 |
| Victory Boulevard stairs, 2013 |
I always wondered what had been at the top of the stairs that line the east side of Victory Boulevard as it rises up away from Jersey Street. From another set of stairs that still clearly lead somewhere, I thought they might have been connections to Rosewood Place or Avon Place. It was only when I started looking at the old tax maps again that I uncovered the truth. Once upon a time, there was a string of nine attached houses.
Since I've gained access to the SI Advance archive thru GenealogyBank, I can do basic research on nearly any address on the Island. Mostly I just learn who lived there and who died there. Once in a while, though, I discover something really interesting. In this case, these houses, built sometime between 1917 and 1936, were probably demolished in the wake of several arson fires that over a few years that took out first one house then another.
Originally, I was going to reprint articles from the SI Advance covering the culprit's history that culminated in his sentencing. I decided not to because his surname isn't common and he had at least one child. If you really feel the need to discover it, it isn't difficult. So, instead, I'll tell you what happened - according to the newspapers and the courts.
In 1971, a 28 year old man I'll call Paul X, a real estate broker and property manager with an office in Tompkinsville, was arrested along with his brother and a third man (the torchman), for arson at 252 Victory Blvd. The building was damaged and the fire was declared suspicious. The row of houses included nine units and stretched from 252 to 268. This wasn't the first time any of the houses had burned. I'm not sure when that was, but in 1968, 268 had been 'gutted' and 266 damaged. It was the first time fires had happened while the young man owned them. He had bought them for under $60,000 in 1970.
Paul X escaped judgment in this situation. The case was adjourned a few months in April of '71 and dismissed later that summer. The judge found the defense's claim that a speedy trial had been denied and all charges were dismissed.
Now, before our criminal was arrested for arson a second time, he was arrested for one of the stranger events I've come across in my North Shore studies. In November 1976, he was arrested for fomenting a plot to rob the house of State Senator John J Marchi on Ward Hill. Apparently, the conspirators believed they could make a "'big haul' in cash, furs and paintings." It wasn't carried out because they learned the senator was sick and would be home the night of the planned heist. As nothing happened, the ultimate penalty suffered was minor, especially compared to what happened next.
 |
| Sen John J Marchi |
On June 29, 1977, fire hit 252 Victory. Only the quick action of a neighbor stamping it out prevented it from spreading. The FDNY found a building soaked in gasoline when they arrived. 252 was vacant at the time, but the other seven houses were occupied.
A month later, 252 Victory burned again and this time nobody saved it. The picture above is from one of the Advance articles describing the event. The FDNY officers described fighting the fires as difficult. The houses were up a hill and reaching the attics with the hoses was extremely difficult. Trucks were even driven around to Rosewood Pl and they tried to get at the fire from above and behind.
The next day, the Advance had an article titled "Arson becomes a dirty word for Victory Blvd. merchants." In it, another fire down the hill at 76 Victory Blvd. was described. Paul X's lawyer called out the FDNY for not doing a better job at prevention and claimed the fires had probably been started by vandals or tenants trying to claim "relocation money." He later claims that the fires at 252 Victory were "the result of a vendetta against the former owner." Additionally, he said, "Maybe (it was) carried out by people that don't realize the property changed hands." He believed this, apparently, because "the former owner was associated with a certain lowlife element."
The thing is, the previous owner of the row houses was Paul X. Well, a company of which he was the president. That company sold the property to the lawyer's wife a year earlier as indicated by records at the Richmond County Clerk's office. The article doesn't mention that, but it does mention that all the properties in question were indeed owed by the lawyer's wife, a young man from Brooklyn and Paul X's OWN WIFE.
A few days after the big arson article, there was another fire, this time at 256 and 258 Victory Blvd. Readers learn that the FDNY had started calling Victory Blvd. 'mini-Bushwick,' referencing the arson-plague devastating that Brooklyn neighbor at the same time. At this point, only two of the six or seven remaining houses are occupied. Again, the lawyer is reported as blaming "vandals or tenants trying to collect relocation money." Another fire was set two days later heavily damaging 256.
Finally, in December 1977, Paul X was arrested and indicted. He was accused of seven counts of arson, including for 72 Victory Blvd. where his office was located. Bail was set at $75,000. The lawyer mentioned previously did not represent him in this case.
Paul X tried to defend himself by claiming his old lawyer and the other had pressured him into cooperating with the arson plot. It didn't stick. The prosecution was aided by the new firebug Paul X had hired. They had had fallen out over payments (typically $75 to $200 per job) and the torchman had become a witness for the investigators. The young co-owner from Brooklyn found himself indicted, too, seems to have become a very cooperative witness. In the end, Paul X was convicted and was sentenced to up to seven years in prison. Later, he would appeal, but the courts denied it and he stayed locked up.
After the fires and the arrests, the lawyer's wife sold the properties. I didn't find any further information about the remaining houses, but I assume they were demolished. The property has been sold and resold over the years and I know there's been talk of building on it, but at this point there's nothing there but stairs.
And that would seem to be that. It wasn't. I can't tell when he was released, but in 1982, Paul X shows up in the Advance helping operate an illegal homeless shelter in the vacate Temple B'nai Jeshurun down the block on the other side of Victory Blvd. The shelter was probably operating at the imprimatur of Mayor Koch's administration, but no local officials knew about it and it was in violation of fire and building regulations. An interesting coda to a interesting character's criminal exploits.
 |
| Victory Boulevard stairs, 2022 |
Postscript:
Doing a general Google search on Paul X, I discovered his name in something called Researching Arson-for-Profit from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. He's included in a diagram indicating all the parties connected to a seemingly linked series of arson incidents.
