Eagle Eye Street View #1- 23rd Street and Second Avenue (1921-‐present)
Photos, oil pastels, markers and acrylic 18” x 36” 391-395 Second Avenue (moving left to right) are the buildings pictured here. 395 Second Avenue: On New Years’ Day, 1922, Detective John P. O’Neill, from the NYPD Precinct around the corner on East 22nd, tried to run his bill for ham and eggs, claiming poor service. Another patron of the restaurant, hosteler Jeremiah Deacey, tried to shame O’Neill into paying, shouting “Go on- pay for the food-don’t be a piker.” A shouting match ensued, and as the men tumbled out onto the street, the tussle resulted in the demise of Deacey, from three well-placed bullets fired by O’Neill. After a trial delayed by a bribery charge leveled against the detective and the resulting disappearance of the owner of the restaurant for the better part of a year (scared to testify), O’Neill was acquitted. Today the Orion Diner sits on the same spot. 393 Second Avenue: On December 29, 1932, Lillian White, 27, an ex-actress at the Hippodrome and in various small roles in revues on Broadway, was rescued by a 7 year old and his 9 year old brother as she lay on the bathroom floor, the door being locked and forced open by the children. She was overcome by gas coming from a heater, taken to Bellevue and revived. No word on whether it was accident or design.
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