#479 NYC ’84: The Case of the ’Subway Vigilante’

On the afternoon of December 22, 1984, shots rang out beneath the streets of New York, from the subway's 2 Seventh Avenue express train.

A Greenwich Village man named Bernhard Goetz shot four black teenagers who he believed were about to assault him. The incident made international news, amplified by the city’s shameless tabloid newspapers because it so perfectly embodied all the cultural stereotypes about New York City in the 1980s.

Goetz became a sort of folk hero, the so-called Subway Vigilante, who took things into his own hands because the city’s weakened and inept services could not.

The facts of this case only came to light in the courtroom, playing out over the years. And, if you’re old enough to remember this incident, chances are that you may not be remembering it accurately.

To untangle the truth from the hype, Greg is joined in the studio by Elliot Williams, the author of the gripping new book Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York’s Explosive ‘80s, and the Subway Vigilante Trial that Divided the Nation.

This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon

Other Bowery Boys episodes you may enjoy: Ford To City: Drop Dead, the Subway Graffiti Era 1970-1989 and Taxi Driver (Bowery Boys Movie Club)

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