The
highlight is "Incident on Avenue P" about the 1972 "Dog Day
Afternoon" case. John Wojtowicz was quite a piece of work. A Vietnam vet,
he was gay, recently divorced, unemployed, and convinced he was dying of
cancer. And to top it all off, his boyfriend was badgering him for to fund a
sex change operation. Wojtowicz decided crime was the answer. With two
inexperienced accomplices, he inaugurated his criminal career by holding up the
Bensonhurst branch of Chase Manhattan Bank. Things don't go according to plan.
Within minutes they found themselves with nine hostages, trapped in a bank surrounded
by 50 million cops, reporters, and spectators. After a 12 hour standoff, during
which John answered the phone and talked to cops, reporters, relatives, and
cranks (one repeat caller kept advising him to "Kill them all"), the
cops lured them out with the promise of a plane at JFK. The police thoughtfully
provided John & the crew with a limousine, complete with FBI agent for a
chauffeur. The drive to JFK was uneventful. And there it was, the promised
plane, all ready to go. Unfortunately, this sight made John and accomplice Sal
Naturile relax just enough for the driver to pull out a carefully hidden gun
and blow Sal away while agents outside grabbed John.
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