Happy Land Fire

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by asoapymessromances

by asoapymessromances

The Happy Land fire was an actof arson that killed 87 people on March 25, 1990. The 87 victims weretrapped in the unlicensed Happy Land social club, located at 1959Southern Boulevard in the West Farms section of the Bronx in New YorkCity, United States. Most of the victims were young Honduranscelebrating Carnival, many of them part of the Garifuna Americancommunity. Cuban refugee Julio González, whose former girlfriend wasemployed at the club, was arrested soon afterward and ultimatelyconvicted of arson and murder.

The fire was the deadliest in New YorkCity since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which coincidentallyoccurred on the same day in 1911, and the deadliest in Americanterritory since the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico in 1986.

Background

Before the blaze, Happy Land wasordered to close for building code violations in November of 1988.Violations included lack of fire exits, alarms or sprinkler system.No follow-up by the fire department was documented.

Julio González served three years inprison in Cuba during the 1970s for desertion from the Cuban Army. In1980, he faked a criminal record as a drug dealer to help him gainpassage in the Mariel boatlift. The boatlift landed in Florida; hethen traveled to Wisconsin and Arkansas and eventually settled in NewYork, sponsored by the American Council for Nationalities inManhattan.

Six weeks before the fire, he split upwith his girlfriend, Lydia Feliciano. Before that, González had losthis job at a lamp factory in Queens. At the time of the fire, he wastwo weeks behind on the rent of his room, and the owner of theboarding house where he was staying said of him: "From what Iknow, he was down to his last hope."

Incident

The evening of the fire, González hadargued with his former girlfriend, Feliciano, who was a coat checkworker at the club, urging her to quit. She said that she had hadenough of him and did not want anything to do with him anymore. Hewas ejected by the bouncer around 3:00 a.m. He was heard to screamdrunken threats to "shut this place down." He alsoreportedly shouted, "I'll be coming back." Felicianotried to warn others, worried that González was going to dosomething.

González went to an Amoco gas station,then returned to the establishment with a plastic container with$1.00 worth of gasoline. He spread the fuel at the base of astaircase, the only access into the club, and then ignited thegasoline.

Eighty-seven people died in theresulting fire. Nineteen bodies were found downstairs; the othersupstairs. Six bodies were found within several feet of the frontdoor. Some of those trapped punched a hole through a wall to anadjoining union hall in an attempt to escape. Most of the deaths werefrom asphyxiation or trampling. The club filled with toxic smoke soquickly that some victims were found with drinks still in hand. Mostof the victims were young Hondurans celebrating Carnival, largelydrawn from members of the local Garifuna American community. Ahundred and fifty firemen responded to the blaze, which wasextinguished in five minutes.

Initial reports indicated that onlythree people survived the blaze, but later reports gave the number ofsurvivors as five or six. Among them were Feliciano, the club owner'swife, and disc jockey Ruben Valladares. Valladares was hospitalizedin guarded condition with second- and third-degree burns over halfhis body.

Arsonist

Julio González

After setting the fire, Gonzálezreturned home, removed his gasoline-soaked clothes and fell asleep.He was arrested the following afternoon after police investigatorsinterviewed Feliciano and learned of the previous night's argument.Once advised of his rights, he admitted to starting the blaze.

González was charged with 174 countsof murder, two for each victim, and was found guilty on 87 counts ofarson and 87 counts of murder on August 19, 1991. For each count, hereceived the maximum sentence of 25 years to life. He was eligiblefor parole during March 2015 as New York law states that thesentences for multiple murders occurring during one act must beserved concurrently, rather than consecutively.

González was denied parole in March2015. He would have been eligible to apply for parole again inNovember 2016, but he died in prison of a heart attack on September13, 2016, at the age of 61.

Legal

Although the Bronx District Attorneysaid they were not criminally responsible, the New York CityCorporation Counsel filed misdemeanor charges in February 1991against DiLorenzo, the building owner, and Weiss, the landlord. Thesecharges claimed that the owner and landlord were responsible for thebuilding code violations caused by their tenant. They both pleadedguilty in May of 1992, agreeing to perform community service andpaying $150,000 towards a community center for Hondurans in theBronx.

A $5 billion lawsuit was also filed bythe victims and their families against the owner, landlord, city, andsome building material manufacturers. That suit was settled in July1995 for $15.8 million or $163,000 per victim. The lesser amount wasdue mostly to unrelated financial difficulties of the landlord.

Aftermath

The building that housed Happy Landclub was managed partly by Jay Weiss, at the time the husband ofactress Kathleen Turner. The New Yorker quoted Turner saying that"the fire was unfortunate but could have happened at aMcDonald's". The Bronx District Attorney said that thebuilding's owner, Alex DiLorenzo III, and leaseholders Weiss andMorris Jaffe, were not responsible criminally, since they had triedto close the club and evict the tenant. In 1987, Weiss and Jaffe'scompany, Little Peach Realty Inc., had leased the building space forseven years to the club owner, Elias Colon, who died in the fire. Aneviction trial against Colon had been scheduled to start on March 28.Even if Colon had survived the fire, the eviction trial would havebeen moot, as the building that housed the Happy Land Social Club wascondemned and demolished within 24 hours of the fire.

Legacy

The street outside the former HappyLand social club has been renamed "The Plaza of theEighty-Seven" in memory of the victims. Five of the victimswere students at nearby Theodore Roosevelt High School, which had amemorial service for the victims in April 1990. A memorial waserected directly across the street from the former establishment withthe names of all 87 victims inscribed on it.

The plot of the Law & Order season2 episode "Heaven" was inspired by the Happy Landfire.

Additionally, the band Duran Duranwrote the song "Sin of the City", which appeared onthe band's 1993 self-titled album, about the fire. The song"Happyland" on Joe Jackson's album Night and Day II,released in 2000, was also inspired by this event. In the Jay-Z song"You, Me, Him and Her" he raps "The fire Ispit burnt down Happy Land/ Social club, we unapproachable thugs."

In the aftermath of a warehouse fire inOakland, California, in December 2016, which killed 36 people,comparisons were drawn to this fire. The Oakland fire also occurredin a space that was being used for parties in violation of law andlease agreement. Investigations of the law and lease agreements werepending at the time of that fire as well.