Andrew J. Barberi would not be pleased.
The son of the late football coaching legend whose name is on the side of a Staten Island ferry said his father would be horrified that the ship has been involved in two crashes.
“Maybe we should retire it,” Barberi’s only son, Bruce Barberi, 63, told The Post from his Nebraska home. “If things are starting to go wrong with it, I know Pappa wouldn’t want people on it.”
Though the Andrew J. Barberi is now synonymous with the deadly 2003 crash, the vessel was put into service in 1981 and was christened for the man who lorded over the Curtis High School gridiron, which ironically overlooks the accident site.
“He would have been humbled to have the boat named after him. He didn’t do things for the accolades. He did it because he thought it was right,” the younger Barberi said.
His father died in 1979 and the age of 64 with no idea his name would later grace a cursed ship.
“It’s eerie and it’s sad,” said Dr. Gene Mosiello, who played for the pigskin poobah and later served as his assistant coach.
Barberi played at Curtis High School and was the captain of 1936 NYU football team that narrowly defeated a powerhouse Fordham squad led by a young Vince Lombardi.
After college, he served in the Army, played some pro pigskin with the Brooklyn (football) Dodgers and settled into what Mosiello described as his dream job.
“He was Curtis High School. Andy was such a man. He wore every hat in the community,” he said.
Post columnist Phil Mushnick remembers the gruff gridiron great as his father’s breakfast partner — dueling over politics and sports while polishing off a dozen donuts with ease.
“He was like Knute Rockne with indigestion,” Mushnick said. “He was gruff, profane but inside he was a marshmallow.”
Every Thanksgiving, Barberi led the marquee event on the island — the epic turkey day match up between Curtis and its rival New Dorp High School, which was coach by Sal Somma, Barberi’s childhood friend and NYU teammate.
“In the 30’s and 40’s, the game drew about 10,000 people,” recalled Mosiello.
Though the great coach didn’t have the winningest record in history, friends and admirers said it was his dedication that left an indelible mark on the community and high school football in Staten Island.
“Andy was a man who went beyond the field,” added Mosiello.