Shliach Recalls Governor’s Style of Public Service

As former New York Gov. Hugh Carey was being interred Thursday in Shelter Island, Rabbi Yisroel Rubin recalled the man as an effectual leader whose dedication to the citizens of the Empire State served as a lesson in public service.

Best remembered for his deft handling of the state’s economic crisis in the late 1970s, was a seven-term congressman before being elected as the 51st governor of New York in 1974. He served two terms in Albany.

He passed away Sunday at the age of 92.

Rubin, who directs Chabad-Lubavitch of the Capital District, still remembers when Carey declared that “the days of wine and roses are over” and that solving New York’s fiscal problems required a round of collective belt-tightening. But Rubin also admired the fact that the state’s top politician was also a family man.

“With a house full of kids, he was able to balance his family life, and the extreme pressures of the financial crisis,” noted the rabbi.

As Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Albany, Rubin and his wife Rochel received Carey’s proclamation in honor of Education Day USA and the 76th birthday of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 1978.

Carey had met the Rebbe on at least one occasion in the early 1970s.

Calling the Rebbe “one of the most revered spiritual leaders,” the governor’s 1978 proclamation held up the Rebbe’s campaign “to increase awareness of every young person on the concepts of education, morality and decency” as benefitting all mankind.

It was at that time, Rubin said, that he noticed Carey’s style of leadership.

“He selected good consultants” and surrounded himself with great minds, explained the rabbi. “He took their advice and put it into action.

“He was a strong public servant who did his best for the people of New York.”