# Man Caught Walking Into New York Cathedral With Full Gas Cans, Lighters **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2019, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715 "2019-04-18T12:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/21 "2019-04-18T17:28:10Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Professor or not, \*\*not the brightest person in the bunch. > \*\* _Philosophy_ professor, so that goes without saying. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/22 "2019-04-18T17:35:31Z")
Hah, a few clever ones there for sure. But honestly, I look at the pre-incident “awesome” reviews and can’t help but feel a bit sad for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/23 "2019-04-18T17:38:24Z")
I’m surprised the colleges haven’t taken Lamparello’s pages down. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/24 "2019-04-18T17:59:44Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > Did he have a cover story for the lighter fluid and matches? > > Why did he need both gasoline and lighter fluid? Why did he need matches? There must be hundreds of lit votive candles within arm’s reach. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/25 "2019-04-18T18:33:39Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’m surprised the colleges haven’t taken Lamparello’s pages down. He’s being canned. Makes me wonder why a somewhat successful person would just throw it all away? He’s working on a PHD and wrecks his life. Never know what gets into people. > **[St. Patrick’s Cathedral gasoline suspect to be fired from Lehman College job](https://nypost.com/2019/04/18/st-patricks-cathedral-gasoline-suspect-to-be-fired-from-lehman-college-job/)** > > The New Jersey man arrested for entering Midtown’s Patrick’s Cathedral with canisters filled with gasoline is a part-time philosophy professor at Lehman College — a position he will now be fi… > [@](#): > > “We are taking the appropriate steps to terminate the individual’s employment with the college,” Lehman College spokeswoman Sarah Ramsey said of 37-year-old Marc Lamparello. > > Lamparello was hired at the school during this academic year and “was a part-time, online instructor this semester,” Ramsey told The Post in a statement, adding that the school is “aware” that Lamparello was arrested “last night after an incident at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/26 "2019-04-18T19:35:18Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > He’s being canned. _sigh_ Tenure just ain’t what it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/27 "2019-04-18T19:43:51Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > Did he have a cover story for the lighter fluid and matches? > > Why did he need both gasoline and lighter fluid? Well, he _is_ a philosophy professor. Obviously, when he went to pay for the gas at the gas station’s mini mart he realized that his lighter was dangerously low on fluid and that he was due for a relaxing smoke on his treasured briarwood pipe in his cluttered, book-lined study later that afternoon before before donning his tweed jacket with the elbow patches and meeting with students who needed help with their theses and imparting professorly words of wisdom that will make them see the world in a whole new light. The matches were because the lighter fluid was an off brand (Always buy Ronson!) and he was concerned it wouldn’t perform satisfactorily. But it was the only brand the gas station mini mart had and he was pressed for time, being that his van needed gas and he would have to cut through the church and all. The media just doesn’t have the time and space to go into all the minutiae like that. Seriously, I’m sad that someone thought of doing this. Also, that some churches have to have security guards. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/28 "2019-04-18T19:49:22Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Makes me wonder why a somewhat successful person would just throw it all away? There’s _billions_ in the cathedral renovation game at the minute, perhaps he had a plan to get a piece of that pie? I’ll bet there is an inside man at the church who was in on the deal. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/29 "2019-04-18T20:09:44Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > _sigh_ Tenure just ain’t what it used to be. “Part-time on-line” positions, which is what he had at Lehman, are rarely tenure-track, much less tenured.😉 I’m surprised he is being called a “professor.” Ph.D. students who are temporary instructors wouldn’t be likely to hold such a job title. I see that the webpages for Brooklyn College that listed him as an instructor seem to have been taken down, so can’t be checked for his actual job title. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/30 "2019-04-18T20:26:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > He’s being canned. You mean he is being fire-d. Fortunately, this will give him time to work on his next book, _Hot Topics in Philosophy_. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/31 "2019-04-18T21:22:51Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You mean he is being fire-d. Go to your room. NOW. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/32 "2019-04-18T22:01:36Z")
Might one say his career is toast? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/33 "2019-04-18T22:23:52Z")
Yeah, not “professor.” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/34 "2019-04-18T22:26:10Z")
When artists say that “in order to create, one must first destroy,” that is not what they have in mind. Also Aristotle was not Belgian, the principle of Buddhism is not “every man for himself”, and the London Underground is not a political movement. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/35 "2019-04-18T22:28:05Z")
Wanda? Is that you? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/36 "2019-04-18T22:58:26Z")
I don’t believe you. Did you look those up? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/37 "2019-04-18T22:58:57Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Makes me wonder why a somewhat successful person would just throw it all away? He’s working on a PHD and wrecks his life. Never know what gets into people. He could probably still apply to the Philosophy Department at the University of Woolamaloo. He would probably fit right in, if he were willing to change his name to Bruce. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/38 "2019-04-19T02:49:59Z")
Karl Marx was a philosopher. Just sayin’. Ludwig Wittgenstein was known to use a [fireplace poker when arguing a point.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittgenstein%27s_Poker) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/39 "2019-07-12T13:53:11Z")
Update: [Prosecutors say Lamparello mentally unfit to stand trial](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-charged-plotting-burn-st-patrick-s-cathedral-mentally-unfit-n1028901) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715/40 "2019-07-12T21:06:29Z")
If this guy is to be committed to a mental institution, what will happen, or not, if he is deemed mantally fit at some point? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-caught-walking-into-new-york-cathedral-with-full-gas-cans-lighters/832715.md?page=3)