Two cities pay last tribute to John Lennon - archive, 15 December 1980

15 December 1980: In New York thousands of people trooped to Central Park for a vigil while in Liverpool there was a six-hour celebration of Beatlemania

New York and Liverpool paid final tributes to John Lennon yesterday. In New York tens of thousands of people trooped to Central Park in below freezing temperatures for a commemorative vigil.

Liverpool’s tribute was a noisy, zestful six-hour celebration of Beatlemania in which Lennon’s death was almost forgotten. The New York vigil was attended by the city’s mayor, Ed Koch, and many other dignitaries and celebrities. But as in Liverpool, it was the city’s young people who dominated the event.