A Shoot-out at Manhattan Savings Bank
One hundred years ago today … A stick-up led to a shoot-out at the Manhattan Savings Institution, popularly called the Manhattan Savings Bank, with the ultimate result a failed bank heist.
The scene outside the Manhattan Savings Bank after the gunfight. The Evening World January 16, 1920, p.2. Newspapers.com
The building, at 644 Broadway, still stands, having been the site for many financial institutions since it was built in 1891. (Source: Forgotten New York.)
The Evening World reported that the hold-up was by bank tellers who were armed and ready for action, and not terribly concerned with the safety of innocent bystanders. that bank employee David Sands, upon hearing the would-be robber’s demands (“Give me five thousand”), “dropped to his knees to the floor, catching the revolver from the shelf under his counter.” He immediately “fired a shot” and yelled “Get your guns, boys!” Four additional bank employees found their firearms and joined the gunfight. Amazingly, no one was hit. A “Policeman Hanley” charged in and captured the robber.
Hanley. The Evening World. January 16, 1920, p.2. Newspapers.com
The Evening World. January 16, 1920, p.1. Newspapers.com
The Evening World, one of several NYC evening papers in 1920, was founded by Joseph Pulitzer in 1887 as an evening version of his New York World. An 1899 newsboy strike against the two papers became the inspiration for the stage musical and 1992 film Newsies.