Mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis joined the son of a man killed in the FALN bombing of Fraunces Tavern to denounce the Puerto Rican Day Parade’s decision to honor group leader Oscar Lopez Rivera — and to slam Mayor de Blasio for opting to march in the parade.
Malliotakis, a Republican Assemblywoman from Staten Island, called on de Blasio Tuesday to set a meeting with parade organizers and strike a deal to change the parade’s honoree, after a series of major sponsors and politicians dropped out of the annual event.
Failing that, she said he should boycott the march, displaying copies of Daily News front pages with headlines like “Wall Street Bomb Kills 4, Hurts 43,” marking the day in 1975 the historic downtown tavern was rocked by a bomb planted by FALN.
“It’s completely outrageous that we have a mayor and a Council speaker who think it’s appropriate to not only attend but march alongside the leader of the organization that claimed responsibility for these attacks on our city,” she said outside the bar. “It is the equivalent of 40 years from now saying it’s OK to honor a leader in al Qaeda [or Oklahoma City bomber] Timothy McVeigh.”
De Blasio has said he’ll march in honor of the Puerto Rican people regardless of who organizers choose to honor, while Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is Lopez Rivera’s most fervent public supporter in the city and has blamed the backlash on right wing elements within Puerto Rico.
Joseph Connor, whose father Frank was killed in the blast at the age of 33, called it a slap in the face to see Lopez Rivera deemed a “National Freedom Hero” and supported by city leaders.
“We were going to be celebrating my 9th birthday that night, and my brother’s 11th. And my dad never came home,” Connor said. “Oscar Lopez Rivera’s FALN deemed themselves his judge, his jury and his executioner.”
Lopez Rivera spent 35 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy. He was granted clemency by President Obama.
The Puerto Rican nationalist’s supporters point to the fact that he was never convicted of an act of violence, but Connor said he’s still responsible for the death of his father and others in a wave of bombings across New York and the country.
“Whether he walked the bomb into Fraunces or not, we will never know. But Osama bin Laden didn’t fly any planes into the World Trade Center,” Connor said. “If you are a member or leader of that conspiracy, you’re responsible.”
Tom Engel, a former assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted FALN members, agreed.
“The law punishes all manner of individuals who are responsible for bombings, for murder,” he said, recalling the “wave of terror” that swept through the city as the bombs went off.
“It is said that he is a freedom fighter, that he is a leader for independence in Puerto Rico. He is not that. He is a terrorist,” he said.
The decision to honor Lopez Rivera has led scores of sponsors — including the Daily News — to drop out of the parade this year. Officials including Gov. Cuomo and NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill have also announced they will not march as well.
De Blasio, explaining his decision to stick with the parade last week, said Lopez Rivera has renounced terrorism and his participation in the parade is not about any one individual.
“Whether you agree with that choice or not, it is still the Puerto Rican parade, and my point is that I will be there to honor the Puerto Rican people,” he said.
