O'Connor's Tail

Broadway & 78 St

Queens

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

Frank D. O’Connor (1909-1992), for whom this park is named, had a remarkable career in public life that spanned four decades. An attorney who earned his degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1934, he served in World War II (1939-1945) as a legal officer of the Coast Guard. O’Connor continued on to a successful political career, while contributing his expertise and compassion to numerous civic, professional, and cultural organizations.

O’Connor, a Democrat, won a seat in the New York State Senate in 1948. He was an active member of the Queens County Bar Association, the Emerald Association of Long Island, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a defense lawyer, he gained national attention in 1953, when he defended Christopher Emanuel Balestrero, a musician who had been wrongfully accused of two holdups in Queens. Three years later, Alfred Hitchcock directed a movie based on the case called The Wrong Man.

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