By Paddy McCarthy
I always want to and always will acknowledge friends from far away who I worked with and associated with all my life in my time living in Cork, Ireland. It’s since I emigrated to America that I’ve missed what I had there through the good and bad and the ups and downs. Oh boy, do I miss it.
When I am told from friends back home in Ireland of friends who passed away, I do deeply acknowledge how precious life is and what I had when I lived there. I just want to tell you all this as my Out&About column is read all over the world and I always like to let people know the good news and the not so good news as it keeps them up to date as to what is happening and also provides a bit of gossip that I know you all love to hear.
Now I am going to tell you about two people who have passed on recently that I had worked with in the music and concert business for many years. One special person who was always at my side when I had concerts going was the one and only Mathew ‘Del Rosa’ Murphy. Almost every performer that played at the venues that I promoted knew who he was and appreciated what he was doing for them and the venue, RIP. The other man I would like to acknowledge who just passed away last Saturday is Tony Hegarty, who was both a performer and a concert promoter and a very professional one at that. Tony Hegarty was a stand-up comedian and also pantomime performer who made people laugh just like Jerry Seinfeld, you would have tears in your eyes from all the laughing by the time he was finished RIP.
This is not just for me as it’s also for you if you have someone, at home or away that you would like me to mention please send it to me at paddy@irishexaminerusa.com.
People tell me about their holidays (vacations), going to the Bahamas to get a tan, ha ha! Not me though as I get burned. This weekend I was at Smith Point Beach in Long Island that is on the South Shore. I must tell you that it has everything you’d ever want as far as beaches and sun go. There’s plenty of parking, food and drinks with outdoor seating and just plenty of room for a lot of people to sit and relax. I am telling you this: if you are not traveling to Ireland, which I hope to do again in late September, you should check out the beaches on Long Island as most of them, the likes of Long Beach have plenty of transport from New York City’s Penn Station. By car or bus the Long Island Expressway will take all the way out to Montauk, a hamlet and a designated place in the Town of East Hampton. It’s a big Irish town as well and on Saint Patrick’s Day they have one of the biggest Irish parades on Long Island, I spent a lot of time out there myself.
Talking about Penn Station and as you might know I have not been nice about the place in recent weeks. Well, it happened that as I visited it on Thursday last to see for myself and lo and behold a lot has been done since then. The old New York Post Office is now part of the Penn Station complex where you can now board Amtrak, LIRR trains and Subways. The new extension is now called the Moynihan Train Hall (421 8th Avenue). It is open to the public daily from 5 am to 1 am and it is beautiful so go and visit it.
When I left Penn Station, I walked a few blocks up to 36th Street to the Pig’N’Whistle to visit Cormac McCormack one of the owners with my editor Grahame Curtis and of course I had a nice cold one. The Pig’N’Whistle is well known to rugby fans who come from all over to view the games and Cormac is always there to greet you with his hospitality.
Now here are a few events that should interest you in the coming days and weeks and I do recommend them all to you. The Long Island Irish Fest will be held on October 16th at Plattdeutsch Park (1132 Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square). You will be entertained by the cream of Irish talent with the likes of Andy Cooney, Shilelagh Law, Bangers & Mash, Harpers Ferry and The Druids along with the Donny Golden School of Irish Dancing and pipe bands, now where else would yea get it?
Here is another very special event that you should also not miss and it’s the Detective Barney Ferguson Emerald Legacy Fund Dinner. This event is the 7th “10-13”/” May Day” awards dinner that will be held on Thursday August 25th from 6 pm to 10 pm and will benefit injured-sick, deceased, M.O.S.’s and their families. This lovely letter came to me from the family of Barney Ferguson who I knew very well myself and what a great man he was; he was always there to help anyone that came over from Ireland so here it is: “I am writing you to request support for our event on Thursday August 25th. Our charitable organization was started in 2015 to continue the Legacy of my deceased father NYPD Detective Barney Ferguson. He was a longtime veteran of the NYPD, involved in many police, charitable, Irish and fraternal organizations including the Grand Council of Emerald Societies, Ancient Order of Hibernians, multiple Emerald Societies, the Leitrim Society, Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and The Knights of Columbus. He remains to this day the only active-duty Police Officer to ever be Grand Marshal of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The organization’s purpose is to assist members of the police, fire service and military and their families who are suffering hardship.
“In our 8 years of operation, we have been able to raise over $150,000 in funds to help members of the NYPD, FDNY, many other first responders in Westchester and other municipalities, the military and their families. Some of our past honorees include Congressman Peter T. King, Senator Martin J. Golden, hero Detective Steven McDonald and PBA President Patrick Lynch. This year’s Honorees include: NYPD-DEA President Paul DiGiacomo, NYPD-LOD family/Police Activist Carla Caccavale, FDNY LT. Joe LaPointe and the NYPD Retired Detectives organization.
“Also, each year in attendance are members of the FDNY, PBA, DEA, SBA, LBA, RDNY, NPDF, FOP, Shields, Anchor Club, Holy Name Society, NYPD Emerald Society, AOH and Grand Council of Emerald Societies.
“Entertainment is provided by our cherished friends from the NYPD Pipes & Drums and the Golding Academy Irish Dancers. Barney’s legacy is rich within his own family. We have had nearly a dozen members of our family serving or retired from the NYPD, FDNY, Parole, Corrections and Criminal Justice. We have decided to do our best to continue the legacy of charity and good works left by Barney.
“Sincerely, James B Ferguson, Jr., Esq.,Chairman.” Now isn’t that very nice so do your best to support this event.
The 50th Nassau County Ancient Order of Hibernians Feis and Irish Festival honoring James Burke will be held on September 18th from 9 am to 6 pm at Nickerson Beach (880 Lido Boulevard, Lido Beach). This event is a steal as the cover is only $10 and children under 16 are free. For more information go to www.NassauAOHFeis.com or email MikeNYAOHsports@gmail.com.
Also don’t forget the Irish Heritage Night at Citi Field this Friday August 12th from 6 pm to 9pm. For more information go to www.nycdemeraldsociety.org.
One more that I am sure all golfers would like to know about is The Saint Patrick’s Day Foundation’s NYC Golf Outing. It will be on Thursday, September 29th at Plandome Country Club (145 Stonytown Road, Plandome). For additional information visit www.stpatricksdayfoundation.org.
Finally New York City’s Districting Commission has announced the next round of public hearings on for city residents to testify on the Preliminary Plan of 51 City Council districts published at the beginning of July.
The public hearings for New Yorkers to testify on the Preliminary Plan are scheduled for:
Tuesday, August 16th from 5:30 pm to 9 pm at the Museum of the Moving Image, Sumner Redstone Theater, 36-01 35 Ave Astoria, Queens 11106
Wednesday, August 17th from 5:30 pm to 9 pm at Lehman College (CUNY), Gillet Auditorium, 250 Bedford Park Blvd West, The Bronx 10468
Thursday, August 18th from 5:30 pm to 9 pm at Staten Island Borough Hall, 10 Richmond Terrace Rm 125
Sunday, August 21st from 3:30 pm to 7 pm at Medgar Evers College (CUNY), School of Science Health & Technology, Dining Hall, 1638 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn.11225
Monday, August 22nd from 5:30 pm to 9 pm at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd., Harlem, Manhattan, 10037
To date, 60,000 people have viewed the preliminary plan maps available on the commission website at nyc.gov/districting since they were published on July 15th. And five hundred people testified in person, by zoom, or email during the first round of public hearings at the beginning of the summer.
The City is in the middle of the districting process. A new City Council plan is drawn every ten years following the U.S. Census to bring the city into compliance with the Constitutional doctrine of one-person, one vote, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the charter of the City of New York.
Residents who would like to submit maps for their testimony may draw their own maps using DistrictR, a mapping tool available on the commission website at nyc.gov/districting.
The Commission will hold these five hearings in each of the boroughs to receive more public testimony on the Preliminary Plan. Besides testifying in person or by Zoom at the meetings, the public may submit written testimony and maps by email to PublicTestimony@redistricting.nyc.gov, and by mail at NYC Districting Commission, 253 Broadway, 3rd Floor, NY, NY 10007.
There’s lots happening so no more lockdowns and check them all out. See you all next week when I am Out&About again.