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Frank D. O'Connor

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Frank D. O'Connor
6th President of the New York City Council
In office
January 1, 1966 – December 31, 1968
Preceded byPaul R. Screvane
Succeeded byFrancis X. Smith
35th District Attorney of Queens County
In office
January 1, 1956 – December 31, 1965
Preceded byT. Vincent Quinn
Succeeded byNat H. Hentel
Member of the New York State Senate
In office
January 1, 1949 – December 31, 1952
Preceded byCharles T. Corey
Succeeded byBernard Tompkins
Constituency6th district
In office
January 1, 1955 – December 31, 1955
Preceded byThomas J. Cuite
Succeeded byBernard Tompkins
Constituency8th district
Personal details
BornDecember 20, 1909
Manhattan, New York City, New York
DiedDecember 2, 1992(1992-12-02) (aged 82)
Flushing, Queens, New York City
Political partyDemocratic
EducationNewtown High School
Alma materNiagara University
Brooklyn Law School

Frank D. O'Connor (December 20, 1909 – December 2, 1992) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

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O'Connor was born on December 20, 1909, in Manhattan, New York City, the son of Irish immigrants. He grew up in Elmhurst and graduated from Newtown High School and Niagara University in 1932, and from Brooklyn Law School in 1934. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. He later practiced law in Queens and became active in politics as a Democrat.

He was a member of the New York State Senate (6th Dist.) from 1949 to 1952, sitting in the 167th and 168th New York State Legislatures. In November 1952, he ran for re-election, but was defeated by Republican Bernard Tompkins.

O'Connor gained fame as a lawyer in 1953, when he defended Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero, a bass player at the Stork Club falsely accused of armed robbery. The story was the basis of the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Wrong Man, in which O'Connor was portrayed by Anthony Quayle.

O'Connor was again a member of the State Senate (8th Dist.) in 1955. In November 1955, he was elected as District Attorney of Queens County, and remained in office from 1956 to 1965. He was a delegate to the 1960 and 1964 Democratic National Conventions. In 1966, he was the Democratic Party nominee for Governor of New York, losing to Nelson Rockefeller. He was President of the New York City Council from 1966 to 1968.

O'Connor was a justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1969 to 1979, and an Official Referee (i.e. a senior judge on an additional seat) of the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1985. From 1976 to 1985, he sat on the Appellate Division.

He died on December 2, 1992, in Booth Memorial Hospital in Flushing, Queens, from head injuries he had suffered 13 days earlier when he fell down a flight of stairs at his home.

References

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New York State Senate
Preceded by New York State Senate
6th District

1949–1952
Succeeded by
Preceded by New York State Senate
8th District

1955
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by District Attorney of Queens County
1956–1965
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by President of the New York City Council
1966–1968
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic Nominee for Governor of New York
1966
Succeeded by