Obituary
James McManus was the last of a political dynasty.
James McManus, 84,
last Tammany leader
BY GABE HERMAN
James McManus, a longtime Democratic
district leader who was the
last of the party’s Tammany Hall political
dynasty, died Feb. 4 in his Hell’s
Kitchen home. He was 84.
McManus was the Hell’s Kitchen district
leader from 1963 to 2017, and was
the leader of the McManus Midtown
Democratic Club. The club was founded
by his great-uncle Thomas McManus,
who was elected in 1892 to the state
Assembly. Along with his great-uncle,
James McManus’s father and grandfather
were also elected district leaders.
The power of local district leaders
has waned considerably since Tammany’s
glory days. But while the low-ranking,
unsalaried party position wasn’t offi
cially very powerful, McManus could
help community members with needs
that came up.
“We help people with housing and
jobs,” he told The New York Times in
1992. “I wouldn’t do anything for money
that I wouldn’t do for nothing. What
I mean is, a little old lady comes in and
wants a favor, I do it. A big law fi rm
wants a favor, I say, buy 50 tickets for
my cocktail party. They’re not bribing
me. They’re just supporting me.”
With Tammany fading starting back
in the 1950s and ’60s, reformers progressively
took over the local Democratic
Party. McManus represented the
party’s old-line faction.
Robert Trentlyon, founding president
of the Chelsea Reform Democratic
Club, said his Chelsea group favored
the new Democrats coming to power
in the city. But despite that difference
FACEBOOK/MCMANUS CLUB
with McManus, he said he had a good
relationship with him.
“He was pleasant to me,” Trentlyon
recalled. “I was invited to his annual
dinners and he was invited to ours.”
Trentlyon said he knew James and his
father, Eugene.
“They were very prominent in their
community,” he said. “He was a good
Catholic,” he added, of James.
McManus never married, and he was
the last surviving member of his generation
in his family. He was born in
Manhattan on Sept. 10, 1934, and grew
up on W. 49th St. near 10th Ave., according
to the Times.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson,
whose district includes Hell’s Kitchen,
said in a statement to this paper, “Hell’s
Kitchen has lost a legend with the passing
of Jim McManus. He was a neighborhood
icon who commanded respect
even from those who disagreed with
him. Jim lived a life of service to those
around him and I believe that’s how
he’ll be remembered. I hope the West
Side will join me in sending love and
support to his loved ones as they mourn
his passing and remember his life.”
Carlos Manzano worked with Mc-
Manus for 25 years as a former president
of the McManus Democratic Association
and as a former Democratic
state committeeman.
In a statement to this paper, he said,
“Jim not only served the public in every
possible way but also allowed young
people like me and many others to
learn, participate and even run for offi
ce in the intricate web of community
and political affairs. I and many people
in New York shall miss his wisdom and
kindness.”
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10 February 28, 2019 TVG Schneps Media