Helping those more in need than you

Lifelong Five Towner Christopher McGrath to receive NCBA service medallion

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The 77th recipient of the prestigious Nassau County Bar Association Distinguished Service Medallion is not the first Inwood native to receive the award or the first resident of Hewlett or Peninsula Kiwanis member to be given this recognition.

And that is OK with Christopher McGrath, who grew up in Inwood and now lives in Hewlett Harbor. “I did not believe it when I was told, I thought the person was pulling my leg,” said McGrath, a senior partner and decorated trial attorney at Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo P.C., a Garden City-based law firm. “I don’t think of this stuff.”

McGrath, 61, joins J. Russell Sprague, the first county executive of Nassau who was also from Inwood, and senior United States District Judge Arthur Spatt (Eastern District), also a Hewlett resident and fellow Peninsula Kiwanis member, on a list of recipients that includes two U.S. presidents, three New York state governors, a U.S. Supreme Court judge and several other noted people. (See list).

Mentioned as a possible candidate to the fill the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District slot in 2017, who ran twice in 2016 for a state senate seat, and a adjunct professor of at Hofstra School of Law, McGrath has long served dual communities, volunteering his services to the county bar association, including the presidency to being an integral part of WE CARE, the nationally recognized charitable arm of the bar association.     

WE CARE, made up of NCBA members, aims to improve the quality of life for children, older adults and others across the county using charitable grants. It has raised missions of dollars through donations and its fundraising events.

No credit, please

Along with aiding the legal community, McGrath has helped to lift others in connection with his longtime association with Peninsula Kiwanis, one of two Kiwanis clubs in the Five Towns, which raises money to support other local organizations, institutions and people. He is a two-time past president and current board member.

The Peninsula group is well known for its Christmas Dream breakfast that raises money to buy children in need gifts for the holidays and its assistance, in times of need, for such entities as the Five Towns Early Learning Center, which is in Inwood, and donations to SIBSPlace, a Hewlett-based a free program of Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital that offers support for kids 5 to 17 who have a sibling or a parent suffering from cancer or another devastating illness. 

“It’s really someone who has devoted time to the legal community and the community at-large,” said Marc Gann, in explaining the award’s criterion. Gann is a past president of the Nassau Bar Association and a member of the board of directors. The bar association Awards Committee nominates an award candidate. The Executive Committee approves the selection and the association’s board gives the final approval. “It’s the highest award we could possibly give to a well-rounded and well-respected person,” Gann added.

When fellow Peninsula Kiwanis member Kevin Cooney, who has known McGrath for roughly 20 years, learned that his friend would receive such esteemed recognition he quickly responded.

“Chris truly cares about the children,” Cooney said. “Chris is passionate about helping the less fortunate. He never lets up, he is constantly looking for new projects to make the lives of the less fortunate better. Chris grew up in Inwood and never forgot the community he came from. While Chris is the driving force behind so much of what we are able to accomplish he tries not to take credit for anything. He tries to avoid taking credit for anything. Peninsula Kiwanis would be a very different club without Chris, we would not accomplish nearly as much as we do.” 

Cooney illustrated McGrath’s altruistic qualities after Hurricane Sandy ravaged his home. 

“I was able to stay in my house since upstairs was not affected,” Cooney recounted. “I lost my heating, but I had a gas fireplace upstairs that I used to heat the house. I live in Island Park and they then turned the gas off due to safety concerns. The weather turned cold and with no heat or electric it was becoming extremely uncomfortable.

“I have an autistic child who does not like change,” Cooney said. “I decided I had to find a hotel, I could not stay without heat. I lost my two cars to the flooding. I had very sporadic cell phone service so I could not make a lot calls looking for a hotel room. I called Chris and asked if he could make some calls for me. Chris basically had the staff at his law firm be a call bank for me. They called every hotel in the New York metropolitan area for me.

“In the meantime, he sent over people to fix my oil burner and bring a generator to provide electric for my house,” Cooney recalled. “Chris called me back with two possible hotels with rooms available but, I now had heat and electric and did not have to leave. I was one of only two families on my block that were able to stay after Hurricane Sandy. I am one of many, many people Chris has helped without anyone being aware of it.” 

Growing up in Inwood, McGrath learned early the value of civic service. “When I was young, I attended Our Lady of Good Counsel (in Inwood) and Father Frank Canizarro always said every time he saw you, ‘you need to help people those more in need than you,’” McGrath said, noting that is why the Key Club was established at Lawrence High School and there were coat drives to help those in need.

“It was instilled in my family,” McGrath added, referring to giving back. “Working at Morton’s Army store, the owner, he helped those that were less fortunate. Jerry Silverman, one of the great people of all time.” Silverman, who owned the store first in Far Rockaway, then in Cedarhurst, died last year. He was 84. His son, Steve, owns the store.

McGrath, now a grandfather to nearly 2-year-old Madelyn, and married to Monica, the couple has three daughters, Kristin Seibert (Robert), Kelli and Katelyn. “I am blessed to know a lot of good people who let me do what I do. “It’s great that so many think so nicely of me.” 

The dinner is May 9 at the Long Island Marriott. Invitations will be mailed in March. For sponsorships or journal ads call Ann Burkowsky at (516) 747-4071 or go to events@nassaubar.org.