O'Connor's Tail

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.

In 1955, O’Connor was elected Queens District Attorney, and he served ten years. As President of the City Council from 1966 to 1968, he fought against public housing segregation and promoted the creation of a civilian complaint review board for the Police Department. He was elected to the State Supreme Court in 1968 and served until 1976, when Governor Hugh L. Carey appointed him to the Appellate Division for the Second Circuit. Judge O’Connor died after a long life of public service, in Flushing, Queens in 1992

O’Connor’s Tail, located at Broadway and 78th Street in Elmhurst, Queens, is actually a small sitting area across the street from Frank D. O’Connor Playground, a park which covers nearly two acres. It forms the “tail” end of the larger playground, giving this park its unusual name. The history of the two properties begins in 1935, when the Department of Transportation permitted Parks to use two parcels on the east and west sides of 78th Street for recreational purposes. The property was developed by the Works Progress Administration in 1937 as a neighborhood playground and sitting park. Both parcels were named in O’Connor’s honor by local law in 1993. The smaller parcel, O’Connor’s Tail, is this pleasant sitting area which features 12 benches set around an eye-shaped median planted with trees. The park is enclosed with a fence that sports several cutout black rabbits.