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then the crime rate began to soar. Murder stalked the streets of New York as it had not done in decades. Practically every week someone fell a victim. Some murders were only a few days apart. The police, it would seem, were at a loss as to how to cope with the situation. There are some neighborhoods in New York that are inhabited by people of ethnic groups who make it a habit to settle their differences by putting a knife in someone's back. Why should the police get involved? Policemen like to live, too, the same as anyone else. But the public wanted

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action and the police had to provide it. At last the chance came.

One of the murderers was found to be a young schizophrenic who went about in a long cloak and who, among other things, was homosexual. He admitted having met others along the wall on Central Park West. This was enough. A few days later, on Labor Day weekend, 1959, the police swarmed onto Central Park West and arrested virtually everyone who was sitting on a bench or standing against the wall. Thus began one of the most frightful and appalling persecutions

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