Crotona Parkway Malls

Who is this monument dedicated to?
This memorial is dedicated to the memory of the 87 individuals who died on March 25, 1990 in a fire at the Happy Land Social Club, which was located across the street at 1959 Southern Boulevard. The club catered to a largely local clientele of Latin American heritage with origins predominantly in Honduras, but also El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Many were Garifuna, Afro-Indigenous people from the Caribbean region. In the early morning hours of that fateful day, Julio González set the fire with intent to harm his estranged girlfriend. The fire consumed the crowded club, whose owner had been cited with multiple building fire code violations.

How was this created?
Following the tragedy there was wide consensus that the victims be honored by a local memorial. The project was a city-funded NYC Parks capital project advanced in collaboration with the office of the Bronx Borough President and the Federation of Honduran Organizations of New York.

Designed by Honduran immigrant José Antonio Velásquez, the monument consists of a fenced memorial plaza with seating that features a central rose-colored granite obelisk inscribed with the names of those who perished in the fire, and a commemorative tribute. It was dedicated on June 17, 1995.