Sunday Apr 20, 2025
The Happy Land Social Club Fire - New York City
Episode 57
An illegal nightclub in the Bronx was the scene of the largest mass murder in US HIstory at the time it occurred in 1990. A scorned lover went to the club to persuade his ex-girlfriend to take him back and when his attempts were unsuccessful, he did the unthinkable. With a bottle he found in the street and a dollar worth of gasoline purchased at a nearby gas station, he returned to the club and committed an arson attack that would claim 87 lives. What could drive a man to such drastic measures and how could one fire be so deadly? Listen to this week's episode on the Happy Land Social Club Fire to find out. One man may be responsible for setting the fire, but a series of failures by city officials contributed to the scope of the tragedy.
This podcast is a true crime podcast about arson and criminal fires. Listener discretion is recommended.
Background music by Not Notoriously Coordinated
Get your Crime to Burn Merch! https://crimetoburn.myspreadshop.com
Please follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube for the latest news on this case. You can email us at crimetoburn@gmail.com We welcome any constructive feedback and would greatly appreciate a 5 star rating and review.
If you need a way to keep your canine contained, you can also support the show by purchasing a Pawious wireless dog fence using our affiliate link and use the code "crimetoburn" at checkout to receive 10% off. Pawious, because our dog Winston needed a radius, not a rap sheet.
Source List:
Modjeska, OJ. (2020). Happy Land - A Lover’s Revenge. Reality Plus - A Next Chapter Imprint.
Brandt, S. and Sowder, A.M. ‘Contextualising tragedy in places of assembly through cases of New York City social club fires’. Architecture_MPS 24, 1 (2023): 4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.amps.2023v24i1.004.
https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=916658
https://allthatsinteresting.com/happy-land-fire
https://pix11.com/news/happy-land-fire-25-years-on-wpixs-original-coverage-of-bronx-tragedy/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-28-mn-237-story.html
Comments (0)
To leave or reply to comments, please download free Podbean or
No Comments
To leave or reply to comments,
please download free Podbean App.