#27 aug

Arnim Dahl, a German stuntman, practices his balancing act as he takes in the sights at the top of the Empire State Building on August 27, 1959. Dahl stopped over in New York on his way to Hollywood, where a film about his top stunts was made.

Chicago may have been the epicenter of mob violence in the 1930s, but New York had its share. Here, one gangster lies dead on the ground after a battle between police and a gang around August 27, 1931. The police chased the bandits for five miles and the fight resulted in 6 being killed and several innocent bystanders injured. This followed on President Hoover’s appeal to police chiefs to quell the gangster peril in principal American cities.