The Lively Morgue is a daily photo blog from the New York Times in which an original photo from the newspaper's archives is reposted along with tidbits of information gleaned from the historical article it accompanied. Along with a rescan of the original photograph, the backs of each photo are also scanned, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the editorial process of one of the world's best newspapers.
Today's post shows a tragic photograph of a plane crash that hit Park Slope on December 16th, 1960.
Dec. 16, 1960: The wreckage of a jet airline fell on the “once-fashionable Park Slope area” at Sterling Place and Seventh Avenue, after two planes bound for New York International Airport (today’s J.F.K.) and La Guardia Airport collided in midair. The second plane crashed on Staten Island; it was conjectured that the planes flew into each other there. One-hundred thirty-four people died, and the United DC-8 narrowly missed crashing into a school that was in session with “more than 1,000 children” in classes. It was the worst air disaster in history up to that point. The next day in Munich, there was another instance of a plane crashing into a busy metro area, with 52 people, including 19 Americans, killed.
The original article from 1960 has more.
Matt Coneybeare
Editor in Chief
Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.
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