To our left is an elegant apartment complex.  This cooperative apartment is called "The Dakota."  It was built between 1880 and 1884 when several businessmen decided to build an elite dwelling on what was then the outskirts of the city.  Among them was the sewing machine king, Edward Clark, the owner of Singer Sewing Machine Company, who commissioned the architect.  The building was built of light yellow brick, faced with dark brown stone.  The elegance and pretentiousness of the building are striking both from the inside and the outside.  The apartment walls have a thickness of 40 cm, the ceilings are more than 4 meters high, the fireplaces are faced in marble and the ceilings are oak.  For the benefit of the residents there is a swimming pool, tennis court, covered interior court yard, convenient elevators with their own electrical generator and central heating.  One additional important feature are the delightful views of Central Park from the large French lancet windows.   And all of this in the 1880's!!Over the years it has been prestigious not only to buy an apartment in the Dakota, but also to rent one.In 1973 John Lennon and Yoko Ono bought a large apartment on the 7th floor. Neighbors could often see the couple dancing in their apartment.  John and Yoko loved to take picnics in the park with ham sandwiches and champagne.  The champagne they drank directly from the spout of the bottle, passing the bottle to each other.  Their son John was born here.  John Lennon even turned into a house-husband taking care of their child and baking bread.  The life of the young family was like a fairy-tale until December 8, 1980 when on the threshold of the Dakota where they had spent so many happy days, a misfortune which shocked the entire world occured.At 11 o'clock in the evening, John Lennon together with his wife Yoko were returning from the sound studio.  The young, talented musician had barely returned to the music world after a long period of isolation spent at home with his family.  Therefore, the two were hurrying home to their son John. At the entrance to the Dakota, Lennon was greeted by a man who earlier in the morning had asked his "idol" for an autograph, and now was waiting for him at the entrance to the building. John was not even able to turn around before 5 shots rang out.The police arrived less than 2 minutes later.  Not waiting for an ambulance, the police themselves carried the wounded musician to the nearest hospital, located some two kilometers from the site of the shooting.  But by the time Lennon reached the hospital physicians he had already lost 80% of his blood, and he could not be saved.The murderer,  25 year old Mark David Chapman,  threw down the pistol and did not even try to run from the crime scene.  He sat down on a bench not far from the Dakota and sat motionless reading  "Catcher in the Rye".  Initially pleading insanity, and then withdrawing that plea, Chapman was sentenced to prison for a term of 20 years to life with the stipulation that mental health treatment be provided.On the morning after the tragedy a large crowd had gathered in front of the home of the music idol.  Lennon's song, All You Need Is Love,  became a sort of requiem for its composer.  At Lennon's home there began to arrive innumerable letters of condolence  and on radio stations all day long songs of the famous musician were played.  News of the death of the well know music idol quickly spread throughout the world.  In England alone in the two months after the death of Lennon 2 million records of the Beatles were sold.In Central Park not far from the Dakota, Yoko Ono created a memorial,  "Strawberry Fields".  The central feature of the Strawberry Fields is a mosaic with the word -  Imagine.  Beatle fans from all over the world come here bringing flowers, guitar picks and letters for members of the Beatles.  On the day of his birth and his death members of the group perform concerts of their songs.  The nations of the UN donated sapling trees for the Strawberry Fields.Photo Dakota Apartments by Erik Drost is licensed under CC BY 2.0