Text size:

Suozzi stirs diversity into his campaign mix

BY DENISE M. BONILLA | STAFF WRITER

February 26, 2006

New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is seen after a fundraiser at the Glen Oaks Country Club in Old Westbury. (Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile / February 15, 2006)

With the aroma of sausage and peppers borne on the gusting wind, and the lilt of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" ringing from the speakers, the immigrant experience was center stage even before Thomas Suozzi was.

And once he stood before a crowd of more than 1,000 in his hometown of Glen Cove, the scion of Italian and Irish immigrants trumpeted the theme.

"Our family story is an American story, a New York story," Suozzi said, speaking from a stage erected in a lot next to the yellow, two-story home of his grandparents, Rosa and Michele Suozzi. "It is a story of the New York promise, the promise that if you work hard you can live the American dream."

The Nassau County leader did his best to meld the two halves of his immigrant ancestry: His mother offered an Irish blessing, and Suozzi himself quoted an Italian saying that means "Watch the hands, don't listen to the mouth" to emphasize his record as a leader.

The event also displayed a rainbow of diversity, from the performance of the black Calvary Tabernacle Choir from Hempstead to the Hispanic supporters in the audience who waved signs reading "Amigos de Tom Suozzi."

Later in the afternoon, Suozzi continued to emphasize his appreciation for diversity in New York City, having dinner with more than 60 relatives and friends at Trattoria Romana on Staten Island and then speaking at a dinner for the Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway at the Brooklyn Marriott.

At the restaurant, surrounded by oil paintings of wine and cheese and countryside villas, Suozzi dined on rigatoni and veal and said he was simply trying to have a good Italian meal and give attention to an underappreciated city borough.

Others at the Glen Cove event said Suozzi, with the emphasis on diversity, made a calculated move that will pay off.

"Today he had the Hispanics, he had the blacks - the only one he didn't have there was a rabbi," said one Queens man, a registered Republican and Suozzi supporter who declined to give his name. "He's the Irish-Italian ... and let's face it, my father-in-law is Italian and when he votes he looks for anyone with four vowels in his name, unless it's McLachlan. That's how it works."

Glen Cove resident Sighle Lynch said that even though some might view it as "a little corny," as an Irish immigrant she appreciates Suozzi's decision to stand near his grandparents' home and celebrate his family's journey to the United States.

"I think it's a wonderful acknowledgment of his background, his heritage. He knows where he came from," said Lynch, 45. "It's good for the state to know that he's not going to forget his roots either."

Suozzi, who still lives in Glen Cove, made sure to stay true to his Long Island roots, too, using Sea Cliff restaurant Buon Appetito for the free sausage-and-pepper sandwiches and other local companies for everything from the chairs to the lights. That gesture was not lost on those in Glen Cove who have watched Suozzi rise through the political ranks.

"That's my hometown boy," said Joanne Delucia, 64, whose daughter attended grade school with Suozzi. Delucia said she wished the county executive luck but hedged when asked if he would be able to capture the governorship.

"He may have a shot, I don't know," she said. "It's good that he's making his name known, if not for this time, then the next time."

Sarah Garland contributed to this story.