1991 — Dec 28, Trampling, Nat Holman Gym basketball game, City College, NY — 9

— 9  History.com. “Nine killed in a stampede outside a hip-hop celebrity basketball game.”

— 9  NY Daily News. “Rappers & CUNY Found Negligent; Lax Security Cited…” 1-12-1999.

— 9  New York Times. “After 9 Deaths, the Enduring Scars at City College.” 12-27-1992,.

— 9  New York Times. “Rap Producer Testifies on Fatal Stampede at City College,” 3-24-1998.

 

Narrative Information

 

NYT, Dec 27, 1992: “On December 28, 1991 at the Nat Holman Gymnasium at City College in New York, nine young people were crushed to death and 34 others injured as they waited for a celebrity basketball game that turned into one of the deadliest failures of crowd control in American history.

 

“The cascade of bodies that surged into the building that night for a game between teams of rap stars did more than squeeze the breath from nine people trapped in a narrow stairwell. It left dozens of others stunned and confused for months afterward, ended the careers of several City College officials and pushed an institution already roiled by controversy into new bouts of introspection and self-doubt….

 

“The crush in the gym also deeply scarred scores of people who were trapped in its wake. Just like survivors of a cataclysmic storm, they speak of that night in hushed tones filled with grief, confusion, accusation and recrimination. And after a year of intense public and private debate, their hardest questions still seem to defy clear answers: Why did a peaceable crowd turn into a deadly mob? Would even the best-laid plans have prevented the deaths? Who, if anyone, is to blame? ‘It’s a Sadness’

 

“I’ve spent a whole year waking up at 2 in the morning thinking about this,” said Jean Charles, who lost his job as director of the college’s student center after being criticized by a mayoral commission for failing to learn about the details of the event. “It’s a sadness. You know you tried to do the best job, yet things happened. It’s like a hurricane and you lose everything and there is nowhere left to go.”

 

“Few lives have been changed more dramatically than Cassaundra A. Kirnon’s.  Before Dec. 28, 1991, she had been, in many ways, typical of the part-time adult students that City College had attracted for generations: a single mother of three and a full-time secretary who took evening classes and even found time for student government. And it was as president of the Evening Student Government that Ms. Kirnon became the principal organizer of a charity basketball game involving members of rap groups, including Run-DMC and Boyz II Men.

 

“After the fatal crush, she was accused by a mayoral inquiry of having a “cavalier” attitude toward college rules and of failing to inform officials about the nature of the game. And to this day her successor as head of the Evening Student Government is harshly critical of her, saying she was over her head in organizing the rap event. Last August, Ms. Kirnon was suspended for one semester by the college.

 

“The fatal crush led to several investigations, and blame was assigned to every party involved: the students who did not level with college administrators about the nature of the event; the rap promoter who failed to obtain insurance and announced that a nonexistent AIDS education program would benefit from proceeds; the college administrators who did not ask students enough questions about what was to take place that night; college security directors for failing to coordinate with officers from the New York Police Department; the police for hesitating to intervene as young people were dying, and the emergency medical personnel who responded slowly to calls for help….

 

“The most hard-hitting report came after an investigation commissioned by Mayor David N. Dinkins, which faulted all parties for a “lack of responsibility.” As a result, that report concluded, about 5,000 people attempted to make their way through one entrance into a gymnasium that holds only 2,700. The crowd overwhelmed the 23 college security guards and 63 New York City police officers on the scene.

 

“While not calling for any dismissals, the report urged City College to overhaul its policies for supervising student-run events and urged the police and City University, of which City College is one campus, to review a longstanding policy under which the police are generally barred from going into university buildings….”  (NYT (Newman and Dao). “After 9 Deaths,” NYT, 12-27-1992.)

 

NYT, March 24, 1998: “In 1991, Puffy Combs was a largely unknown rap promoter whose celebrity basketball game became forever linked to a horrible event: the stampede that killed nine people at City College.

 

“Today, Mr. Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, is at the top of rap, a multimillionaire impresario and Grammy Award-winning performer who runs one of urban music’s most popular labels, Bad Boy Entertainment. But yesterday, Mr. Combs was confronting his past, testifying about the deadly night at City College. ‘City College is something I deal with every day of my life,’ Mr. Combs said outside court yesterday. ‘But the things that I deal with can in no way measure up to the pain that the families deal with. I just pray for the families and pray for the children who lost their lives every day.’

 

“Mr. Combs appeared yesterday in the State Court of Claims in Manhattan. He is a witness in a lawsuit against City College that was filed on behalf of some of the victims of the stampede.  This is the first state court case related to the stampede to go to trial.

 

“Mr. Combs described the chaotic atmosphere of that deadly night in testimony that was reported by The Associated Press. He said that he ‘observed an overwhelming amount of people outside’ the gymnasium where the game was held, and that they were pressing to get in. ‘The doors popped,’ he said, adding, ‘they tore the doors right off the hinges.’ As the crowd poured into the lobby, ‘the rush was too much and the stampede started down the stairs.’ Mr. Combs said he ‘started seeing different young ladies getting squished.’ He added, ‘You could see panic on everybody’s face.’

 

“Nine other civil suits are outstanding in the disaster, including one wrongful death and eight personal injury cases, lawyers said. Mr. Combs is named as a defendant in some cases.

 

“Seven years ago, Mr. Combs, then 22, was the promoter of the Heavy D and Puff Daddy Celebrity Charity Basketball Game at City College’s Nat Holman Gymnasium. The game, promoted through fliers and radio spots, was intended to raise money for AIDS charities, and it featured several rap stars playing on teams.

 

“On Dec. 28, 1991, a large crowd gathered outside the 2,730-seat gymnasium, forming a long line that stretched along 138th Street.  The crowd grew unruly, and someone decided to close the doors to the street. The fans surged forward, slamming into the outer doors, which broke under the pressure. The crowd raced into the small lobby and down a short flight of stairs to the gym doors. But the doors to the gym, most of which were closed, only opened outward. Nine young fans were trampled or crushed to death and 29 were injured.

 

“Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the stampede and the police response did not reach definitive conclusions, and no criminal charges were filed.

 

“In the aftermath of the disaster, the people involved with running the event pointed fingers at one another. Questions were raised about how City College could have approved the event, whether the promoters were adequately prepared, and whether the Police Department moved quickly enough to stop the disturbance.

 

“The Police Department had 66 officers stationed outside the gym that night. City College provided 30 private security officers, and the promoters hired 20 security workers.

 

“Mr. Combs’s lawyers have argued he was not responsible for security, which they say was left to the college. Mark Goidell, one of Mr. Combs’s lawyers, argued that the plans were adequate.  ‘I don’t think an army could have stopped the sudden onslaught by a surge of people,’ Mr. Goidell said. ‘There was an enormous police presence outside, and there was a pretty large security contingent inside. They were simply overwhelmed by the surge of people crashing the doors.’

 

“Kenneth Meiselas, Mr. Combs’s longtime business lawyer, said that Mr. Combs hired extra security for the event even though security was not his responsibility. ‘He was always told by the university that they were in charge of security and they would have to follow the direction and control of their security,’ Mr. Meiselas said.

 

“But lawyers for people injured in the stampede have argued that Mr. Combs bears part of the responsibility for the disaster. ‘There was a failure of responsibility across the board,’ said Peter DeFilippis, a lawyer for a young woman who was injured at the game and is a plaintiff in the lawsuit that is now being tried. ‘Everyone involved left security up to someone else. They never decided who would be in charge of security.’ Mr. DeFilippis said problems began when someone decided to shut the doors without preparing for the crowd’s reaction. He said that people who already had tickets believed they were being shut out and surged forward. ‘I think the promoter is initially responsible for all aspects of the event,’ Mr. DeFilippis said. ‘It was his responsibility to make sure there was adequate security’.” (NYT. “Rap Producer Testifies on Fatal Stampede at City College,” 3-24-1998.)

 

Jan 12, 1999, NY Daily News: “Rap music king Sean (Puffy) Combs, rapper Heavy D and the City University were found negligent yesterday in the fatal 1991 stampede at a City College celebrity basketball game. Court of Claims Judge Louis Benza found Puff Daddy and Heavy D were 50% responsible for the Christmastime tragedy, which left nine young people dead and 29 injured. Benza determined that the two oversold the event and decided to close a stairwell door that created the deadly crush. The judge cited CUNY for lax security and ordered it to pay 50% of any money damages to four survivors. Although Benza said he did not have the power to assess damages against the rap stars who were not defendants his decision marked a dramatic placing of blame in the horrific case. The plight of the victims gasping for air as the life was squeezed out of them on what was supposed to be a night of fun seared the city’s consciousness and awakened many to rap’s huge popularity….” (NYDT. “Rappers & CUNY Found Negligent; Lax Security Cited as Judge Orders University to Pay.” 1-12-1999.)

 

Sources

 

History.com. This Day in History, Music, Dec 28. “1991. Nine killed in a stampede outside a hip-hop celebrity basketball game.” Accessed 4-13-2016 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nine-killed-in-a-stampede-outside-a-hip-hop-celebrity-basketball-game

 

New York Daily News. “Rappers & CUNY Found Negligent; Lax Security Cited as Judge Orders University to Pay.” 1-12-1999. Accessed 4-13-2016 at: http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rappers-cuny-found-negligent-lax-security-cited-judge-orders-university-pay-article-1.839218

 

New York Times (Maria Newman with James Dao. “After 9 Deaths, the Enduring Scars at the City College.” 12-27-1992. Accessed 4-13-2016 at: http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/27/nyregion/after-9-deaths-the-enduring-scars-at-city-college.html

 

New York Times. “Rap Producer Testifies on Fatal Stampede at City College,” 3-24-1998. Accessed 4-13-2016 at: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/24/nyregion/rap-producer-testifies-on-fatal-stampede-at-city-college.html