Fraunces Tavern Bombing

In 1975, Puerto Rican nationalists bombed Fraunces Tavern, a historic bar and restaurant in New York City. The attack was one of the bloodiest ever perpetrated by the Puerto Rican nationalist group known by the acronym FALN, which eventually claimed responsibility for more than 130 bombings during the late 1970s and 1980s.

The Fraunces Tavern bombing was an early incident in the new wave of Puerto Rican nationalist terrorism that flared up in the mid-1970s. The FALN (Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional, or Armed Forces of National Liberation) had announced its presence in October 1974, claiming responsibility for bombings in New York City and Newark, New Jersey.

The Fraunces Tavern bomb, which was placed by an unused exit door, went off during a busy lunch hour on the afternoon of January 24, 1975. Four people died in the explosion, and more than 50 others, both patrons and passers-by, were seriously injured. Investigators found that the bomb used propane gas canisters to magnify the strength of the explosion. The tavern and the adjacent New York Angler's Club sustained over $300,000 of damage.

In a communiqué left in a nearby telephone booth, FALN claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the bombing was in retaliation for a CIA-ordered bomb that had exploded in a restaurant in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, killing two young independence activists and a 6-year-old child and injuring at least 10 others.

Although no one has ever been formally charged with the bombing, federal investigators believe that FALN leader Willie Morales was its mastermind. Morales, who escaped from the Bellevue Hospital prison ward and fled to Cuba in 1979, said in a 1993 interview: “It may sound heartless to say it that way, but it is hard to fight a war without bystanders getting injured.” Except for the Fraunces Tavern bombing, most of the 130 bombings attributed to or claimed by FALN resulted in few deaths or injuries; damage was done mostly to buildings—often banks and government offices.

The tavern itself is an icon of U.S. history. Built in 1719 on the corner of Broad and Pearl Streets in lower Manhattan, the bar was a favorite gathering place during the Revolutionary War. It was there that General George Washington bid farewell to the officers of the Continental Army in 1783. Since 1904, the Sons of the Revolution has owned and managed the establishment, which is still in operation today. The tavern's iconic status was acknowledged again after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. In December 2001, a woman whose husband had been killed on September 11 held his funeral reception at the tavern, in recognition of the history of terrorism in New York City.