Two brothers filled a Harlem brownstone with 140 tons of stuff

The Collyer brothers died in their own hoard. Langley was crushed by a booby trap he built himself.

Collyer brothers — Jim.henderson / CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)

When police reached the Harlem brownstone at 2078 Fifth Avenue in March 1947, the doors were wired shut and the foyer was packed solid with old newspapers, folding beds, half a sewing machine, boxes, and parts of a wine press. A patrolman finally broke in through a second-story window and dug for…