Thirty years ago this summer was arguably the lowest point in New York’s late-seventies bad years. The Bronx, as Howard Cosell informed the nation, was burning; July 13 brought an epic blackout; there was a heated Democratic primary for the mayoral race; Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin dramatically feuded en route to the Yanks’ World Series win; and, mostly notably, a serial killer calling himself Son of Sam was terrorizing the city, with police seemingly unable to stop him.
ESPN started its eight-episode
The Bronx Is Burning miniseries about that season last night, the
Daily News is running
recollections of the year, and we thought we’d join in the fun with some classic
New York features from that long, troubled summer. In our first installment, here’s Robert Daley’s August 22, 1977, cover story,
“The Search for ‘Sam’: Why It Took So Long.”
The Search for ‘Sam’: Why It Took So Long [NYM (pdf)]
