Local Pols Pay Tribute To Mario Salute Late Three-Term Governor As A Progressive Giant than 30 years ago.” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said “he was a friend and advisor who greatly influenced my life and the lives of a generation of young lawyers. A son of Queens, he will be missed by all for hiswise counsel, heartfelt compassion for the downtrodden, fierce advocacy for justice and inspiring oratory.” “He used his considerable intelligence and leadership ability to advance an agenda to help all New Yorkers live better, more prosperous lives,” Borough President Melinda Katz said of Cuomo. “A native of Queens, Governor Cuomo was an inspiration to me and to many borough residents who entered public service in the hope of following his example and building on his legacy of achievement.” Cuomo is seen as a son of Queens.Being raised by immigrant parents, Cuomo rose to political power and used that power to try and better New York for all those living in the city. Rep. Joe Crowley said, “A proud son of Queens, Governor Cuomo always put New Yorkers first.Hewill be remembered for his leadership, compassion and his commitment to moving our great country forward ... New York is a better New York today because of Mario Cuomo.” “We’ve lost a legend in New York politics,” Congresswoman Grace Meng said. “Mario Cuomo was a great leader of New York State, a political icon and a key figure on the national stage.” “Governor Mario Cuomo was the father of New York and the conscience of the Democratic party,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney stated. “He was the son of immigrant store owners and rose to become the governor of the Empire State. He embodied the American dreamand spent his life fighting so that others might also achieve it.” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman remembered Governor Cuomo by saying, “he was an inspiration for generations of NewYorkers who answered the call to service in response to his vision of fairness and equality for all of us. Iwould not be involved in New York politics were it not for Mario Cuomo. He is, and will always remain, one of my heroes.” “He was a colossal political mind and represented the very best of public service,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer said. “He leaves behind an indelible legacy on the state he loved.” 15 • TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015 by Anthony Giudice Hours after former three-term governor of New York, Mairo Cuomo, died ploitical figures around the state paid tribute in statements to the man they called a “son of Queens” and who inspired them with powerful speeches and meaningful legislation. “New York has lost a giant. Mario Cuomo was a man of unwavering principle who possessed a compassion for humankind that was without equal,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said of the death of Cuomo. “He established the gold standard in New York State for how public servants should act, and set an example that the rest of us continue to aspire to today.” “Our state and nation lost one of the most credible public servants I have ever known when former governor, Mario Cuomo passed away,” State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. said in a statement. “Mario Cuomo led our state with compassion and straight forward determination.” One of Cuomo’s defining moments in politics was when he gave the keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. This speech inspired many of the politicians of today. “Like many Americans, I was deeply inspired by Mario Cuomo’s ‘Tale of Two Cities’ speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said. “His words ring as true today as they did more Former Gov. Cuomo, 82, Made Early Impact In Queens “We had hoped that he was going to be able to come; he is at home and he is not well enough to come,” the current Governor Cuomo said, noting he and his family spent New Year’s Eve at his father’s side. “He couldn’t be here physically today, but my father is in this room. He is in the heart and mind of every person who is here. He is here, and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought this state to this point.” Early life and baseball Mario Matthew Cuomo was born on June 15, 1932 to Andrea and Immaculata Cuomo; his father owned a grocery store in South Jamaica. The future governor attended P.S. 50 on 101st Avenue in South Jamaica and later graduated from St. John’s Preparatory School. Cuomo then attended St. John’s University in Jamaica and became a star outfielder for the then-Redmen baseball team. His play caught the attention of major league scouts, and the Pittsburgh Pirates signed him to a $2,000 contract. By contrast, that same year, the New York Yankees signed Mickey Mantle to a $1,100 contract. Reportedly, Cuomo used his contract money to purchase an engagement ring for the love of his life, Matilda; they would be married for over 60 years and raise their five children in Queens. Though he aspired to reach the major leagues, Cuomo’s baseball career was derailed in 1952, when the 20-year-old outfielder for the Brunswick Pirates—a farm team for the big league club—was struck in the head by a pitch. After the episode, he returned to Queens to attend St. John’s University Law School and pursue a legal career. Even so, his love of the game never wavered. A Yankees fan, Mario Cuomo played fantasy baseball, appeared in Ken Burns’ 1994 documentary Baseball and—nearly two decades after leaving public office—mediated a $1 billion lawsuit between the New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz and victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, who accused the team of profiting from the fraud. The lawsuit was settled for about $162 million. ‘Diaries’ reveal legal fights Upon graduating law school, Cuomo remained at St. John’s University Law School as an adjunct professor and served as a lawyer in private practice. In his book “Diaries of Mario M. Cuomo: The Campaign for Governor,” published in 1983, Cuomo recalled his first major case came in 1960, when “a group of scrap dealers and junkyard owners from Willets Point” retained him in their legal fight with the New York World’s Fair Committee, which sought to condemn their land for use in the 1964-65 expo. “A three-year battle ended successfully when the Court of Appeals agreed with my plea on behalf of the Willets Point people,” Cuomo wrote. “That victory attracted the attention of some homeowners in Corona, Queens—mostly hard-working Italian families who were threatened by a city administration that wanted to bulldoze their entire community to build a high school.” At first, the city planned to condemn 69 homes in Corona for the high school, but Cuomo— through six years of negotiations with the Lindsay administration—settled the dispute in 1972, with just 13 homes being demolished for the project. “The victory in Corona was a memorable experience,” Cuomo recalled in his 1983 book. “It gave them a new sense of assurance and comfort with a system of laws and government that, until then, had been mostly a tax bill, a policeman and a summons to war. The experience had much the same effect on me.” After the Corona dispute was resolved, then-Mayor John Lindsay recruited Cuomo to mediate a legal battle between the city and Forest Hills residents over a proposed public housing projects that initially called for three 24-story buildings in two square blocks of the neighborhood potentially housing 840 people. Cuomo stated the conflict in Forest Hills brought both sides “into intractable opposition” by the time he became involved. “A community that had previously seemed progressive was now being asked to demonstrate its commitment to its principles,” he wrote. “The price was accepting the inconvenience and, as they saw it, the danger of having poor people as neighbors. Forest Hills taught a whole nation lessons about the difference -CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- During his 1977 campaign for mayor, then-Secretary of State Mario Cuomo came to Durow’s Restaurant in Glendale to meet with members of the Bushwick Real Estate Board. He is pictured second from left in this photo published in the July 7, 1977 issue of the Ridgewood Times. between political theory and the reality of sacrifice.” Through extensive negotiations, again, Cuomo managed to broker compromise between the city—which reduced the buildings to 12 stories high and set aside a number of apartments for elderly residents and local residents—and the community. “Now, 12 years later, one can look at the Forest Hills project, which has not only not disrupted the neighborhood but has stabilized it, and call the compromise a success—though, like most compromises, when it was put together, it left some of the parties on both sides dissatisfied, even resentful,” he recalled. Entering politics Both the Corona and Forest Hills cases drew Cuomo into the public limelight and he was recruited into running for public office in 1974. He lost a threeway race for lieutenant governor to lawmaker Mary Ann Krupsak. Hugh Carey was elected governor that year, and he appointed Cuomo as secretary of state. In his 1983 book, Cuomo stated that Carey allowed him “to redesign the Department of State and to involve myself in a series of projects that gave the office a new dignity and offered me an extraordinary education in state government.” At the governor’s urging, Cuomo entered a wild 1977 Democratic primary for mayor with New York City teetering on the brink of financial ruin. Incumbent Mayor Abe Beame -SEE CUOMO ON PG. 16-
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