REMEMBERING HAPPY LAND VICTIMS
Relatives and friends joined Community Board 6 on Monday, March 25 to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the Happy Land Social Club Fire, a devastating inferno which
tore through an illegal two-story night club at 1959 Southern Boulevard and claimed the lives of 87 party goers. The somber ceremony began with an evening Mass dedicated
to the victims at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. Following the service, a procession traveled to the Plaza of the Eighty-Seven, a memorial honoring the victims located just across
the street from the former night club for a Rosary and candlelight vigil. (left top) Families, friends and others marched from St. Thomas Aquinas Church to the Plaza of the
Eighty-Seven with a larger-than-life Rosary. (left bottom) Firefi ghters from the 48th station house were procession members as they were the fi rst responders during the fi re.
(right top) Fr. Librado Godinez, St. Thomas Aquinas Church pastor, blessed the Plaza of the Eighty-Seven. (right bottom) Flowers, candles and offerings for the victims were
left at the monument’s base. (photo above) The names of all 87 people killed in the Happy Land Social Club arson. (background photo) Flowers, crosses, glasses, candles and
lanterns adorned the Happy Land Social Club Fire Monument. Photos by Kasey Rodriguez
BRONX TIMES R 18 EPORTER, APRIL 5-11, 2019 BTR