David Berkowitz's Co-op City apartment

Serial Killer House The Bronx, New York

This is the apartment building where David Berkowitz lived between 1968 and 1971.

It is located at 170 Dreiser Loop in the Co-op City section of the Bronx, New York.

He lived here with his adoptive father, Nathan, and his stepmother, Julia.

Their apartment was on the 17th floor.

Berkowitz and his father moved from Soundview to this building roughly one year after his adoptive mother, Pearl, passed away from breast cancer at the age of 52. At the time, he was about 15 years old.

170 Dreiser Loop — Berkowitz's father (top-right) cried when he learned of his son's arrest. He later told reporters, "All those people who have known David and me. We, too, are victims of this tragedy. I will live with this heartache for the rest of my life."

Following their relocation, his father eventually began dating a widow named Julia.

Berkowitz did not know that his father had met another woman, as they mostly lived separate lives. He spent a lot of time away from their apartment, while his father did his own thing.

Every time his father got dressed up and left for the evening, Berkowitz assumed that he was going off to play cards.

When he first met Julia, he was not happy, as he believed that she was taking his mother's place.

In 1970, his father married Julia, and she became his stepmother.

Berkowitz reacted to this by spending even more time away from home.

After graduating from high school in 1971, he immediately enlisted in the US Army. For the next three years, he was stationed in South Korea and Fort Knox.

In 1974, he received an honorable discharge and returned to this address for a brief period of time.

Not long after, his father sold his hardware store so that he could purchase a condo in Florida and retire. Consequently, Berkowitz started renting an apartment on Barnes Avenue in the Bronx.

Notably, Berkowitz's first attack took place in Co-op City one year later, at a footbridge that is just 0.5 miles north of this building.

Map — On December 24th, 1975, he stabbed 13-year-old Michelle Forman on a nearby pedestrian bridge. Forman survived the attack.

Like most serial killers, he chose to commit his first murder in a familiar area. It wasn't until later that he strayed outside his comfort zone and began targeting victims in Queens and Brooklyn.