Former Governor

It is more than 35 years since former New York Governor Hugh Carey was elected to the House of the Representatives as a Congressman from Brooklyn, but his name still reverberates in Albany where he held sway for eight years, from 1974 until 1982. 

He instigated the “I Love New York” program and the Empire State Games. He is credited with having saved New York from bankruptcy and introducing sweeping fiscal reforms, and will always be remembered as one of the Four Horsemen. 

In 1983, Carey joined the law practice of Robert Wagner, New York’s former mayor. But he never fully escaped from politics. In 1993 he was named by President Clinton to the Monuments Commission to represent the U.S., and he served as a member of Governor-elect Pataki’s transition team in 1994. 

Born in Brooklyn, Carey was the third of six sons to Margaret and Denis Carey, whose ancestors came from Countries Tyrone and Galway. He graduated from St. John’s University and St. John’s University Law School with the degree of Juris Doctor. 

Carey is also an army veteran – having enlisted in 1939 he served with the 101st Cavalry of the New York National Guard and fought in France and Holland with its Timberwolf Division. Carey was present when the Nordhausen concentration camp was liberated. For his army service, Carey was awarded the Combat Infantry Award Bronze Star and the Croix de Guerre. 

In 1947, he married Helen Twohy, who died in 1974, and the couple had 13 children. He now serves as chairman of the board of Cambridge Partners, L.L.C.