Murder Was His Business

Run, don't walk, to see Weegee's Story, a collection of over 200 of the photographer's best images, which closes this Friday.

Weegee, whose aggregate nickname references a job he held drying prints ("Squeegee Boy") and also his ability/privilege to be the first on the scene of crimes and accidents ("Ouija"), arrived in the Lower East Side with his family in 1910. In the early part of his career, Depression-era New York was rife with mafia murders, suicides, auto accidents and tenement fires. Weegee became famous for his gritty documentation of this hard-knock urban life, as well as the gamut of social circles from high society to the margins of society.

Ubu Gallery is located at 416 E. 59th Street, and is open from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM and by appointment. Gothamist is still working on our alibi to cut out of work this week to catch this incredible compilation of prints.