Former Gov. Mario Cuomo will be memorialized at a funeral service in Manhattan later this morning.
Hundreds of mourners lined up for his wake yesterday. Many political leaders also attended, including Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).
Earlier in the day, Schumer remembered the three-term governor, who was said to have never forgotten that he was a Roman Catholic kid from Queens.
“He was an amazing man,” said Schumer. “He started out, a hard-scrabble existence, working in the back of a store. And grew to the pinnacle of political power because he believed in New York and he believed in America, and most of all he believed in the power of an individual to get something done.”
The three-term governor was known nationwide for his ability to be a spokesman for liberal values. But Schumer told reporters yesterday his success was because of something else.
“He had great oratory and that moved the nation. But he also could get two sides into a room that seemed very far apart, and ask them very piercing, smart questions and bring them together,” said Schumer.
Cuomo died on New Year's Day at age 82.