Brooklyn memories: St. Patrick’s Day, 40 years ago
Paul O’Dwyer, John O’Hara and NYC politics, back in the day
A photo taken during Brooklyn’s first St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 40 years ago in Park Slope, brings back a bundle of memories for Brooklyn attorney John O’Hara.
In the photo, O’Hara, left, immersed in politics even as a young teen, stands next to his mentor, storied Irish-American City Council President Paul O’Dwyer. The man in the background to the right is then-Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin.
O’Dwyer, president of the New York City Council and a celebrated progressive, successfully fought for controversial defendants and underdogs, including Jewish Americans prosecuted for smuggling arms to Israel, labor unions and black civil rights activists. He was born the youngest of 11 children in County Mayo, Ireland.