JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Editor’s Note: David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz was arrested on this day in 1977. We return to this story to examine the impact Berkowitz’s crimes had on the Jewish community. The arrest of the Son of Sam in August 1977 was good for the Jews, and it was also bad for the Jews. Good because…
Back in 1977, New York City was gripped by a fear unlike any other I have witnessed, except, of course, during the aftermath of 9/11. It was a reign of terror that saw six people murdered and seven others wounded. Most of those who were attacked were young women. The conventional wisdom was that the…
The arrest of the Son of Sam in August 1977 was good for the Jews, and it was also bad for the Jews. Good because the Son of Sam’s murder spree had terrorized New York City for more than a year. Bad because the Son of Sam turned out to be named David Berkowitz. “Jews…
David Berkowitz extended his condolences to the family of the late Jimmy Breslin – four decades after the notorious butcher called himself the “Son of Sam” in a letter to the New York tabloid columnist. “I wish to extend my condolences to his family at their loss,” he wrote to the letter of a local…
It’s coming from an unlikely source, but the message of David Berkowitz is undeniably positive: society needs to take the “glory out of guns.” Or so says Berkowitz, also known as Son of Sam, speaking to the New York Daily News from his prison cell, where he’s serving out his six consecutive 25-to-life sentences. Three…
