Happy Land fire

Happy Land fire
Investigation of the club on the day after the fire
LocationWest Farms, The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Coordinates40°50′35″N 73°53′09″W / 40.8431125°N 73.8859465°W / 40.8431125; -73.8859465
DateMarch 25, 1990; 34 years ago (1990-03-25)
3 a.m. EDT
TargetHappy Land social club
Attack type
Arson, mass murder
Deaths87
Injured7
PerpetratorJulio González
MotiveArgument with ex-girlfriend

The Happy Land fire was an act of arson that killed 87 people on March 25, 1990, in the Bronx in New York City, United States. The 87 victims were trapped in the unlicensed Happy Land social club, located at 1959 Southern Boulevard in the West Farms section of the Bronx. Most of the victims were young Hondurans celebrating Carnival, many of them part of the Garifuna American community. Cuban refugee Julio González, whose former girlfriend was employed at the club, was arrested soon afterward and ultimately convicted of arson and murder.

The fire was the deadliest in New York City since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which coincidentally occurred on the same day in 1911, and the deadliest in American territory since the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico in 1986 and the Winecoff Hotel Fire in 1946.[1][2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference blumenthal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Diebel 2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).