4. A Fateful Night at The West End and Riverside Park

105th Street Dog Run
An infamous Beat Generation murder occurred in Riverside Park.

Hex & Co. now sits where The West End Bar once hosted influential authors of the Beat Generation. It was here that Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs and another man named Lucien Carr would often drink into the night. One night, however, would turn Carr into a murderer.

David Kammerer, a man who expressed romantic interest in Carr, took a stroll in Riverside Park after drinking with the Beat Generation writers at the West End. When Kammerer made a move on Carr in the park, infamous for being a gay cruising area, Carr pushed back to reject him. A fight ensued that resulted in Carr using his Boy Scout knife to stab Kammerer twice in the chest. Carr later found Burroughs and Kerouac to dispose of the body at the 125th St. Subway Station. Carr turned himself in to the authorities hours later. His budding literary career was effectively curtailed.