As tributes to former Gov. Mario Cuomo continued to pour in Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed that flags on all state government buildings in New York be flown at half-staff in honor of his father.
The elder Cuomo was 82 when he died Thursday evening at his Manhattan home from natural causes due to heart failure. His death came just hours after Andrew began his second term as New York's chief executive.
A wake for Mario Cuomo was scheduled Monday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on the Upper East Side, the governor's office announced.
A private funeral service is set for Tuesday at 11 a.m. at St. Ignatius Loyola Church, also on the Upper East Side.
The governor has postponed his state-of-the-state address for two weeks until Jan. 21 in Albany.
New York governors typically order U.S. and state flags at state-owned properties to be lowered in honor of fallen military personnel from New York and New York state troopers killed in the line of duty. They may issue the same order for people who have served the state or local communities with distinction.
Mario Cuomo was governor of New York governor from 1983 through 1994. The son of Italian immigrants, he played minor league baseball before embarking on a legal and political career. His oratory and his dedication to progressive policies made him a political star, but despite calls to seek the White House, he never made a run for president.
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President Barack Obama telephoned Andrew Cuomo Thursday and offered his condolences. In a statement, the president called Mario Cuomo "a determined champion of progressive values, and an unflinching voice for tolerance, inclusiveness, fairness, dignity, and opportunity.''
Cuomo became nationally celebrated for his ability to blend the story of his humble upbringing with ringing calls for social justice.
He was also known for the presidential races he stayed out of in 1988 and 1992. Cuomo agonized so publicly over whether to run for the White House that he was dubbed "Hamlet on the Hudson."
In 1991, Cuomo left a plane idling on the tarmac at the Albany airport rather than fly to New Hampshire and jump into the battle for the presidential nomination at the last minute. He left the door open for a lesser-known governor, Bill Clinton of Arkansas.
In a joint statement, President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton called Cuomo's life "a blessing" and "the very embodiment of the American dream."
St. John's University, where Cuomo attended college and law school, said in a statement that he exemplified the belief in public service on which the university was founded.
"He was a true son of St. John's, a committed student-athlete and double alumnus, graduating first in his class from the School of Law in 1956," the university said.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson remembered Cuomo's efforts to be inclusive of all voices, saying he represented that "light in dark spaces."
"He had room for everybody," Jackson said. "He was a big tent visionary."
New York state republicans also chimed in to praise the former democratic governor.
"Mario Cuomo was a legendary figure in New York politics who chose public service for all the right reasons," said Republican state Senate Leader Dean Skelos. "He could have run for President or been appointed to the Supreme Court, but he chose to stay and serve the people of New York."
Rep. Peter King called Cuomo a "giant of New York government and politics."
"As much as anyone he understood and appreciated the mosaic that was New York. All who knew Mario Cuomo were better for it," King said.
