As news of President John F. Kennedy’s death spread to New York 50 years ago, the city that never sleeps found itself in a paralyzing stupor.
Throughout the bustling city, amid shock and dismay, life had ground to a halt.
Elevator operators, taxi drivers, doormen and deli workers all reported for duty, but few of them could actually get anything done.
“Everybody was just walking around,” recalled Tom Reilly, 87, a bus-maintenance worker at the time.
“It doesn’t seem like there was anybody doing any work. Everybody was confused. It was a shock to everybody. We got through the night anyhow.”
Any other Friday night in New York, the city would have been buzzing. Restaurants would have been filled. Supper clubs would have been lively. Liquor would have been flowing at every bar and tavern.
But as images from Dallas filled black-and-white TVs, and radio reports confirmed the unthinkable, New Yorkers found themselves part of a nationwide wake.
Orlando Roca, a retired carpenter for NYC Transit, was installing windows in The Bronx when he heard the news on the radio.
“Me and my co-workers were shocked about the news, but we kept working,” said Roca, 78. “It was very depressing.”
Brian Fox remembers the silence that filled the Buick dealership where he worked as a mechanic.
“Everything stopped and became completely silent,” said Fox, 72. “It was a real trauma. Everything stopped at the dealership, and everyone went home. Everyone felt bad. The office help were in tears.”
Bells tolled at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where six priests knelt before a white altar and prayed for the nation’s first Roman Catholic president. In the wooden pews, under the dull light of votive candles, anxious worshippers clutched their rosaries.
At Idlewild Airport pilots, passengers and flight attendants gathered around portable radios. A month later, the airport would be renamed in honor of the slain president.
Republican Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, who was contemplating a White House run a year later, paused to reflect on the tragedy.
He called Kennedy’s death “a shocking and terrible tragedy for the nation and the world. May God grant strength and guidance to Lyndon Johnson as he assumes his grave responsibilities.”
Rockefeller called for 30 days of mourning throughout the state.
In Brooklyn, most movie houses were open, but the Albemarle Theater on Flatbush Avenue turned away patrons with a sign: “Out of respect for the late President John F. Kennedy this theater will be closed for the rest of the day.”
In Rockefeller Center, skaters stopped skating. In Harlem, the Apollo Theater was closed.
And at hospitals, “doctors and nurses hurried to many a bedside to administer sedatives,” according to the New York World-Telegram.
Trading on Wall Street stopped at 2:07 p.m.
“President Kennedy has joined the company of martyrs,” Mayor Robert Wagner said at the time.
”Hate has reaped its harvest. Now we must not leave undone the great works he was doing, and doing so valorously, so eagerly, so brilliantly.”