75 Years Ago Today… “This work I consider my memorial.”

PM, June 19, 1940

“This policeman is examining the crushed-eggshell wreck of an automobile which crashed into an abutment at Henry Hudson Parkway and 72nd St., seriously injured two persons this morning. PM hears that there has been persistent agitation to correct this dangerous curve, responsible for many accidents; will try to find out if anything is being done to eliminate the hazard. Conrad H. Lowell, 44 and Alexandria Lowell, 44, 360 East 55th St., are in Roosevelt hospital as a result of this latest smash – C.M.”

Perhaps the first Weegee photo in PM (excluding the preview issues)…

This photo is republished in PM on July 21, 1940:
“I also hated automobile accidents, but about those I did something. There was a real death trap on the West Side Highway at Seventy-second Street. Cars would hit the abutments, and some would come crashing down into the streets below. I made a series of pictures of the accidents there, and the newspaper PM ran a whole page and started a campaign. Finaly, the city put red lights on the unmarked abutments, and the accidents stopped. This work I consider my memorial.” Weegee by Weegee, pp. 68-69