紐約啊。紐約。

今天紐約市的免費報紙am 做了一個專題,叫做 “Summer of ’77 “。內容相當有趣。30年前的紐約夏天,是怎麼一回事呢?

紐約最知名的連續殺人犯Son of Sam被捕,大停電(有1000起火災,3500人被捕),瘋狂犯罪,和雙子星大樓完工。

城市裡四處是塗鴉,XXX的色情戲院在時代廣場林立,1,557宗謀殺(去年596宗)、 179,000起搶劫(去年下降至22,000。噗,還是有兩萬起啊!)。然而,一切都比不上24歲的David Berkowitz (自稱是Son of Sam,警方稱之 “點44槍手”)的連續殺人犯要來得駭人。從’75年起首宗殺人事件到’77被捕為止,他殺了6名受害者,並讓無數人受傷或不隨。下面是他給大眾的信,是由一名警察在犯罪現場附近拾獲(內容有很多錯字):

I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon(Woman) hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the “Son of Sam.” I am a little brat. When father Sam gets drunk he gets mean. He beats his family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. “Go out and kill,” commands father Sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young — raped and slaughtered — their blood drained — just bones now. Papa Sam keeps me locked in the attic too. I can’t get out but I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I am on a different wavelength then everybody else — programmed too kill. However, to stop me you must kill me. Attention all police: Shoot me first — shoot to kill or else keep out of my way or you will die! Papa Sam is old now. He needs some blood to preserve his youth. He has had too many heart attacks. …(full)

The police sketch of the 蛛絲馬跡都透露點44槍手出沒在Queens 和Bronx (紐約市北邊),但在7/31/77那天,在他卻在布魯克林(紐約市南邊)攻擊另一對男女,子彈直接打過受害者的頭部,一死一失明。一名居住在附近公寓的目擊者雖然害怕可能遭遇報復,依舊勇敢向警方提供線索,說她在案發前看到一名男子從一部黃色福特拿下一張交通違規的罰單(太靠近消防栓),就再案發前不久。這無疑成為重大的線索,警方迅速調查當日在該區的罰單並找到那不藏有點四四手槍和犯案地點地圖的黃色福特 (竟然是因為被開罰單而被抓到)。終於在8/10/1977在紐約Yonkers將他逮捕,而他對警方說的第一句話是, “What took you so long?” (真夠屌)。在他住所,還找到記載他數起放火的日記。他很快的承認犯下的案子,被判6個無期徒刑,最多365年監禁在Attica Correctional Facility

我覺得很離奇的一點是,他說信中的Sam指的是他以前的鄰居Sam Carr, 他指稱Carr的狗被古老的惡魔附身,並對他下達殺人的指令。他說他曾經試著殺掉這條狗,但是因超自然的因素干擾失敗了。 他還說明Son of Sam不只一個,他們隸屬同一個邪教 ,但警方始終沒有得到更進一步的詳情。事實上,他的案子依舊有許多疑點未找到答案,很多人堅持他不可能一人犯案。

下面是比較輕鬆的30前的紐約面貌


Costs of living生活費 1977-2007
-Average one-bedroom apartment rental in Manhattan: $250 vs. $2,600
-Gallon of gas: 65 cents vs. $3.15
-Hershey Bar: 20 cents vs. 85 cents
-BMW 3 Series Sedan: $7,990 vs. $32,400
-Movie ticket: $2.25 vs. $11
-Minimum wage: $2.30 vs. $7.15
-Apple II computer $1,398 (with 4K RAM) vs. iMac $1,199(with 1GB RAM)
(哈!)

Top hits of ’77
-Music: The Eagles “Hotel California,” Bee Gees “How Deep is Your Love.” Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way.”
-Movies: Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saturday Night Fever
-TV: Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, Three’s Company

說起來,我想紐約的魅力就發生了什麼事都不奇怪。來的7年就經歷了911,大停電,地鐵罷工,和前天的暴風雨(加龍捲風)。真的,一切都不意外,雖然前天搭乘公車時 ,水突然湧進公車時(低窪區淹得很兇),我真的有嚇一跳,但是公車還是很饒勇的往前開(因為排氣管在車頂)。不過地鐵就沒那麼幸運了,下場大雨,就可以讓紐約地鐵癱瘓,這也是一點也不怪啊![前天,從我8:15分出門到公司1:00pm,先是等地鐵等了50分鐘等不到,上去坐公車。到了布魯克林downtown地鐵依舊不通,只好等james開車來接,又是一個小時。一路塞車到city的soho, 改搭計程車。計程車部部滿,走了很遠才叫到車。總共花了4個小時又45分鐘到公司。]因為龍捲風出現在布魯克林區,所以我們這裏的地鐵癱瘓的很嚴重。

On July 14, 1977 darkness fell over New York, the light colored World Trade Center stand out from the black and the New York City skyline remains dark after a power failure struck the city Wednesday night.

AP File Photo ( August 9, 2007)

On July 14, 1977 darkness fell over New York, the light colored World Trade Center stand out from the black and the New York City skyline remains dark after a power failure struck the city Wednesday night (大停電時的雙子星大樓)

Owners and employees of a sporting goods store stand guard outside with baseball bats after the store on New York City's Upper West Side was looted during massive power failure, Wednesday night, July 14, 1977.  Police patroling the area walk by the store.

 

AP File Photo ( August 9, 2007)

Owners and employees of a sporting goods store stand guard outside with baseball bats after the store on New York City’s Upper West Side was looted during massive power failure, Wednesday night, July 14, 1977. Police patroling the area walk by the store.

Police escort handcuffed Son of Sam suspect David Berkowitz into headquarters in lower Manhattan.

 

Staff/New York Daily News/MCT ( August 9, 2007)

Police escort handcuffed Son of Sam suspect David Berkowitz into headquarters in lower Manhattan. Son of Sam被捕。

Yankees manager Billy Martin yells at Reggie Jackson in the sixth inning in the dugout at Boston. Furor erupted after Martin took Jackson out of the game.

 

AP File Photo ( June 18, 1977)

Yankees manager Billy Martin yells at Reggie Jackson in the sixth inning in the dugout at Boston. Furor erupted after Martin took Jackson out of the game. 看到這張照片,不得不敬佩ESPN拍攝 “The Bronx Is Burning”之用心。不僅角色造型幾乎一樣,呈現的畫面也非常忠實於70年代啊!。這個畫面就跟他們迷你影集的畫面一模一樣。

 

 

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643 thoughts on “紐約啊。紐約。”

  1. 或許可以帶個衝浪板,還有一條繩子出門,這樣可以隨時鉤在車上,衝出去… XD

    補充一下 Sam 的資料:

    David Berkowitz – Wikipedia
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz

    這讓我想起最近一部剛剛上映過的電影「索命黃道帶(Zodiac) 」,而且裡面牽涉到的案子到現在都還沒破…

    南台灣剛淹完大水,現在又來一個颱風,聖帕,颱風名字都帕來帕去,真讓人害怕… >__< 看看週四會不會成了變化「颱」往上吹向台灣…

  2. 我覺得那個人面素描簡直就是跟本人完全不一樣,除了頭髮是Q毛外。這樣找人超難的吧!

  3. 對呀… 不過是那美好的30年前,就原諒那位描述嫌犯長相的人吧…

    讓人害怕聖帕果真直撲台灣而來… 還從輕度颱風發展成強烈颱風,這記觸身球大概躲不掉了吧…善哉。善哉。希望不會造成傷亡… 某人哀怨的說情人節(七夕)怎辦… 只能安撫說,先準備游泳圈吧… XD

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