I remember Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York State and Italian-American son from Queens, with pride. As Governor, he upheld the liberal ideal in New York through the Reagan era, a more conservative time in the greater country. Notably, although he worked with the Republicans in New York State government, Governor Mario Cuomo resisted the death penalty on a repeated basis, often suffering politically for it, as well. At the time, the left in New York criticized him for an increasing prison population, but appreciated the resistance to the death penalty. After Governor Cuomo lost his position after his third term to the Republican, George Pataki, the death penalty was re-instated in New York. The penalty was never used, however, before the New York State Court of Appeals struck it down a few years later. It has never been re-instated since, although the federal death penalty does have jurisdiction over New York, currently.
Also, I feel proud of Mario Cuomo for his accomplishments in the City of New York as an Italian-American, born in Queens, who became a successful attorney on his way into politics. My own Italian-American grandfather, Rocco Piraino, became an attorney in Brooklyn and the courts of Manhattan some years before Mario Cuomo did in New York City, as well. On my father's side, my grandfather's family, Frank Patti, owned a shop in Little Italy in Manhattan. Then, he married my English and Scottish grandmother, Ruth Hillier, also in Queens, New York. My father, John Patti, grew up in Brooklyn, attended City College in Manhattan of the City University of New York (CUNY), and became a civilian engineer for the United States Air Force at Rome Air Base in Rome, New York, in Oneida County. I became an activist on the left, a poet, an alternative journalist, and a fallen man--homeless and a psychiatric survivor--but never losing hope. For all of the accomplishments in my family, none of us became the Governor of New York who also carried the torch for the Democratic left nationally during the height of the Reagan Era. Mario Cuomo did.
Thus, it is with pride that I note the passing of Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York State and New York City local kid made good.
A good obituary for Mario Cuomo, died Thursday, January 1, 2015, can be found in The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), published in the paper on January 2.
--Nicholas Patti
Charlotte, NC
