Vault: 58 years since Beatles arrive in New York for first U.S. visit

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Feb. 7 marks the 58th anniversary of the Beatles first visiting New York for their first U.S. visit in 1964 and shaking up pop culture forever.

As Eyewitness News entertainment reporter and film critic Joel Siegel observed in his report marking the 15th anniversary in 1979, "sirloin steak was up to $1.49 a pound, Mayor Wagner was cleaning up Times Square, and at 1:20 in the afternoon, at the newly named Kennedy International Airport, four young men walked off an airplane, and the world would never been the same."

This report features excerpts from WABC's coverage of the arrival at Kennedy airport, plus interviews with promotions legend Sid Bernstein, who brought the Beatles to Carnegie Hall, and super fans Mark and Carol Lapidos, who organized Beatlefest conventions.

This was the final segment of the 6 p.m. edition of Eyewitness News that evening, anchored by Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel.