Carey, former governor of New York, dies at 92
He took office as state, NYC teetered on bankruptcy
Hugh L. Carey, the New York governor who helped pull the state and its largest city back from the brink of bankruptcy in the 1970s, died at his Shelter Island summer home Sunday, his family announced. He was 92.
“I think he will and should go down as the greatest governor in modern history,” said former New York City Mayor Edward Koch, 86. “It was his leadership that brought everyone together.”
Carey was governor from 1975 through 1982, taking office weeks before the state’s Urban Development Corp. – conceived to build housing in distressed areas – defaulted on its bonds, in a serious blow to the state’s creditworthiness. Commercial banks in Manhattan refused to trade the city’s notes, putting the city on a path toward default.
The way back was long, difficult and not without political risk for Carey, who declared in his first state-of-the-state address that “the days of wine and roses are over.” His administration sold bonds to banks and union pension funds, assembled aid from multiple public pockets with legislative approval and suspended payments due bondholders.
He negotiated wage deferrals, raised taxes and imposed layoffs, service cuts and the first City University of New York tuition. Carey ultimately won $6.9 billion in U.S. Treasury loans for the city.
“Governor Carey looked to statesmanship and compromise, rather than partisanship or parochialism, to get the state’s fiscal house in order,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement Sunday. “He called for shared sacrifice and asked all New Yorkers to come together.”
Carey signed the landmark Willowbrook Consent Decree, committing the state to care for its developmentally disabled in non-institutional homes. His administration initiated the “I Love New York” campaign and the Empire State Games.
Before his election as governor, Carey spent 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Brooklyn districts. He served on the Ways and Means Committee in Congress, where he pushed for equal rights for the developmentally challenged and underserved.
Carey was a decorated veteran of World War II, serving with a unit that liberated the Nordhausen concentration camp from Nazi Germany. He retired from military service with the rank of colonel. He received the Combat Infantry Award, Bronze Star and the Croix de Guerre.
As a member of the so-called “Four Horsemen,” with Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and House Speaker Tip O’Neill, he advocated for peaceful solutions to the conflict in Northern Ireland.