Man Who Walked Into St. Patrick’s Cathedral Attempting Arson Taught At Brooklyn College

MIDTOWN – A man walked into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan carrying gasoline and lighter fluid last night. He was apprehended, and it turns out, he taught at Brooklyn College.

Marc Lamparello, a 37-year-old from New Jersey, brought inside with him lighter fluids and gas cans at around 7:55 p.m. yesterday. This comes exactly two days after the horrific fire that severely damaged the 850-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He is being charged with Attempted Arson, Reckless Endangerment, and Trespassing.

Lamparello was a PhD student at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. As part of its PhD program, students must teach on CUNY campuses.

“The Graduate Center assigned Lamparello to teach a course at Brooklyn College,” a statement by Brooklyn College said. “However, Lamparello is not employed by Brooklyn College.”

Lamparello has been teaching at Brooklyn College since 2016. He’s taught Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy and Moral Issues in Business. On Rate My Professors, Lamparello has a good rating by students of 4.0. In January, one person commented on the page, “Fantastic professor, cares a lot, challenges your mind and cares a lot. Need now professors like him.” Another commented, “His philosophy is a gas.”

Bklyner reached out to a former student of Lamparello. The student had him as a professor for the Moral Issues in Business course last year.

“He was nice, impartial to students, really tried to help us understand the fundamentals of the course work. Always came in ready to lecture and tried to create conversations in class,” the student said.

“Other than that, he was fidgety as a person. Always brought a soda or some kind of beverage to class — seemed like he always had a routine. When discussing business ethics, he had a clear sense of the topic and examples. He always stressed a difference between something being illegal and unmoral.”

The student said finding out he brought arson inside a cathedral was shocking to hear.

“I had an inkling that he was odd but who isn’t really,” she said. “He seemed like a nice guy who is family oriented – he talked about his family often in class.”