Look back at the fatal Happy Land Social Club fire

Julio Gonzalez, a 36-year-old Cuban refugee, is led from the 48th precinct in New York where he was charged with arson and murder for the Bronx Social Club fire that killed 87 People.

Friends and family of those killed in the blaze at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx gathered at the site to recite the rosary.

Julio Gonzalez, center, was arraigned in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx on April 11, 1990, for allegedly setting the March 25 Happy Land Social Club fire. Wearing a three-piece suit and no shirt, the 36-year-old pleaded innocent to 174 counts of murder and other charges. He is flanked by interpreter Yolanda Cruz and Attorney Richard Berne, right. Gonzalez was arrested and ultimately convicted of arson and murder.

After Julio Gonzalez received the maximum sentence of 25 years to life (a total of 4,350 years) for the murder of 87 victims who perished in the Happy Land arson fire, Aracellas Perez cried at a memorial erected outside the venue on Sept. 19, 1991.

On March 26, 1990, the front page of the New York Daily News read "Agony, City grieves for 87 killed; Bronx arson suspect held" after the tragedy.

On March 25, 1990, Julio Gonzalez deliberately set alight illegal Bronx dance club Happy Land in a deliberate jealous rage after an argument with his ex-girlfriend. At the time, it was the biggest mass murder in U.S. history. After failing to win back his ex as she worked at the venue's coat-check room, Gonzalez left and returned carrying gasoline and a grudge. He poured the fuel inside the building and around the club's only exit before setting it alight with two matches and pulling down the metal front gate. Gonzalez's ex-girlfriend was one of only 6 people that made it out of the flame-filled inferno alive. In this photo, firefighters stand near bodies of some of the victims outside of Happy Land.

Distraught relatives wait outside Public School 67 in the Bronx to identify the 87 victims of the fire at Happy Land.

Firefighters and police officers stand near bodies of some of the 87 victims of a fire outside the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx. Nearly all the victims -- 61 men and 26 women -- died of smoke inhalation, but authorities said several were trampled in the stampede for the door.

Lifeless bodies are seen at the scene of the tragic fire that claimed 87 lives on March 25, 1990. Julio Gonzalez, who confessed to starting the fire by dousing the entrance of the club with gasoline and tossing in a lit match after he had an argument with his girlfriend, was sentenced to 174 counts of murder, two counts for each of the victims.

A relative holds up a photo of Alba Manaiza, one of the 87 victims who perished in the arson fire at Happy Land on March 25, 1990.

A distraught woman is comforted at the scene of the catastrophic Happy Land fire in the Bronx as police and firefighters recover bodies from the burned-out venue on March 25, 1990.

Crowds reviewed the aftermath of the burned-out Bronx venue Happy Land after it was engulfed by a flame-filled inferno on March 25, 1990. Only six people were able to escape the flames while 87 people lost their lives -- becoming the biggest mass murder in modern U.S. history.

The patrons, most of whom were young Honduran's celebrating carnival, were trapped on the second floor with no way to escape the blaze on March 25, 1990. Within minutes, 87 people fatally burned or died from smoke inhalation. Only six people survived.

Students express grief and tribute to the victims of the Happy Land Social Club fire, half of which were under the age of 25.

The street outside the former Happy Land social club was renamed "The Plaza of the Eighty-Seven" in memory of the 87 victims who perished in the fire and a permanent memorial (pictured) was erected directly across the street from the former establishment with the victims' names inscribed on it.

Emergency vehicles are seen outside Happy Land Social Club, that was located at 1959 Southern Blvd. in East Tremont near the Bronx Zoo.

A memorial was erected outside of the burned-out venue Happy Land as bouquets of flowers lined the curb in front of the establishment that was set ablaze by arsonist Julio Gonzalez, claiming the lives of 87 people on Southern Blvd. in the Bronx on March 25, 1990.

Friends and family of the 87 victims of the fire at the Happy Land Social Club mourn during a wake outside the Rivera Funeral Home in the Bronx.

Of the 87 victims, 48 were sent home to Honduras from JFK Airport in coffins. Grief-stricken relatives of those who died gathered on the runway alongside the President of Honduras and other government officials.

A mom and her daughter look at a memorial outside the Happy Land Social Club on the 5th anniversary of the fire on March 25, 1990.

Friends grieve outside of the burned-out Happy Land Social Club following the tragic fire set alight by Julio Gonzalez, whose former girlfriend was employed at the club.

The illegal dance club had been previously hit with a "peremptory vacate order" in November 1988 for lack of exits and for improper lighting and was being condemned, officials said.