Category Archives: James O’Neill

Photo Gallery: Veterans Day Parade 2019



Like countless previous New York parades the 2019 Veterans Day Parade featured many New York elected officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.  In a first, however, it also included an adjacent appearance by the U.S. president, as President Donald Trump spoke at the pre-parade ceremony in Madison Square Park. Trump departed immediately after the pre-parade ceremony, however, and did not attend or march in the parade.  Mayor de Blasio attended the pre-parade ceremony, but Gov. Cuomo did not.

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Photo Gallery: Steven McDonald Dedication



Patti Ann McDonald, joined by her son Conor, speaks at the plaque dedication.

Deceased NYPD Detective Steven McDonald was memorialized on the one year anniversary of his death with a plaque at the NYPD’s Central Park Precinct.  As a patrolman assigned to Central Park McDonald was shot and grievously wounded in 1986, surviving but rendered quadriplegic.  He nonetheless remained actively involved with the NYPD for the rest of his life, deeply admired for his tenacity and optimistic outlook.

Patti Ann and Conor McDonald flank the plaque dedicated to Det. Steven McDonald.

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2017 Year In Photos



Baseball fan Timothy Cardinal Dolan sports a borrowed Yankees hat while the hat’s owner sports Cardinal Dolan’s zucchetto.

Mayoral candidates fighting and occasionally smiling, a governor working his fellow electeds and the cameras, a hometown president passing through.  Those are among the images in our 2017 photo retrospective.

Shot entirely in the five boroughs, our photo retrospective reflects our 2017 focus on the mayoral election and particularly on challengers looking to defeat Mayor de Blasio.  There’s more, however, with a mix of light moments, conflict and loss.

Our photographic look back at 2017 is available here.

Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis heads to her car following a Saturday morning appearance at a Queens GOP “Unity Breakfast” in Glendale.

Note:  Our more extensive photo retrospective on the 2017 mayoral race is available here.

Photo Gallery: Tuozzolo Dedication



The NYPD dedicated a plaque to the memory of Sergeant Paul Tuozzolo Saturday, drawing Sergeant Tuozzolo’s wife Lisa, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner James O’Neill and several hundred other guests to the 43rd Precinct in Soundview.  It was exactly one year since Tuozzolo was killed in the line of duty, as he and his colleagues sought to apprehend an armed man who had repeatedly violently attacked his wife.

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St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2017



The St. Patrick’s Day Parade, New York City’s annual celebration of all things Irish, featured numerous politicians marching up Fifth Avenue Friday.  Among the biggest political names were Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny.  Political parade traditions include a stop to greet Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of the New York Diocese,  as he watches the parade from a perch in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is here.

Det. Holder Memorial



Det. Holder Memorial 10-20-16Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Jimmy O’Neill attended a memorial for NYPD Detective Randolph Holder this afternoon, marking one year since Holder was murdered while on duty.

Held at PSA 5 in Harlem, the memorial included about 200 police officers and about a dozen members of Holders family.  The memorial included remarks by Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner O’Neill, PBA President Pat Lynch and the current commanding officer of PSA 5, as well as Detective Holder’s father.  The ceremony concluded with an unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Detective Holder’s memory.

Det. Holder Memorial 10-20-16

There was no discussion of politics or the variety of issues facing the NYPD and the Mayor, with the speakers focused on Detective Holder and his family, along with the at times grave challenges that police officers regularly face.

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

Photo Gallery: FDNY Battalion Chief Fahy



img_8165New York City Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Fahy died in the line of duty Tuesday, killed in a Bronx house explosion.  Mayor Bill de Blasio joined FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro and other officials at a New York Presbyterian/Allen Hospital press conference to announce Fahy’s death.

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Shortly after the press conference Fahy’s remains were removed from the hospital and transported to the City Medical Examiner’s Office.  More than 100 firefighters present stood at attention, saluting their fallen comrade as the FDNY ambulance carrying his remains passed, with many then joining a motorcade for the sad journey.

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Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is here.

Photo Gallery: Bratton Departure Walk



Bratton Departure 9-16-16William J. Bratton concluded his second term as New York City’s police commissioner Friday with a sun-dappled stroll through a cheering crowd of several hundred police officers and invited guests.  Leaving the NYPD’s One Police Plaza headquarters with his wife Rikki Klieman, Bratton smiled, waved, shook hands and hugged his way across Police Plaza.  Waiting at the end of the line were his successor, Chief of Department Jimmy O’Neill, and his boss, Mayor Bill de Blasio.  With some final goodbyes Bratton and his wife mounted an antique fire engine for a short ride through the arch of the Municipal Building and onto Park Row.

Bratton Departure 9-16-16

Bratton leaves behind a re-energized New York City legacy, having led the NYPD through continued declines in crime over his 32 months in office, and stood as a central figure in the de Blasio administration’s public profile.  He’s been an enormous political asset to the Mayor, both for his Department’s success in continuing to push crime rates down and for his essential public role as de Blasio’s prime voice on public safety.  His polite Boston-accented bluntness has mostly been welcomed by the public, giving his “progressive” boss room to operate amidst a determined chorus of “hellholers”; critics who from de Blasio’s election declared that the City is destined to become a crime ridden hellhole with de Blasio in charge.  Preventing that from actually occurring and fighting the creation of a public perception that it’s occurring are both vital and Bratton largely succeeded on both.  He certainly has critics though, and a small but vocal group stationed themselves near the end of Bratton’s walk.

His successor Jimmy O’Neill is, so far in his career at least, not nearly as large a public personality and doesn’t display any evidence of a craving of the spotlight.  The large post-Bratton vacuum will be filled, but whether it’s by Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner O’Neill or critics is, of course, to be determined.

Photo Gallery:

Our photo gallery is here.

Bratton Departure 9-16-16

The Mayor of The Bronx Riviera



IMG_7743Orchard Beach, once nicknamed New York City’s Riviera for its broad crescent beach, hosted a visit from Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Chief of Department Jimmy O’Neill this afternoon.  de Blasio and O’Neill, named by de Blasio as the next NYPD Commissioner, inched their way along the boardwalk for about 45 minutes posing for pictures with a steady flow of well-wishers.

It was a very positive reception for the pair, with no vocal negative reactions apparent.  de Blasio, readily recognizable, maintained a steady refrain of “have you met our new commissioner” as he exchanged pleasantries with the stream of people approaching him.  O’Neill appeared to enjoy the walk, although he was less absorbed in it than de Blasio. At times O’Neill, in uniform and still the highest ranking service member of the Department, appeared equally absorbed in what he’s done for decades – watching the goings-on around him and the operation of his Department.

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Mayor de Blasio and his administration face a very large transition in Commissioner Bratton’s departure, larger than in any other commissioner replacement.  Bratton arrived as a dominant public figure, well-known to New Yorkers from his prior stint as New York’s police commissioner and enormously comfortable in the public eye, and his public visibility has dwarfed that of all of de Blasio’s other commissioners.  O’Neill is a very well regarded chief, but largely unknown to the public and a very different persona than Bratton.  He may well succeed in both managing the NYPD and in the larger public role that comes with being commissioner, but his tenure will undoubtedly be very different as he moves into the post-Bratton vacuum.

This very small moment in O’Neill’s rollout as commissioner and de Blasio’s simultaneous lead up  to a reelection campaign was a success, moving both efforts incrementally forward.  As they departed de Blasio commented to O”Neill on the warm reception, optimistically emphasizing that “they want you to succeed.”

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Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is here.