Arte di governare and ethnic roots of 3 combatants

 Levy stood in the sun with his back to New York Harbor from the lower end of Battery Park on Friday as he made his downstate pitch for governor. Somebody on a bench played Italian music from a blast box, which dissipated as the announcement got under way. “Look at this amazing backdrop,” Levy said. “We had a little Italian flavor with the music — would make my mother Marie Cavalcante very happy — but they toned it down.”

All three major contenders for governor are males in their early 50’s with bona fide Italian-American roots. The others, of course: Suffolk native Enrico Anthony (Rick) Lazio and Andrew Mark Cuomo... At certain campaign stops long ago, Gov. George Pataki used to note that his maternal grandfather was Calabrian-born Matteo Laganà.... On the right, Carl Paladino of Buffalo is making an effort and we'll undoubtedly learn more about him once he moves ahead with an announcement.