Suozzi's loud silence on a CD3 run

Daily Point

Suozzi answers many questions — except one

Former Rep. Tom Suozzi answered a lot of questions — about politics, housing, taxes, the Nassau Hub casino proposal and more — during a Long Island Builders Institute event in Jericho Wednesday night.

But the question on everyone’s mind was one that wasn’t asked publicly: Would he run again?

Suozzi took a stab at it — sort of — when The Point asked before the event began.

“Right now, I’m focused on my family, my kids, and my wife, enjoying our lives,” Suozzi told The Point. “There’s no race right now. As of now, there’s no race until 2024.”

That last phrase was an oblique reference to the possibility of a special election for the seat now held by Rep. George Santos, another topic Suozzi left unaddressed.

Billed as a “State of Politics” forum, the LIBI event featured four former politicians — Suozzi, former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, former State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and former State Sen. Michael Venditto — who shared their thoughts about the state and local political landscape, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing plan, and the importance of advocacy with a crowd of about 80 LIBI members and others.

Former Rep. Pete King had been scheduled to attend, but was unable to due to his recovery from surgery.

The goal of the forum, LIBI chief executive Mike Florio told The Point, was to show LIBI members and others the importance of getting involved.

“You’ve got to engage in the process,” Florio said. “That’s how things get done.”

Suozzi, a Democrat who discussed his work in Congress to eliminate the SALT cap and his efforts as county executive to develop “cool downtowns,” emphasized his concern about extremes on the left and right.

“It will not become better if you’re not involved in the process. It’s as simple as that,” Suozzi said. “What are we doing to get involved to make democracy work? … It’s not going to change unless you’re involved in the process and we’re all making our voices known, and we support people, both Democrats and Republicans, that want to save New York and are more moderate about solving problems.”

To some observers, Suozzi certainly sounded like he was gearing up for another run.

“Don’t tell me he’s not running again,” one attendee said.

The name of Suozzi’s successor came up during the forum but only as a punchline, after Florio noted concerns that Long Island had lost clout in Congress, as the senior member of its delegation — Andrew Garbarino — is only in his second term.

“Well, we’ve got George Santos,” Curran quipped, as the crowd laughed.

“He will solve the whole housing problem,” Suozzi responded.

“He already did,” an audience member called out.

The group also discussed politics in Albany, the influence of New York City, and the role of campaign contributions in getting one’s policy issues addressed.

During a “lightning round” at the end, Florio asked the four former elected officials: “Will Nassau County have a casino, yes or no?”

The feedback was split — but not along party lines.

“Sure sounds like it,” said Venditto, a Republican.

“Who knows?” Curran, a Democrat, said with a smile.

“I’ll go out on a limb and say no,” Suozzi said.

“I think the interests of New York City are going to weigh in extraordinarily heavily now that there’s movement on this. I’m more in line with what Tom said,” said Flanagan, a Republican.

Suozzi’s comment was particularly interesting, as the former congressman is now a co-chair for Actum LLC, which reportedly is doing work for Genting, the gaming company expected to bid for a full casino at Aqueduct, and Hard Rock International, expected to partner with New York Mets owner Steve Cohen for a casino proposal at Citi Field.

One of Florio’s last questions: Who would be the Republican candidate for president in 2024?

The consensus: Donald Trump.

But before ultimately agreeing with that consensus, Suozzi jokingly threw out a different answer.

“Peter King,” he said to applause.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Here's Joe!

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Reference Point

Writing the book on freedom in peril

The title was arresting:

“Let’s Not Be Nitwits” was the headline on Newsday’s editorial board offering from April 27, 1945.

It was a plea that could have been directed at any number of decisions, proposals or behaviors, but on that day 78 years ago it pertained to a fact of life in Suffolk County.

“More than half of Suffolk County is poorly informed on many subjects,” the board wrote. “It can’t read, not because Suffolk people don’t know their ABCs, but for the simple reason that they lack books.”

The board was concerned about the 113,000 people — roughly 57% of the population of Suffolk at the time — who were by the board’s count without the services of a public library.

Those residents, the board wrote, “are denied the fifth freedom, the freedom to read what they choose of the writings of their day, just as effectively as though they were illiterate or lived in a dictatorship where the freedom to write and publish books, the freedom of the press, was barred.”

Though the board identified freedom of the press as the “cornerstone of the four freedoms today,” it also postulated that those freedoms are nullified when citizens cannot exercise their freedom to read what they want.

The conclusions were backed by data — 23 libraries in the county, serving communities with 84,278 residents in total, with 242,000 books in all, a little more than one book per county resident. There were 50 communities with no or inadequate libraries.

Much has changed in the intervening years. Suffolk now has about 1.5 million people. The Suffolk Cooperative Library System lists 65 member libraries on its website. And those libraries have emerged as much more than repositories for books. They are now “community gathering places,” per a Newsday editorial in December, offering such things as homework help, meeting spaces, food distribution, social-worker and health care services, and various types of classes.

And, yes, books. Suffolk library patrons checked out 3 million digital books alone in 2022 — about two for every person.

But such comparisons also should note the recent surge in attempts to ban books in public libraries or schools nationwide and locally — 32 challenges to remove 80 books in all in New York alone, some of which occurred in school districts in Nassau and Suffolk.

No doubt the editorial board of 1945 would have found that worthy of the “nitwit” label as well.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie, Amanda Fiscina-Wells @adfiscina