$5-Billion Lawsuit Filed in Blaze That Killed 87 at N.Y. Social Club

A $5-billion lawsuit was filed Monday on the first anniversary of the Happy Land Social Club fire that killed 87 people, said a city agency that is among those filing the suit.

At a memorial service later, residents of the impoverished Bronx neighborhood listened at St. Thomas Aquinas Church as Mayor David N. Dinkins recalled the horror of seeing the bodies hours after the March 25, 1990, fire.

Dinkins told the mourners the he “will never forget that devastating sight . . . one year later, I still mourn the victims, and this tragedy will remain with me as long as I live.”

A sign reading Descansen en Paz-- rest in peace--hangs on the charred remains of the social club, as does the name of each victim.

The suit was filed on behalf of 86 of the 87 who died, five who survived and two who witnessed the fire and lost loved ones.

The lawsuit against the city, the club owner, the building owner and the lease-holder was filed in state court by 34 private lawyers--some of whom represent more than one victim--and Robert S. Black, public administrator for the Bronx borough.

Black’s agency administers estates in cases where the deceased left no will or the survivors are not entitled by law to act, such as minors or non-resident aliens.

Many of those who died were Honduran; social clubs in New York often cater to particular ethnic groups.

The 87th person who died in the fire was the club owner, Elias Colon, who may have borne some legal responsibility for the blaze. Colon’s wife, Erma, is named as a defendant in the suit as the administrator of her husband’s estate.

On March 25, 1990, Julio Gonzalez allegedly set fire to the club with a dollar’s worth of gasoline. Among the survivors was Gonzalez’s alleged target, his ex-girlfriend.