December 2000

By Vincent Del Giudice

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) — Twenty years ago today, John Lennon was shot dead outside the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West. Several days later, when New York City bid farewell to the former Beatle, it was one of the few times that part of Manhattan seemed to stand still.

On Sunday, Dec. 14, 1980, six days after Lennon’s murder at the hand of Mark David Chapman on the city’s Upper West Side, 100,000 fans gathered at the Central Park band shell at the request of Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono.

Another 10,000 kept a vigil at the Dakota. As a young reporter covering the event for the Dayton Daily News of Dayton, Ohio, I watched mourners place flowers and candles on the sidewalk outside the Dakota, smoke pot and scrawl their goodbyes on the building: “Give peace a chance.” “Strawberry fields 4-ever.” “Yoko I’m sorry!!!”

Tonight, fans will gather in Central Park again — on a stretch called “Strawberry Fields” after one of the Beatles songs — to pay tribute. Organizers had hoped to hold an all-night vigil, but Mayor Rudolph Giuliani nixed that plan, citing a 1 a.m. city curfew, according to press reports. Police said they will “have an adequate detail on hand” to make sure the curfew is enforced.

Some of those likely to attend probably were among the throngs at the wake New York City held 20 years ago for Lennon, who had just turned 40. The grieving crowd overwhelmed police and the plain curious on that chilly sunlit Sunday morning.

There were many sights and sounds:

A vendor dressed in the then-popular “urban cowboy look” stood selling John Lennon T-shirts. “These shirts are double-knit and you can own one for $9.95,” the cowboy said.
The devoted were enraged. “Do you believe this?” cried a red-haired girl. “It’s not even a full week after John’s death and creeps like this are exploiting it.” The crowd jeered and the cowboy disappeared across the street into Central Park. “I’ll be back,” he said.

A police sergeant implored fans “to step lively” as the emerged from a subway station near the Dakota. Police eventually closed the station entrance because of the crowd.

An old man selling Lennon buttons at $1.50 a pop barked: “What did John Lennon do? He stopped kids from getting crew cuts, that’s what he did.”

“My God, he’s gone,” sobbed a woman, cradled by friends. “He’s really gone.”

A poet named “Harvey” passed out a tribute to the slain rock star: “Stop the killing now is the song he is singing. The next time you feel hate, the next time you feel evil, wait for a moment and remember John.”

As in the two decades since, such a sentiment proved fleeting. Police reported a shooting in the park that followed an argument that afternoon about 100 yards from the band shell, according to wire service reports.

A few minutes before 2 p.m., the mass of mourners started chanting Lennon’s lyrics,

“All we are saying is give peace a chance. All we are saying is give peace a chance.” And then they fell silent in final tribute — and some stayed that way for almost an hour. The sun had faded behind the clouds and a light snow fell on the city as the crowd broke up.

Chapman, now 45, expressed remorse for the slaying in 1990. His request for early parole was denied in October and he is imprisoned at the Attica prison in upstate New York.