City honors Honan with his favorite kind of green
By Jean Chemnick/ Correspondent
Friday, June 10, 2005

Summer finally came to Allston-Brighton Saturday, and a crowd gathered at the top of the hill on Allston Street to celebrate the dedication of a new park.
     
The park is pleasant enough - a little green patch in a dense neighborhood filled with apartments and housing.
     
But the view was not what drew the mayor, a congressman and the entire Boston City Council, however. They came because this was City Councilor Brian J. Honan Park, and they wanted to honor and remember its namesake.
     
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-8th, told the gathering that it was "amazing" that 2 1/2 years after the death of the politician, he would be honored by his constituents in such a way.
    
 "Most politicians are forgotten after they are gone," he said, and some might even wish good riddance.
     
Not so with Honan.
    
In addition to the new park, the late city councilor from Allston-Brighton has a library branch named for him, the Honan-Allston Branch Library; and a subsidized housing complex, the Honan Apartments.
 
His successor, Jerry McDermott, said these were fitting tributes to Honan's commitment to education and affordable housing, and the park to his efforts to bring green spaces to a part of the city that badly needed them. McDermott took the opportunity to remind the mayor that Allston-Brighton needed more.
     
Lots of love
     
There are Brian Honan Scholarships at Harvard University Extension School, with preference given to city employees from Allston-Brighton, and the Brian J. Honan Charitable Fund supports educational and other projects in the community.
     
So, why is Honan so warmly remembered? He never made it to high office. His 2002 campaign for Suffolk County District Attorney ended when he died from complications after cancer surgery.
     
Testimonials given by those who knew and worked with the 39-year-old city councilor show that he had been liked and respected, and expected to go far.
     
Developer Ed Fish, the senior project director for the park, said, "Brian Honan will always be remembered by what he gave." He praised his energy, intelligence, Irish wit, and called his future "limitless."

Boston Mayor Tom Menino said Honan "loved public service for all the right reasons," and that his efforts were for the people he represented and "not about Brian."
     
McDermott, who lost to Honan in a 1995 race for the council seat, called him a "relentless fighter who helped his opponent when he won." He recounted how Honan stayed in touch and even referred people to his business after the election.
     
Parents pleased
     
The dedication was scheduled for Honan's parents' 50th wedding anniversary, a move that was meant to make them feel better about things, said state Rep. Kevin Honan, D-Brighton, their surviving son.
     
Honan spoke about growing up on Gordon Street, and how his brother loved to play Little League and basketball in the neighborhood's parks. He said one of Honan's first jobs was working with young people to help maintain parks and playgrounds, so the little park in Brighton was a fitting tribute to his younger brother.
     
Mary and Patrick Honan were presented with a gift during the proceedings, and afterward were surrounded by well-wishers and neighbors.