Twentieth Century Turbulence,
Twenty-first Century Hopes and Fears:
The New York Press Club Millennium Poll

Whew! What a century! You, the members of The New York Press Club, were there and now it can be told. Here's what our members said in a recent poll on the most significant moments of the previous century and the news stories that may be in the pipeline for the next hundred years.

If you had to choose just one news story from the past century that will be burned into your memory for all time, what would it be?

The 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy continues to exert a powerful hold on the national consciousness. 30% of poll participants cited this as the one Twentieth Century story that will never leave their memories. Running a very close second, at 28%, was the story of World War II, especially Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the latter, in the words of NYPC member Jeanne Toomey, "launching a terrifying world of nuclear destruction." In third place, at 14%, was the moon landing, followed by Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon, the World Trade Center bombing and the crash of TWA Flight 800. Other stories mentioned by NYPC members as unforgettable: the Son of Sam murders; the sinking of the Titanic; the Oklahoma City bombing; the closing of the banks

Berliners celebrate on top of the wall as East Germans (backs to camera) flood through the dismantled Berlin Wall into West Berlin at Potsdamer Platz, November 12, 1989. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau/All rights reserved.)

during the Great Depression; the 1953 execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg; the end of communism in Russia; the destruction of the Berlin Wall; the 24 hour a day non-stop coverage of the death of Princess Diana; and the Kennedy-Bessette plane crash.

What is the single most horrifying news story you personally covered or recall?

While some members cited the JFK assassination as the most horrifying story in their memory, World War II was number one in this category, mentioned by 14% of poll participants. The hell of that war and others since then - Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Kosovo - accounted for 20% of all horrifying stories recalled by poll participants.

Firemen work at the scene of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire on Washington Place, March 25, 1911. (AP Photo. All rights reserved.)

Another 20% pointed instead to grisly plane crashes: TWA Flight 800, which claimed 230 lives off the coast of Long Island more than three years ago; Egypt Air Flight 990, which took 217 lives as it plunged into the ocean south of Nantucket this past October; the 1996 ValuJet fire and crash which killed 110 people in the Everglades; the Mohawk airlines crash into a house in Albany in 1970; the 1992 US Air Flight 405 crash at LaGuardia, which killed 27 people; the 1983 shooting down of KAL Flight 007 in Russian airspace, killing 269; the 1975 Eastern Airlines crash at JFK; and the 1960 midair collision which sent a TWA plane crashing onto Staten Island and a United Airlines DC-8

plunging straight into downtown Brooklyn, a horror recalled by retired journalist Morton Herman.

The horror of covering one of these crashes goes beyond the carnage at the scene. There is also the realization that moments ago, the victims of the crash were just as alive as you are now. Looking back on covering Egypt Air 990, Jamie Colby, correspondent for the syndicated TV magazine show "Extra," says it was "eerie to be on the water over those poor people, still buried below."

An emergency worker looks into the abyss left by the World Trade Center bombing, in this photo from NYPC member Mark Marchese, who was PR director of the Port Authority at that time.

The staying power of crime stories in New York was strong, with 25% choosing stories in that category, the most-mentioned being the World Trade Center bombing and the 1990 Happyland Social Club fire. Others include: Son of Sam; the 1987 beating death of 6-year-old Lisa Steinberg; the 1989 Central Park jogger "wilding" gang rape;

the 1956 acid attack which blinded crusading labor columnist Victor Riesel; the rape of a senior citizen whose voicebox had been removed due to cancer; a man who shot a neighbor through a window while eating breakfast, and then returned to his meal; and a woman whose husband killed their children and himself while she was at work, leaving her to get the news from a mob of reporters and police swarming outside her home.

Other Twentieth Century horror stories mentioned by NYPC members include: the Titanic; the Columbine High School shootings; the Three Mile Island nuclear accident; riots in the

The excursion boat General Slocum lies beached off Hell Gate in New York City's East River, following the 1904 fire and panic which claimed 1,030 lives. (AP Photo. All rights reserved.)

Victims of the General Slocum tour boat fire, mostly German immigrants, were laid along the banks of the East River. (AP Photo. All rights reserved.)

1960s in Newark, New Jersey; the OJ Simpson and Lorena Bobbitt trials; the Iranian hostage crisis; the identification of the AIDS virus; the 1904 fire on the tour boat General Slocum, in the East River; and the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which claimed 146 lives when locked-in sweatshop workers were trapped by flames.

What Twentieth Century story had the greatest impact on the people of New York?

The World Trade Center bombing came out in the lead in this category, mentioned by about 20% of poll participants, followed by the Great Depression, with 13%; World War II, with 11%; and baseball in New York, including the defection of the Dodgers and Giants to California, coming in at 8%.

NYPC member and freelance editor/writer Kay Lockridge sums up New York baseball in the century that was: "The Yankees - team of the century; the Dodgers - hire the first black player in the major leagues; the Giants - Bobby Thompson hits the shot still heard 'round the world; the Amazin' Mets." Tied for sixth place is the opening of the subway and

Jackie Robinson, Dodgers' second baseman, steals home plate successfully as Braves' catcher Bill Salkeld is thrown off-balance on pitcher Bill Voiselle's throw to the plate during the fifth inning of a Boston-Brooklyn game at Ebbets Field, New York, on August 22, 1948. On the play, Dodgers' shortstop Pee Wee Reese went from first to second and rightfielder Gene Hermanski took third for a triple steal. Third baseman Billy Cox, who was at bat, watches Jackie slide. The umpire is Jocko Conlan. Braves won, 4-3. (AP Photo. All rights reserved.)

Immigrants eating lunch at Ellis Island, a few months before the facility closed its doors in 1954. (AP Photo. All rights reserved.)

immigration. When it comes to impact, says Peter Landis, news director of NY1 News, immigration is without question number one: "The story that has had the most profound effect on the City of New York is immigration: past and present. The continuing infusion of 'new blood' - including that of my parents - is what made and what makes this city the place that it is, and the place it is becoming."

Other NYPC poll participants, including Staten Island Advance reporter Ted Montuori, single out the Triangle Shirtwaist fire as the story which has left the deepest imprint. The shocking death toll in that blaze was blamed on doors locked to keep the sweatshop workers from leaving their machines. And while sweatshops continue to be a problem today, the burned bodies of the young immigrant workers were a powerful symbol for both the labor movement and the battle to improve worker safety.

Other events mentioned as major shapers of the city we live in today: the merging of the five counties into the City of New York; the automobile; women finally getting the right to vote; the early 1930s Seabury court corruption probe; the invention of television; the Kitty Genovese murder; the financial crises of the 1970s; the 1965 and

Police officials surround David Berkowitz outside the 84th precinct in Brooklyn after his arrest as the "Son of Sam" killer on August 11, 1977. (AP Photo. All rights reserved.)

1977 blackouts; the establishment of the United Nations; the election of Nelson Rockefeller as governor; the 45 year reign of road, bridge, tunnel and park master builder Robert Moses; and the dot-com fueled stock market boom.

What one news story in the past century gave you, more than any other story, a reason for hope or joy?

The Allied victory in World War II comes out on top in this category, with 19%, followed by the destruction of the Berlin Wall; the moon landing; the discovery of the polio vaccine; and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

Lisa Steinberg, at a New York state police barracks in 1987 just two weeks before her child abuse death at the age of 6. Troopers were checking out a report from a toll booth operator who saw Lisa with Joel Steinberg and feared she was in some kind of trouble. (Photo by pool photographer Keith Torrie, for the AP. All rights reserved.)

Several members looked back on stories of individuals showing courage despite terrible obstacles, such as paralyzed New York City police officer Steven McDonald and actor Christopher Reeve. Others found inspiration in the way some of our loudest political scandals played out: the refusal of attorney general Elliot Richardson to carry out Richard Nixon's order to fire the Watergate special prosecutor; the fact that President Clinton was not convicted even though he was impeached, the latter seen as proof that faith in our system of government is well-founded. NYPC members cited many other moments of hope and joy in the Twentieth Century: women getting the vote; FDR's New Deal, Social Security, and unemployment benefits; the establishment of the United Nations; the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; New York City's response to the 1965 blackout; the end of the Vietnam war; the 1976 opening of Ellis Island to people who arrived there in the past;

the election of Ronald Reagan; the return of the Iranian hostages; the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union; the end of apartheid; Doctors Without Borders and the work they do; the 90s economic recovery; and the turnaround of New York City by Mayor Guiliani.

What will be the single greatest change people are likely to see in the next 100 years?

80% of all survey participants had no doubt that technology will be the driver of major change in the years to come. 28% believe it will take the form of computers and the internet expanding into every aspect of our lives, with more e-commerce, telecommuting, video conferencing. One NYPC member predicts this may mean the elimination of books and libraries.

26% expect dramatic leaps in medical science; predictions range from improved longevity and cures for cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease to routine use of genetic manipulation and self-stored blood, eggs, sperm and other biological material. 10% have their hopes more in line with the Jetsons, and expect to be able to travel faster and farther; some predict there'll be a helicopter in every garage. Others look to technology to bring the safe harnessing of new non-fossil fuel sources of energy and control of time and the environment, such as the weather. As for the financial scene, one member predicts that a greater number of people will gain wealth from the stock

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses marchers during his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28th, 1963. (AP Photo. All rights reserved.)

market. But they won't be turning their winnings into greenbacks, if the forecast from another NYPC member, Jack Murphy of the New York Power Authority, is on the money. Murphy predicts cash will become totally obsolete.

Will mankind progress in any meaningful way? Some NYPC members worry about the growth of the world population. Others are more optimistic. Freelance journalist and photographer Anjali Sharma predicts peace and harmony and an end to hunger and war. In a similar vein, Michael Lysak of Bloomberg News expresses the hope that the new century will be one of "finding peace, avoiding terrorism." Another survey participant is not so sure, and instead forecasts "more stupid ethnic wars."

If you could bring back one person from the pages of history and seek advice for humanity in the new millennium, who would it be?

New York reporters are supposed to be a hard-bitten bunch, but the number one answer to this question was: Jesus Christ, with 17%. Other popular choices: Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, Gandhi, FDR, Winston Churchill, Moses, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein and William Shakespeare. Honorable mentions: God, Solomon, Pope John XXIII, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Socrates, Aristotle, Eleanor Roosevelt, JFK, Bernard Baruch, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, John Lennon, Carl Jung, H.G. Wells, Edward R. Murrow, environmentalist Rachel Carson, Carl Sagan and Princess Diana.

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