It would have been near 92 Greene Street that the body of Gulielma "Elma" Sands was found in the Manhattan Well. In the first murder trial in the United States with a recorded transcript, the courtroom was a veritable who's who of New York politicians. The accused murderer Levi Weeks was able to secure Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and Henry Livingston (The three most prominent attorneys in New York at the time) and the wonderfully named future mayor Cadwallader David Colden was the prosecutor. Weeks was quickly found not guilty, however, the general populace disagreed with the verdict and Weeks was forced to leave the city.

The murder of Helen Jewett in the 1830s threw the city of New York into a fervor, being one of the first sex scandals to receive publicity in the young republic. Jewett, a young prostitute, was killed by a series of hatchet blows ostensibly by Richard Robinson, a regular client of Jewett's. Though the murder was committed at 41 Thomas Street, it was in a courtroom in City Hall that the sensational trial occurred in which Robinson was found not guilty. New York City was split into two factions, those outraged at Robinson's acquittal for a brutal murder, and those who believed Robinson was being railroaded for a crime he didn't commit.

Stanford White could never have imagined as he designed Madison Square Garden that it would be the site of his murder, but in 1906 he was shot and killed on the rooftop of his own creation. Millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw, having spotted White, approached him, accused him of raping his wife Evelyn Nesbit, and killed him on the spot. Thaw was later found not guilty by reason of mental insanity in the notorious trial that followed.

Andrew Haswell Green, called by many "The Father of Greater New York", was returning home for lunch on November 13th, 1903 when Cornelius Williams surprised him and shot him five times. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, Cornelius suspecting Green, whom he had never met, of helping to slander him and ruin his life. William's prosecutors would label him "obviously deranged."

It was in 1957 at the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel that Albert Anastasia, mob boss and notorious murderer, was shot to death by two men whilst sitting in the barbers' chair. Anastasia lunged at the killers, only to discover he was looking at their reflections in the barbershop mirror. The brazen killing appalled the public and the haircut killing became forever associated with the mob.

See in the corner of this photo, Umberto's Clam House was the site of the 1976 murder of Joe Gallo. Gallo, having been out late celebrating his birthday, was stopping in at the restaurant for an early morning snack when he was spotted and ambushed.

On February 21st, 1965, civil rights leader Malcolm X was tragically assassinated while giving a speech at the Audubon Theatre. After a disturbance broke out, three men rushed the stage and shot Malcolm more than 20 times. The assassins were members of the Nation of Islam, a radical group that Malcolm had been a part of and later left, and were incensed by Malcolm speaking out against the Nation. His funeral in Harlem would be attended by 30,000 people by some estimates.

Few events have marked the history of the luxurious Dakota Apartments more than the murder of John Lennon. On December 8th, 1980, Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon four times as he returned home. Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Provoking a global eruption of grief, Lennon's death caused crowds to gather in front of the Dakota to remember the musical legend.

Nancy Spungen, the girlfriend of Sex Pistol's member Sid Vicious, was found stabbed to death in the Chelsea Hotel on October 12th, 1978. Their famous relationship had become increasingly abusive and Vicious was immediately arrested for the crime on the charge of second-degree murder. However, the case would never see a trial as Viscious overdosed while out on bail and died.