Cuomo the Journalist — For a Day

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Any governor should take a page out of this challenge given to Governor Mario Cuomo in the mid-1980s.

Accepting a dare by an intrepid reporter from the Jamestown Post-Journal, Cuomo switched positions for a day with local reporter Tim O’Brien. The reporter served in a ceremonial capacity as governor for a day while Cuomo went to Jamestown on Tuesday, July 5, 1988, to cover a news conference hosted by his Lt. Governor, Stan Lundine, at a business in Jamestown called Blackstone Corporation.

At that time I was the Albany correspondent for WJTN / WKSN / WHUG, a group of radio stations in Jamestown. I decided to make the most out of the trip by spending the holiday weekend with friends who worked at the radio station.

The Fourth of July celebration in Jamestown included city residents ringing Chautauqua Lake with lights. But the lights the next day were more dramatic than I could imagine.

On July 5th, I arrived at Blackstone early, put my microphone on the lectern and stretched my microphone cord as far as it would go, to the first row. Sitting in the seat next to me, by coincidence, would be the governor, who seemed to be in a playful mood that day.

After all the opening remarks concluded, Lundine said he would take questions from the reporters. Being one of the senior members of the press corps I usually asked the first question at Cuomo news conferences but this time I decided to hold off and let the governor have his spot in this unusual limelight.

With all eyes in the room on the governor, Cuomo turned to me and says, “What, now you don’t have a question to ask?”

“We’re all waiting for you governor,” I responded.

After Cuomo’s question was answered by Lundine, I then asked my question. The governor turned to me in typical Cuomo fashion and said, “Now you ask the question? Couldn’t you have done this first?”

The entire audience had a nice chuckle as did I and the event continued. To say this was a dog and pony show would put it mildly but for many reporters in tow to cover this news conference it was truly a day to remember by the folks from the local newspaper, local radio stations, members of the Capital press corps and the national media.

Time magazine sent a reporter to cover this event and I can clearly remember all these years later, the cover had a picture of Mars and inside was a color picture of me sitting next to the governor. For many years since I always joked that I had to go all the way to Jamestown to make it into Time magazine.

The picture accompanying this piece was in the Jamestown Post-Journal newspaper on January 4, 2015, the day after Governor Mario Cuomo passed away in New York City at age 82.