9. Dakota Apartments

the Dakota apartments

Perhaps the New York site all Beatles fans associate with John Lennon is the Dakota, where he lived from 1973 until his assassination in 1980 right outside in the archway. Mark David Chapman planned the killing for several months, waiting for Lennon on the morning of December 8. Lennon signed Chapman’s copy of the album Double Fantasy before leaving for a recording session. When Lennon and Ono returned that night, Chapman fired five bullets at Lennon, then proceeded to read The Catcher in the Rye outside the Dakota until police arrested him.

The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 and was designed by Henry Janeway Hardernburgh, who built many skyscrapers and hotels in Manhattan. The Dakota originally had 65 apartments, ranging from four to 20 rooms, with apartments arranged in the French style. The Dakota was well ahead of its time, with electricity provided by an in-house power plant, central heating, and dumbwaiters connected to every apartment.

The Dakota still holds on to the history of the tragedy. Yoko Ono still lives at the Dakota and lights a candle in the window of Lennon’s room every December 8th. In 2018, Ono created the artwork “Sky” at the 72nd Street subway station right outside the Dakota in Lennon’s memory. In June 2016, Jay Hastings, the Dakota doorman who assisted Lennon on that night, sold the shirt he was wearing that had stains of Lennon’s blood.