July 29, 1976
- David
Berkowitz (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
July 13-14,
1977 - New York City again
loses power in a blackout. Unlike the previous blackout twelve years earlier,
this blackout is followed by widespread rioting and looting.
April 14, 1989
- Trisha Meili
(aka the Central Park Jogger) is violently raped and beaten while jogging
in Central Park.
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.
February 26,
1993 - A bomb planted by terrorists
explodes in the World
Trade Center's underground garage, killing six people and injuring over
a thousand.
September 11,
2001 - The World Trade Center
towers and several surrounding buildings are destroyed by a terrorist
attack. Approximately 2700 people are killed.
23 July2003
- 31-year-old Othniel
Askew, a Brooklyn resident and political rival of City Councilmember James
E. Davis, fired multiple gunshots in the City Hall chambers of the New
York City Council, killing Davis. New York City Police Officer Richard Burt,
who was on a special security detail in the Council Chamber, shot and killed
Askew. According to news reports, Askew appeared at Councilmember Davis's
Brooklyn office and drove with him to the New York City Hall. The security
guards permitted both men to circumvent the security posts. (Under an agreement
between the City and the City Council, councilmembers and their staff and
guests were allowed to enter the building without a security check.) Since
the shooting, however, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg has announced that everyone (including himself) wishing to enter
City Hall must go through the security checkpoints.
August 14, 2003
- New York loses power in a blackout
that affects eight states as well as in parts of Canada.
October 15,
2003 - At about 3:30 pm, the
Staten
Island Ferry boat the Andrew J. Barberi collided with a pier
on the eastern end of the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten
Island killing at least ten people, seriously injuring many others, and
tearing a huge slash through the lowest of the three passenger decks. It is
the worst mass transit disaster in New York City in over a century.