On this day in New York · January 24, 1975
The Fraunces Tavern Bombing
A bomb hidden in an attache case turned a lunch hour in the Financial District into New York's deadliest terrorist attack to that point, at the same tavern where George Washington once said goodbye to his officers.
The facts
- Date
- January 24, 1975
- Location
- Anglers' Club of New York, 101 Broad Street, adjacent to Fraunces Tavern, Manhattan
- Casualties
- 4 killed, more than 50 injured
- Device
- About 10 pounds of dynamite packed into an attache case
On January 24, 1975, a bomb built from roughly 10 pounds of dynamite exploded in the entrance vestibule of the Anglers' Club of New York at 101 Broad Street, right next to Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan. Four people were killed and more than 50 were injured as the lunchtime crowd was hit by the blast. A note left in a nearby phone booth showed the Puerto Rican paramilitary group FALN, Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional Puertorriquena, claiming responsibility, framing it as retaliation for a bombing in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico two weeks earlier that the group blamed on the CIA. FALN had already announced itself three months before with five bombs across Manhattan's business district, but nobody had been killed until Fraunces Tavern. To this day, no one has ever been prosecuted for the attack.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
-
take full responsibility for the especially detornated (sic) bomb that exploded today at Fraunces Tavern, with reactionary corporate executives inside
FALN note left in a phone booth near the bombing, January 24, 1975
Source: Wikipedia -
a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you.
George Washington, farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern, December 4, 1783
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
It remains the deadliest bombing in New York City history until the 1993 World Trade Center attack, and it happened inside a building that had already hosted one of the new nation's most sentimental goodbyes, a reminder that the oldest parts of this city carry more than one kind of history.
Sources
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