When the Bronx Burned

John Finucane Writes About The Real Story Of The 1970's Bronx Burning

By John Mooney

While the ESPN miniseries The Bronx Is Burning earlier this year focused on the Yankees baseball, former firefighter John Finucane knows that the real story of the borough in the 1970s was arson.

"Arson-for-profit raged from 1966-77. It was New York's best kept secret," Finucane said. "The media hardly touched the topic, and the government looked the other way. It's a story that should never be forgotten."

Born and raised in the South Bronx at 158th Street & Cauldwell Ave in the Morrisania section, John Finucane served in two of New York's busiest fire companies in the South Bronx, Engine 85 from 1967-72 and Ladder 59 from 1972-76.

His new novel, When the Bronx Burned, enlightens readers about a time not so long ago when fires raged to clear out the ghettos. It's the tale of a firefighter named Jackie Mulligan who takes on slumlords and arsonists. The author calls attention to the hundreds of people who died and the thousands who were displaced - all so landlords could collect on insurance money. Finucane says he wrote the book as a tribute to firefighters everywhere.

"Landlords owned buildings affected by rent controls. The people living in them were on welfare, and the landlords could not get rent increases. Rather than lose money on the buildings, they'd hire people to burn the buildings to collect on the fire insurance," the former FDNY lieutenant said.

He explained that fires that raged on upper floors caused maximum damage since water from the fire hoses would then flow down the stairwells and through the walls. People were left homeless, while the landlords walked away with a windfall.

"John Finucane has written a riveting and fast moving first novel," said Charles J. Hynes, Kings County District Attorney and former Fire Commissioner of NYC. "Not only does he nail the drama in a way only an experienced firefighter can, he literally puts the reader inside the fire scene."

Finucane believes the New York City leaders wanted ghettos cleaned out, so they could rebuild with federal money.

"We needed federal fire marshals to find out who was doing the torching, and to arrest them and put them away," Finucane recalls. "We kept hearing they didn't have the money."

The result was that countless buildings became vacant. Meanwhile, squatters and junkies set up residence. Landlords weren't the only ones in on the game; according to Finucane, tenants started to burn the apartments because they knew the city would give them money to relocate and replace furniture. During the administrations of Mayor John Lindsay and Mayor Abe Beame, the population of the Bronx dropped from 1.1 million to 700,000 - in large part because of the arson.

"The city had money for relocations and real estate finder's fees - but not for fire marshals," said Finucane, who three decades later is bitter about the rampant crime and the dangers that arson posed for firefighters working in the famous "Fort Apache" section of the Bronx.

"It was extremely dangerous. Sometimes we would fight up to six fires in one evening. You didn't have much time, so we didn't put on the breathing apparatus, we'd just go right in to find victims," Finucane explained. "I know that I saved kids' lives by doing that."

Firefighters from other neighborhoods were often called in to help. In fact, there were so many fires in the South Bronx that it prompted President Jimmy Carter to visit the area (Charlotte Street) in 1977.

"Guys who were not facing it everyday were more included to say, 'Something is definitely not right. This is crazy'," said Finucane, who served on the executive board of FDNY Emerald Society for 27 years.

The End of the Ashes

When Mayor Ed Koch took office, he brought on new fire marshals ("real firemen, not political appointees," Finucane asserts) who made an impact. But by that time, much of the South Bronx was burned out.

"The people were gone. It was 'mission accomplished' by 1977," said Finucane, a member of the FDNY's Honor Legion. "Never did I see demonstrations. The people never rallied and banded together to protest the burnings like they would do today."

"The South Bronx didn't have the type of active leadership that Harlem had during the Civil Rights era," the 67-year-old author continued. "The leaders weren't complaining, and the people didn't vote."

Today, 20% of fires are done as arson-for-profit or to cover crime or murder; 50% of arsons are committed by kids under 18 years of age.

"It's heartbreaking to fight fires on cold winter's night and see a family out on the street. Then, the next week, you might see the same family again because the new apartment building they moved into was also set ablaze."

After he retired from the FDNY, John Finucane became publisher of the American Irish Newsletter. He also was founder and president of American Irish Political Education Committee and became part of Irish American Unity Conference to encourage the American Government to become involved in the North of Ireland. His mother was from Co. Sligo, while his father had roots in Co. Clare.

Finucane retired in 1987 and served at Ground Zero doing recovery work in 2001. He founded the Advocates for 9-11 Fallen Heroes Memorial at World Trade Center that seeks to keep the firefighters together by affiliation. He also plans to write a non-fiction version of the South Bronx arson story.

A former paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, John Finucane and his Cavan-born wife, Margaret, raised three children: John, Brian and Stephanie. A longtime resident of Rockland County, he recently moved to Yonkers.