At 3 p.m., the editors huddled to figure out which stories to put where, what the headlines should be -- and what "the wood" on the front page should say. Should the main story say Kennedy was "presumed dead" or just "missing"? The Daily News's first-edition deadline is 2 p.m.; ours is 6 p.m. They went with LOST on the front page and didn't put "presumed dead" in the story. By 6 p.m., it was apparent that Kennedy and his passengers were not likely to be found alive -- although a miracle was still possible -- so we went with "presumed dead." But there was still one more thing. Headlines went back and forth. OH NO and NOT AGAIN were front-runners. But finally, decisively: MORE TEARS.

Related:

• Archive: “Gotham: Life in the New City”
• Articles by Allen Salkin
• Table of Contents: Aug 2, 1999 issue of New York | Subscribe!