Cuomo's Queens teen pal joins transition team

He doesn't have the name recognition of Rep. Peter King or civil rights leader Hazel Dukes, but Jericho attorney George Haggerty will join them on Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo's transition team.

Just like Cuomo, Haggerty drove a tow truck when both were teenagers making a buck at the Haggerty family gas station in Hollis, Queens, in the mid-1970s.

"We worked there a lot of summers and Saturdays and Sundays, so you're kind of like work buddies," said Haggerty, 51, who owns his law firm. "We always got the worst jobs to do. My father was a taskmaster. If he saw you standing around, you were guaranteed to get a far worse task than you could have dreamed up yourself."

His family's B&G gas station was like a political hangout for local Democratic leaders, Haggerty said. The Cuomos lived nearby and had a house account. When the family came in winter, Andrew threw snowballs into the shop, recalled Haggerty, who fired back. Matilda Cuomo mothered Haggerty with advice and got her husband, then Lt. Gov. Mario Cuomo, to be his reference for St. John's University, the attorney said.

The work buddies kept in touch. During the campaign, Haggerty agreed to be called by reporters wanting to write about Andrew Cuomo's younger days.

Andrew Cuomo "admires" Haggerty's judgment, Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said: "Mr. Haggerty is a successful lawyer and small business owner who brings important insight and perspective to the transition process."

Last week, Haggerty met with the economic development and labor committee. Its 50 members find candidates for some key posts in today's economy, including taxation, banking and labor commissioners.

Haggerty said he's contacted three Island-based potential candidates.

But making state posts sound enticing won't be easy, he said:

"Probably the hardest thing you have to deal with is people who are high achievers doing well in the private area. It would be difficult for them to take a pay cut. You're going to walk into some big agency, your budget is going to be cut and one of your first roles is going to be how to eliminate personnel. It's a tough place to put somebody."

He plans to use his "best Tom Sawyer-like skills" to talk up the chance to fix the economy: "If we do turn this thing around," Haggerty said he'll tell them, "it's going to be adulation and sunshine and gummy drops and rainbows."