. The incident was dubbed the Wendy's MassacreWendy's MassacreThe Wendy's Massacre was a shooting spree that took place in a Wendy's fast-food restaurant at 40-12 Main Street in Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, on May 24, 2000.-Robbery and killing of employees:...
due to the brutal nature of the killings.
21st century
- May 10, 2001 - Three people are killed and two are wounded during a robbery in the apartment of actress Jennifer Stahl above the Carnegie DeliCarnegie DeliThe Carnegie Deli is a restaurant located in midtown Manhattan on 7th Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets and was opened in 1937 adjacent to Carnegie Hall. Now in the third generation of owners, the Parker family's delicatessen is among the most visited restaurants of its type in the city,...
in Manhattan. The victims were bound and shot point-blank in the head.http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=22407 - September 11, 2001 - The two 110-story World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
towers and several surrounding buildings are destroyed by two jetliners in part of a coordinated terrorist attackSeptember 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
by radical Terrorists ("9/11"). In 2004, the count of the dead in New York City alone from the 9/11 attacks is set at over 2,600 people. - November 12, 2001 - American Airlines Flight 587American Airlines Flight 587American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, a borough of New York City, New York, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on November 12, 2001. This is the second deadliest U.S...
crashes into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
shortly after takeoff from Kennedy airportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
, killing all 265 on board and five persons on the ground.http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2001/AA587/ - July 23, 2003 - Othniel Askew shoots to death political rival City Council member James E. Davis in the City HallNew York City HallNew York City Hall is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. The building is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as...
chambers of the New York City CouncilNew York City CouncilThe New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
. - August 14, 2003 - New York loses power in a blackout that affects eight states as well as parts of Canada.
- October 15, 2003 - 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash2003 Staten Island Ferry crashOn October 15, 2003, at 3:21 p.m., the Staten Island Ferry vessel Andrew J. Barberi crashed full-speed into a concrete pier at the St. George ferry terminal. Eleven people were killed and 71 injured, some critically.-The accident:...
: The Staten Island FerryStaten Island FerryThe Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry service operated by the New York City Department of Transportation that runs between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island.-Overview:...
boat Andrew J. BarberiAndrew J. BarberiThe MV Andrew J. Barberi is one of two Barberi-class ferry boats operated as part of the Staten Island Ferry between Manhattan and Staten Island in New York City....
collides with a pier at the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island, killing ten people and injuring 43 others.http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2003/Barberi/ - January 27, 2005 - Nicole duFresneNicole duFresneNicole duFresne was a Minnesota-born playwright and actress. She was murdered on a sidewalk on Manhattan's Lower East Side when seven youths accosted and mugged a group consisting of duFresne, her fiancé Jeffrey Sparks, her close friend Mary Jane Gibson, and Gibson's boyfriend Scott Nath sometime...
an aspiring actress is shot dead in the Lower East SideLower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
section of Manhattan after being accosted by a gang of youths.http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0506,murphy,60897,6.html - June 16, 2005 - 15-year-old Phoenix Garrett is shot to death by 13-year-old L'mani Delima for allegedly selling bootleg Dipset Crew CDs. Delima is convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to nine years to life. On May 15, 2009, 33-year-old Carlos Thompson, accused of providing the gun and ordering the killing, is captured. He was sentenced in a plea deal to twelve years imprisonment and five years post-release supervision for manslaughter on June 9, 2010. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/05/24/2008-05-24_rap_thug_lands_on_wanted_list_in_slay.htmlhttp://www.amw.com/captures/brief.cfm?id=55482http://nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us/GCA00P00/WIQ1/WINQ000
- October 31, 2005 - Peter BraunsteinPeter BraunsteinPeter Braunstein is a former New York City-based journalist, writer, and playwright who became infamous for committing an October 31, 2005 sexual assault and leading police on a multi-state manhunt until his capture and self-injury in Memphis, Tennessee on December 16, 2005.Dubbed the "halloween...
sexually assaults a co-worker while posing as a fireman, later leading officials on a multi-state manhunt. - January 11, 2006 - seven year-old Nixzmary BrownNixzmary BrownNixzmary Brown was a seven-year-old abused child and murder victim from the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn section of New York City, New York...
dies after being beaten by her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, in their Brooklyn apartment. Rodriguez was convicted of first-degree manslaughterManslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
in March, 2008.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/nyregion/19nixzmary.html?em&ex=1206072000&en=4f8face1d3fe3b2b&ei=5087%0A - February 25, 2006 - Criminology graduate student Imette St. GuillenImette St. GuillenImette Carmella St. Guillen was an American graduate student of Venezuelan and French Canadian descent who was brutally raped and murdered. She was studying criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City at the time of her death...
is brutally tortured, raped, and killed in New York City after being abducted outside the Falls bar in the SoHo section of Manhattan. Bouncer Darryl Littlejohn is convicted of the crime.http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_251160604.html - April 1, 2006 - New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU) student Broderick Hehman is killed after being hit by a car in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. Hehman was chased into the street by a group of black teens who allegedly shouted "get the white boy." The death of Hehman echoed the death of Michael Griffith (manslaughter victim) 20 years earlier in Queens.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/15/nyregion/15student.html - May 29, 2006 - Jeff Gross, founder of the Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
communeCommune (intentional community)A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
GanasGanasGanas is an intentional community founded in 1979 in Tompkinsville, Staten Island.Ganas has non-egalitarian, tiered membership groups, and is thus a partial member at the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. The community uses a group problem-solving process called "Feedback Learning", which was...
is shot and wounded by former commune member Rebekah Johnson. Johnson was captured in Philadelphia on June 18, 2007 after being featured on America's Most WantedAmerica's Most WantedAmerica's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
.http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1182340841159020.xml&coll=1 - July 10, 2006 - 66-year old RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n immigrant Dr. Nicholas Bartha commits suicide by blowing up his townhouseTownhouseA townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
at 34 East 62nd Street in ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
while in the basement of the building. Bartha chose to demolish his home rather than relinquish it to his ex-wife as ordered by the courts.http://nymag.com/news/features/18474/index.html - July 12, 2006 - a van carrying mentally disabled residents of the Brooklyn Manor home crashes into a tree on Cross Bay BoulevardCross Bay BoulevardCross Bay Boulevard is the main north–south road in Howard Beach, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. In the south, it originates in The Rockaways, runs over the Cross Bay Bridge into Broad Channel and then over the Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge into Howard Beach...
, killing five.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/nyregion/13crash.html?ex=1310443200&en=930fe71907ad9f97&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss - July 25, 2006 - Jennifer Moore, an 18-year old student from New Jersey is abducted and killed after a night of drinking at a ChelseaChelsea, ManhattanChelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
bar. Her body is found outside a Weehawken motel. 35-year old Draymond Coleman is arrested in connection with the crime.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/28/national/main1844264.shtml - August 28, 2006 - Matthew Colletta, a 34-year old man suffering from mental illness goes on a shooting spree in Queens, NY. One man is killed and five are wounded before Colletta is apprehended by the NYPD in Queens early the next morning.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/nyregion/06mbrfs-006.html?ex=1183867200&en=b5102d5b4b9708bd&ei=5070
- October 8, 2006 - Michael Sandy, a 29-year old man is hit by a car on the Belt ParkwayBelt ParkwayThe Belt System is a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The system comprises four officially separate parkways; however, three of the four are signed as the Belt Parkway...
after being beaten by a group of white attackers. Sandy died of his injuries on October 13, 2006. The attack, which is being investigated as a hate crimeHate crimeIn crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
hearkened back to the killing of Michael Griffith in 1986.http://1010wins.com/pages/108348.php?contentType=4&contentId=223259 - October 11, 2006 - A general aviationGeneral aviationGeneral aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
aircraftFixed-wing aircraftA fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
owned by New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
pitcher Cory LidleCory LidleCory Fulton Lidle was an Americanright-handed baseball pitcher who spent nine seasons in the major leagues with seven different teams. His twin brother Kevin Lidle also played baseball, as a catcher for several minor league teams...
crashes into the 31st floor of the Belaire ApartmentsBelaire ApartmentsBelaire Apartments is a mixed-use high-rise condominium apartment building in Manhattan, New York City. The 42-story building is located at 524 East 72nd Street between York Avenue and the FDR Drive. It has 183 condominium apartments, a health club, parking garage and swimming pool...
on the Upper East SideUpper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
of ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Lidle, 34, is killed in the crash2006 New York City plane crashThe 2006 New York City plane crash occurred on October 11, 2006, when a Cirrus SR20 general aviation, fixed-wing, single-engine light aircraft crashed into the Belaire Apartments in New York City at about 2:42 p.m. local time...
along with his flight instructorFlight instructorA flight instructor is a person who teaches others to fly aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate the knowledge and skill level of an aviator in pursuit...
.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2621860 - November 25, 2006 - Four NYPD officers fire a combined 50 shots at a group of unarmed men in Jamaica, QueensJamaica, QueensJamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica"...
wounding two and killing 23-year old Sean BellSean Bell shooting incidentThe Sean Bell shooting incident took place in the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States on November 25, 2006, when three men were shot a total of fifty times by a team of both plainclothes and undercover NYPD officers, killing one of the men, Sean Bell, on the morning before his...
. The case sparks controversy over police brutalityPolice brutalityPolice brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
and racial profilingRacial profilingRacial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
. - March 8, 2007 - a fire started by a space heater claims the lives of 10 people, nine of them children, in the Bronx neighborhood of High BridgeHigh Bridge (New York City)The High Bridge is a steel arch bridge, with a height of almost 140 feet over the Harlem River, connecting the New York City boroughs of The Bronx and Manhattan...
. The home housed 22 immigrants from the African nation of MaliMaliMali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
.http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=67576&search_result=1&stid=12 - March 14, 2007 - 32-year-old David Garvin goes on a shooting rampage in Greenwich VillageGreenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, killing a pizzeria employee and two auxiliary police officers before NYPD officers fatally shoot him.http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=8&aid=67691 - July 18, 2007 - a steam pipe explosion2007 New York City steam explosionThe July 18, 2007 New York City steam explosion sent a geyser of hot steam up from beneath a busy intersection, with a 40-story-high shower of mud and flying debris raining down on the crowded streets of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States.It was caused by the failure of a...
kills one and wounds twenty others near the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 41st street in ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=71803 - February 12, 2008 - Psychologist Kathryn Faughey is brutally murderedMurder of Kathryn FaugheyKathryn Faughey was a 56-year-old New York City psychologist who was murdered by 39-year-old David Tarloff at her upper East Side Manhattan office on the night of February 12, 2008....
in her Manhattan office by a mentally ill man whose intended victim was a psychiatrist in the same practice. - March 15, 2008 - a crane collapseMarch 2008 Manhattan construction crane collapseOn March 15, 2008, a crane owned by New York Crane & Equipment collapsed at 303 East 51st Street on 51st Street in Manhattan, New York, United States. Seven people were killed and 24 others were injured. It was a luffing-jib tower crane manufactured by Favco that was 200 feet tall at the time of...
at a construction site in Turtle BayTurtle Bay, ManhattanTurtle Bay is a neighborhood in New York City, on the east side of Midtown Manhattan. It extends between 41st and 54th Streets, and eastward from Lexington Avenue to the East River, across from Roosevelt Island...
kills seven and damages adjacent buildings.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/16/national/main3942076.shtml - January 15, 2009 - US Airways Flight 1549US Airways Flight 1549US Airways Flight 1549 was US Airways' scheduled domestic commercial passenger flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina...
ditches in the Hudson RiverHudson RiverThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
after both engines fail; all 150 passengers are successfully evacuated. - August 8, 2009 - a small plane and helicopter collided above Hudson RiverHudson RiverThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
near HobokenHoboken, New JerseyHoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
killing 9 people. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/continuous/09crash.html?pagewanted=all - July 22, 2010 - Five members of the Jones family were killed in an apparent case of murder-suicide arson in the Port RichmondPort RichmondPort Richmond can refer to:*Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States*Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, New York, United States*Port of Richmond, California, Richmond, California, United States...
section of Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/nyregion/26family.html?_r=1&hp - September 16, 2010 - Strong thunderstorms and a possible tornado hit Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, killing one.
- November 24, 2010 - Actor Michael BreaMichael BreaMichael Brea is an actor. He appeared in the TV series Ugly Betty and in the film Step Up 3D. In November, 2011, he was accused of killing his mother with a sword which may have been a samurai sword or other ceremonial sword....
brutally slew his mother with a sword in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn - February 11, 2011 - Maksim GelmanMaksim GelmanMaksim Gelman is a man who committed a 28-hour killing spree that lasted from February 11 to 12, 2011 in New York City, which included the stabbing and killing of four people and the wounding of at least five others.- Background:...
goes on 28 hour rampage killing 5 and wounding 6 others throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan - March 12, 2011 - 15 passengers on a coach bus traveling south on I-95 in the Bronx were killed when the bus careered out of control and crashed into a pole. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/nyregion/13crash.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
- June 19, 2011 - David Laffer opens fire during robbery in L.I. pharmacy on Fathers Day, killing 4 including a 17 year old employee and a grandfather.
- September 5, 2011 - Over 67 separate shootings take place in ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, and the BronxThe BronxThe Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
during a particularly violent Labor Day weekend leaving 13 dead. One of the shootings took place just blocks from Mayor Bloomberg and which 8 police officers fired over 70 shots, with two of them being injured in the shootout. - July 13, 2011 - the body of 8-year old Leiby KletzkyMurder of Leiby KletzkyLeiby Kletzky was an American murder victim. The Hasidic Jewish boy was kidnapped on Monday, July 11, 2011, as he walked home from his school day camp in the Hasidic neighborhood of Boro Park, Brooklyn...
is found dismembered in two locations in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
after he was allegedly murdered by a 35-year-old Orthodox JewishOrthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
clerk. - October 4, 2011 - a helicopter carrying 5 tourists crashed into the East RiverEast RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
after liftoff, killing one on board. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/nyregion/helicopter-crashes-in-east-river.html?pagewanted=2
Murders by year
| Year | Murders |
|---|---|
| 1928 | 4041 |
| 1929 | 425 |
| 1930 | 494 |
| 1931 | 588 |
| 1932 | 579 |
| 1933 | 541 |
| 1934 | 458 |
| 1936 | 510 |
| 1960 | 482 |
| 1961 | 483 |
| 1962 | 631 |
| 1963 | 548 |
| 1964 | 636 |
| 1965 | 634 |
| 1966 | 654 |
| 1967 | 746 |
| 1968 | 986 |
| 1969 | 1043 |
| 1970 | 1117 |
| 1971 | 1466 |
| 1972 | 1691 |
| 1973 | 1680 |
| 1974 | 1554 |
| 1975 | 1645 |
| 1976 | 1622 |
| 1977 | 1557 |
| 1978 | 1504 |
| 1979 | 1733 |
| 1980 | 1814 |
| 1981 | 1826 |
| 1982 | 1668 |
| 1983 | 1622 |
| 1984 | 1450 |
| 1985 | 1384 |
| 1986 | 1582 |
| 1987 | 1672 |
| 1988 | 1896 |
| 1989 | 1905 |
| 1990 | 22452 |
| 1991 | 2154 |
| 1992 | 1995 |
| 1993 | 1946 |
| 1994 | 1561 |
| 1995 | 1177 |
| 1996 | 983 |
| 1997 | 770 |
| 1998 | 633 |
| 1999 | 671 |
| 2000 | 673 |
| 2001 | 6493 |
| 2002 | 587 |
| 2003 | 597 |
| 2004 | 570 |
| 2005 | 539 |
| 2006 | 596 |
| 2007 | 494 |
| 2008 | 522 |
| 2009 | 471 |
| 2010 | 534 |
- 1 First year that it was tabulated.
- 2 The highest to date.
- 3 Not including the September 11th terrorist attacks.