In Memory of Greg O’Connell

Former president Audrey Anastasi presented Greg with an appreciation award from BWAC on May 20, 2000.

Greg O'Connell passed away August 2, 2025. He was tall in stature but even larger-than-life in character. From substitute teaching in his early working days to becoming a New York City Police detective, where he served for 17 years, Greg was just getting started. Driven by his sense of fairness rooted in his upbringing, responsibility to community and vision for a better tomorrow, he began acquiring properties in Brooklyn, while he was still a police detective, with the thought of revitalizing neighborhoods he felt had been overlooked.

Greg working on the Red Hook waterfront in 1998. Behind him is where Fairway Supermarket (now Food Bazaar) is located.

It's safe to say there would be no Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in Red Hook if it weren't for Greg O'Connell. Greg turned his eye to the Red Hook waterfront in the 1970s. He had been friends of BWAC and BWAC members for years, and now that he had the space and the vision of what a vibrant waterfront could be, he invited the art group to exhibit there in the 1990s.

For two decades, BWAC was mounting annual outdoor sculpture shows in Empire Ferry State Park between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Their move to Red Hook would be a monumental change in more ways than one.

Greg in his pickup truck when the supermarket building was under construction.

As Greg envisioned the restoration of several buildings, BWAC was given space to exhibit in a variety of places. BWAC was mounting annual shows, and was thrilled to have the raw space on the waterfront. After moving around for a few years, at the end of the '90s he offered BWAC the space it now occupies, prompting the opportunity for quarterly exhibitions.

Greg was always interested in seeing what this group of artists brought to exhibit, attending openings and reveling in his association with artists. Former BWAC president Audrey Anastasi, in remembering Greg, said, "He was always excited to express how the artists helped him to pay attention to light and space. And so much of his generosity came from a deep-seated sense of fairness."

To say that BWAC will miss his presence is an understatement. Perhaps current BWAC president Alicia Degener summed it up best when she said, "I never actually met Greg Sr., but we spoke several times on the phone. One of the things we talked about was how BWAC was one of the few places people could come to see art and not feel stressed in a crowded gallery. Thank you Greg, for always having the best interests of BWAC in mind, working through any and all obstacles to allow the BWAC art community the space to exhibit their art. Your gift will be forever treasured by the artists and art lovers of Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition."

(Please read the family obituary of Greg O'Connell by clicking here)

Greg, Ray Hall and Earl.

Photos by Debra Hershkowitz