Text size:

Mr. Suozzi goes to D.C.

Sounding more like he's running for state's top job, Nassau exec stumps during think tank speech in capital

BY GLENN THRUSH | WASHINGTON BUREAU

February 16, 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)

WASHINGTON - Tom Suozzi sounded very much like a candidate for governor during his trip here yesterday, blaming New York's high property tax rates on "special interests" in Albany - while steadfastly refusing to identify the culprits.

Suozzi, who is reportedly leaning toward running against New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in this year's Democratic gubernatorial primary, said he'll announce his decision "in the next two weeks."

The Nassau County executive, speaking at the D.C.-based Brookings Institution, took a jab at Spitzer on the issue of Medicaid fraud, charging that "the state health department and the attorney general's Medicaid fraud investigative unit have failed to do a sufficient job ... in going after fraud and waste."

Suozzi's remarks came after he delivered a strikingly sober assessment of Nassau County's problems during a panel discussion on the aging inner suburbs.

"We have no growth going on ... we have all these governments that are left over from the early 1900s. We're a very segregated community as well," he said, making a pitch for increased state and federal investment for the development of town centers and suburban transit systems.

Reflecting his increased attention to problems outside his native Nassau, Suozzi also made a broad appeal for aid to upstate New York and the five boroughs. "It's essential that New York City is successful, it's essential that New York City is vibrant," he said.

That prompted moderator E.J. Dionne, an institute scholar, to quip, "There are strong rumors he's running for governor - so those comments will go down very well."

Suozzi, chuckling, shot back, "Yeah ... we love New York City."

The City of Glen Cove Democrat laid many of the state's problems on property taxes that rank among the highest in the nation, charging that recent hikes have been driven by "special interests [who] have such control over the New York State legislature."

But Suozzi declined repeated requests to identify those interests, saying, "I'm not going to give you a specific example right now."

Suozzi himself has come under fire for accepting contributions from an interest group opposed to Spitzer. Critics have recently accused him of soliciting cash from Spitzer's enemies in the financial industry, including $570,500 collected by former New York Stock Exchange official Kenneth Langone, who has been sued by the attorney general's office for his role in approving an exchange compensation package.