From the archives: Former state Senate majority leader Ralph Marino dies

This article was originally published in Newsday on April 7, 2002

Ralph Marino, a former New York State Senate majority leader and a fixture on the Long Island political landscape for nearly three decades, died yesterday of cancer at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre.

Marino, known for his coalition-building skills and political moderation, was 74 and lived in Muttontown.

The son of two tailors, Marino was raised in Rochester. He first came to Long Island after graduating from Fordham Law School and marrying Ethel Bernstein, whom he met while they were undergraduate students at Syracuse University.

Marino got his political start on the Oyster Bay Town Board and rose through the ranks of the Nassau County Republican Party. He was first elected to the State Senate in 1968.

Political colleagues said Marino's fundamental belief in consensus building aided his rise to majority leader in 1989.

"I just don't believe in going out of your way to trample people, to make life more difficult for one another," Marino said in a 1989 interview.

Marino was the first Long Island Republican - and downstate Republican - to hold the powerful post of Senate majority leader. The region benefited from his tenure as he steered pricey building projects and aid for schools here.

He also championed legislation that cracked down on juvenile offenders and organized crime. And he sponsored the Freedom of Information Law of 1974 and the Open Meetings Law of 1976, both of which granted more access to public officials and records.

He endeared himself to Oyster Bay residents when he blocked plans for a bridge to connect Long Island to Westchester County. Marino spent a decade battling to keep the road from becoming an entryway to a cross Long Island Sound bridge, advocated in the 1960s and 1970s by then Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

Former Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo has said Marino was the reason he scrapped his presidential aspirations. The two could not agree on a budget deal in 1991, and Cuomo had always tied his potential 1992 presidential candidacy to a solution to the state's budget deficit.

Friends described Marino as the kind of person who made acquaintances feel like old friends, who was always humble and who, even in the early 1990s when he was the most powerful Republican in the state, took time to enjoy a hot dog and a beer with his buddies at a baseball game.

He strived to be the best public servant he could be, said longtime friend Michael Russell, and worked to maintain the integrity of his office. "He just had a real gentleness about him and was always polite," said Russell, who served as Marino's former special assistant in the State Senate.

Marino's exit from political power was swift and brutal. As majority leader he had criticized then-Sen. George Pataki, whom he thought was too conservative. He tried to block Pataki's nomination for governor at the state Republican convention in the summer of 1994. It didn't work, and when Pataki won the race, the governor-elect rallied his supporters for Marino's ouster.

On Thanksgiving weekend of that year, it became clear a coup d'etat was under way and that Joseph Bruno, a Republican from Troy, would replace Marino as majority leader. "Politics," Marino said at the time, "is a tough game."

Bruno, in a statement released yesterday, said, "Ralph and I may have had political or philosophical differences over the years but we always maintained our friendship."

Pataki echoed his sentiments. "While we had our differences over the years, Senator Marino was a dedicated public servant who worked on behalf of the people of this state for many years," Pataki said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Marino family during this difficult time."

Marino resigned from the Senate on Feb. 8, 1995. He opened a law practice, Marino and Bernstein in Oyster Bay, where he was a partner.

He was a history buff and at one time considered becoming a history professor, according to his wife. And he served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1947.

Several weeks ago, the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway was renamed in Marino's honor. Marino, who was weak from his illness, came out in the bitter cold to attend the renaming ceremony and mustered the strength to make a speech.

"The look of pride and satisfaction on his face was enormous," said Desmond Ryan, the executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island who was a close friend to Marino. "He took great pleasure out of public service."

Besides his wife, Marino is survived by three children, Judith Marino of Oyster Bay, James Marino of Chicago, Robert Marino of Armonk in Westchester County; his mother, Catherine Marino of Rochester; and three grandchildren.