Phil Reisman: Get ready for the Mario Cuomo 'name game'

Mario Cuomo left this world only a few days ago but the question is already hanging in the air: Should some sort of public monument be named in his honor? Cuomo supposedly didn't believe in the hoary custom.

"I don't want anything," he once told a friend who put the question to him. He paused and added, "Maybe a stickball court in Queens."

That should be easy enough but it's doubtful that will settle the issue. It was Cuomo himself who in 1993 had the Tappan Zee Bridge named after Malcolm E. Wilson, a Yonkers Republican who was briefly governor after serving as lieutenant governor under Nelson Rockefeller for 15 years.

No one calls it the "Malcolm Wilson Bridge," except Wilson's family. (The original entrance sign left out the second "L" in Malcolm.) Nevertheless, there are people in Rockland County who still haven't forgiven Cuomo for naming the bridge after a Westchester politician. So this is a sensitive subject.

A minor controversy erupted last year when admirers of Pete Seeger, including his grandson, suggested the replacement span now under construction be named in honor of the left-leaning folksinger who championed efforts to clean up the Hudson River. The suggestion caused a political debate, which surely will start again if somebody lobbies in favor of calling it the "Mario Cuomo Bridge" — especially since, ahem, his son, Andrew, is the present-day governor.

Normally, these things are brought up posthumously but the New York Observer pushed for naming the bridge after Cuomo while he was still alive. In an opinion piece a year ago the paper made a case for the idea but acknowledged that the "current governor of New York might be a little shy" about bringing it up.

That could be. But that doesn't necessarily mean Andrew Cuomo's surrogates won't bring it up for him.

Few large public projects are undertaken these days, and it seems most of the bridges, tunnels and highways have been spoken for. It's not unlike retiring New York Yankee uniform numbers — there are hardly any single digits left.

How Mario Cuomo rates as a governor should play a part in how he is remembered. Milton Hoffman, a longtime editor and political writer for this newspaper, told me Cuomo was a "good, not great" governor.

"He was nowhere near Thomas E. Dewey, Nelson Rockefeller and Hugh Carey for innovation," Hoffman said, noting those governors were on deck for big-ticket items such as the state Thruway system, the state college system, saving New York City from bankruptcy and the first Tappan Zee Bridge. Cuomo's accomplishments seemed small bore by comparison.

Hoffman said he liked Cuomo personally but was critical of some of his decisions affecting Westchester County, such as ending the tolls on the Hutchinson and Saw Mill River parkways, a needed source of revenue. He tartly suggested placing his name on the toll stations "he tore down right before his losing election." Ouch.

Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner, a Democrat, said Cuomo should be recognized for his greatest strengths: his intellectualism and oratory.

"Mario Cuomo was an inspiration to many," he said. "He was able to articulate in words what many people believed in but were not able to express. He had a great mind."

Feiner suggested the New York Public Library or one of the SUNY colleges be named after him.

Will Stephens, a Republican and former assemblyman, said on Facebook: "Like his politics or not, Gov. Mario Cuomo played a major role in defining his party and articulating its message." He said, "The right naming opportunity will present itself."

John Spencer, a former mayor of Yonkers, said he hoped Cuomo got his wish: Name a stickball field after him. Spencer, a Republican, was weary of the exercise.

"I believe that naming things after politicians should be only for presidents and those who sacrificed their lives for our country," he said. "For those that achieved elected office as governors, mayors, Congress — well, good for them, but it's no big deal compared to the others." He added, "My thoughts have no connection to party or political likes and dislikes. I'm talking about all politicians of all stripes."

This leads me to a story about Erastus Corning, which is a great name for a politician. Corning, who died in 1983, was an 11-term mayor of Albany, which, like Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, is a record that might never be broken. By all accounts he was a great mayor but he also embraced some questionable policies. "I like doing business with my friends," he once said.

The story goes that Cuomo, who was in his first term as governor, visited Corning just before he died. Cuomo asked the mayor if he wished to be named after anything. Corning replied, "How about a no-bid contract?"

Reach Phil Reisman at preisman@lohud.com. Twitter: @philreisman.