Podcast Episode about The 1990 Happy Land Social Club Fire Brings Back Memories for Some
Have people forgotten this major New York City Incident?
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Copyright 2024 by Teofilo Colon Jr for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved.
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Manhattan, New York — Based on the number of casualties at the time, The 1990 Happy Land Social Club Fire serves as a peculiar part of New York City History. It was the deadliest fire in New York City history since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911. Both were eclipsed by the World Trade Center Attack on September 11th 2001.
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The Happy Land Social Club Fire was the result of a Cuban Refugee, Jorge Gonzalez, being upset at being kicked out of The Happy Land Social Club after arguing with an ex-girlfriend of his, Lydia Feliciano, who worked as a coat check girl at The Happy Land Social Club.
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Upon being kicked out of The Happy Land Social Club, he walked to a nearby gas station, bought a dollar’s worth of gasoline, returned to the Happy Land Social Club and set fire to the only known entrance/exit of the club.
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87 People died as a result of that fire, mostly of smoke asphixiation and Jorge Gonzalez was apprehended hours later.
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The Shoe Leather Podcast, an investigative podcast focused on New York City History, aimed to explore the lasting effect of such a tragic incident. Issues of memory and how the Fire dramatically impacted countless lives were touched on and talked about. The different ways people grieve were also mentioned.
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In early 2020, Two Journalism Students from the Columbia University Graduate Department of Journalism, Kara Grant and Jack Rossiter-Munley, contacted me. I forget whether they called me or emailed me. Probably both.
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In any event, they told me that they were working on this podcast episode focusing on The Happy Land Social Club Fire and the coming 30th Commemoration of that Tragedy. They wondered if I was interested in being interviewed about the Fire.
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From Time to Time, Journalists or Journalism Students contact me to talk about matters regarding the Garifuna Ethnic Group. The Happy Land Social Club Fire, Garifuna Language or other aspects of Garifuna Culture tend to be focused on by these Journalists. Eager to help them out, I typically agree to be interviewed on the subject of the Garifuna Ethnic Group and this time proved to be no exception.
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They had mentioned that they had seen and read my BEING GARIFUNA post about The Happy Land Social Club Fire. The Link is below.
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In that post, I profiled many of the victims and tried to determine who was Garifuna. Of course, all the lives lost in that Fire mattered. However, as this website is Garifuna-centric, I focused on the Garifuna Victims of The Fire, or who I could determine were Garifuna.
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Happy to learn that someone read that post, I also wanted to share my research with them as I printed up microfilm copies of a bunch of newspaper articles about The Happy Land Social Club Fire.
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My cousin, Juan Carlos Colon Jr, lost his life in that Fire and I also wanted to talk about him with them.
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Photo of my Cousin, Juan Carlos Colon Jr, one of the 87 Victims of The Happy Land Social Club Fire
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They also asked if I could refer any relatives of victims of The Happy Land Social Club Fire to them. I know of a few, contacted them, asked if they were interested and directed them to the Journalism Students.
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They wound up interviewing Thelma Gomez, whose mother, Justa Gladys Crisanto, lost her life in The Happy Land Social Club Fire.
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Photo of Thelma Gomez (Pregnant Woman holding a Pink Umbrella) and her Family at The 2015 Happy Land Social Club Fire Commemoration
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I have noticed over the years that interest in attending the commemorations, which typically consisted of a Catholic Mass and a gathering at The Happy Land Fire Memorial, have dwindled over the years.
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I wondered whether this meant that people have moved on with their lives or simply have their own method of grieving or mourning or remembering those lost lives all these years later.
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The Mass and Gathering in 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. But the Podcast Episode was released.
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I thought that I had already written about it here, but I guess that I haven’t. Listen to it if you have the time. The link is below.
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