Former Democratic New York Governor Mario Cuomo has passed away at age 82. Cuomo served three terms in the state’s top spot, from 1982 to 1994.
Although he was considered as a possible frontrunner in several presidential contests, Mario Cuomo never ran.
One month ago, he was hospitalized and treated for a heart condition. Hours after his son Andrew was inaugurated for his second term as New York’s governor, the elder Cuomo drew his last breath.
Cuomo was a strong supporter of Israel and visited the Jewish State during the very first year of his first term as governor in 1982.
“I remember how strongly, firmly and clearly Gov. Cuomo, Mario Cuomo, stood with Israel at the time,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recalled this past summer when his son Andrew, New York’s current governor, visited Israel on a solidarity mission.
At the time of the elder Cuomo’s visit, Netanyahu was the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer praised his “colossal political mind [that] represented the very best of public service; he leaves an indelible legacy on the state he loved.”
Reactions instantly poured in from political colleagues across the spectrum.
Former New York Governor George Pataki, who succeeded Cuomo in 1994 added his “deepest condolences,” calling him a “proud son of immigrants, possessed of a soaring intellect & a great New Yorker” in a post on Twitter.