Vexed in Park Slope: 1904 Firebug Edition

Grand Army Plaza, 1904

Welcome to Vexed in Park Slope -- a new column about every day things that FIPS would have reported on had FIPS existed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. All stories come from the NYTimes online archives, so if you don't believe one, look it up.

It's 1904, and Park Slope is looking great. You've just shelled out your life's savings for that beautiful brownstone on 6th Ave and 2nd Street (approximate cost: $11K). You're eating locally-sourced produce at the Montauk Club every night, and there's nary a stroller to be seen (though maybe a baby carriage or two). Better still, that cockfighting scandal blew over months ago (future column teaser!). Things are good, right? Not so fast. A rogue "firebug" (early 20th century parlance for arsonist and - I hope - future cocktail namesake at a nostalgia-laden BK bar) with a penchant for setting fires in coal bins near dumbwaiter shafts is on the loose! In a matter of weeks the guy has set dozens of fires in central Slope -- all within a two block radius of your new brownstone.   

Now see if this sounds familiar: public outcry ensues and the police, anxious to solve the crime, start making arrests left and right. But the fires continue and the "Incendiary" remains on the loose. Folks are getting anxious. Fires at 414 2nd Street and 432 3rd street cause $6k in damages at both homes. Police Commisioner McAdoo deploys an extra 15 officers to the area and two detectives from the Fire Marshall's office are sent to *each* block. By Christmas the NYPD has arrested 8 or 9 suspects, but every few days another brownstone gets it. Terrifying, right? Finally on January 26th, the police arrest a 15 year old who confesses to the crimes. Says he did it for fun. On his way to school. His name? Harry Potter.  I. Am. Serious. Read a partial print of the article below: