Emil Nizich

February 7, 2026
1941


Weegee, [Police and spectators surround the body of murdered longshoreman Emil Nizich], 1941

Emil Nizich was a 26 year old unemployed longshoreman. He lived with his father at 426 West 48th Street. Nizich’s nickname was “the Pollack.” (Nizich was friends with David Beadle.) At 8:20 p.m. on Friday, February 7th, 1941 he was returning from a workout at a local gymnasium. Nizich was in front of 415 West 48th Street, a few doors down from his home, when a gunman shot him in the back. Nizich ran to the middle of the street and then collapsed. The gunman followed and fired two more shots into Nizich. The gunman then commandeered a passing chauffeured limousine and escaped while standing on the running board…

“… a real one.”

February 2, 2026
1946

“Memorable is this Weegee picture of thirteen faces at a Manhattan dead-end killing. Readers will study other people in a photograph. When they remember, the picture is a real one.”

Whiting, John R., “Photography is a Language”, New York: Ziff Davis, 1946

Whiting, John R., “Photography is a Language”, New York: Ziff Davis, 1946

“Spotted”

December 9, 2025
1939, Uncategorized


Weegee, “On the Spot,” 1939 (Weegee’s World, p.56)

On Saturday, December 9th, 1939, David (“The Beetle”) Beadle went out dancing, at the Palm Garden, with his wife, Eleanor, his two brothers and their wives. Beadle was a 32 year old dock boss and considered one of the toughest hoodlums in Hell’s Kitchen. The longshoreman had a boatload of enemies. He had been arrested seven times, including once for homicide, had only one conviction for disorderly conduct, yet he had never been in jail. Around 1:25 a.m. the well-dressed Beadle entered The Spot Bar and Grill through a side entrance, asked for his brother, who wasn’t there, then drank a glass of water, and swallowed a few pills, his heart medication. Beadle stepped outside and was shot twice in the head and died instantly. He had two .32 caliber bullets in his skull. Four unidentified men shot Beadle, then fled. He was taken to the morgue at Bellevue. Despite plenty of witnesses the case was never solved.

The Spot Bar and Grill was located at 651 10th Avenue. This is now home to the Ryan Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center and the Village Care Assisted Living Program.


The Daily News, Batavia, NY, December 16, 1939, p.7

Synchroflash

August 10, 2025
1937, 1939


Life, April 12, 1937 p. 9

Fellig is examining a police wagon to see if there is anything inside that might be worth photographing. He often gets hitches on the back of police vehicles to the scene of a crime or disaster.


Morgan, Willard D., Synchroflash Photography, New York, Morgan and Lester, 1939