Dishing on the Dems

Daily Point

Dinner dance

For those who occupied themselves reading gubernatorial tea leaves about the Suffolk Democrats’ fall dinner attendance list last week, round two is Thursday night with a Nassau County Democrats’ fundraising event.

The gathering at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury is sold out and will raise $500,000, says county and state party chairman Jay Jacobs. And, as in Suffolk, Gov. Kathy Hochul is coming.

Hochul has been all over the place as she looks to cement support for 2022, and Jacobs and neighboring Suffolk party chair Rich Schaffer have already endorsed the new incumbent, months ahead of the primary. That hasn’t entirely stopped other candidates from thinking about their own runs. In the rumored exploratory group is state Attorney General Tish James, who will be declining the chance to show up in Nassau as she was upstate Thursday, and Glen Cove Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who tells The Point he had another commitment in lieu of the Nassau party dinner, but that he "might go late."

Then there’s NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who last month became the first of the Democratic heavy hitters to actually take public steps toward a Hochul challenge, announcing what he called an "exploratory committee" and prepping a listening tour.

Technically, the Brooklyn Democrat appears to be a little in limbo. State Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin says that Williams "provided only one of three required documents in order to create a committee called ‘Jumaane for New York.’"

Williams spokesman William Gerlich told The Point Thursday that "if there are things that still need to be sent, we’ll obviously send them."

Williams is often seen as occupying a similar progressive political lane as James, and if she were to launch a bid it would certainly make his own challenge harder.

But Gerlich indicated that Williams was not playing wait-and-see but was actually working on this exploratory phase of the bid — he has recently traveled around the state from Rochester to Syracuse to Long Island, and worked on building an "advisory committee."

"As Jumaane has repeatedly said in stops across the state," Gerlich said, "his decision on whether to formally enter the race isn't based on who else might run."

— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Talking Point

Downtown cash contest

It seems everyone on Long Island wants a piece of the $20 million pie.

The state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative usually offers $10 million for one community in each of the state’s 10 regions. But this year, $20 million per region will go to either one or two winners. So it’s no wonder that 19 communities across Long Island applied for the grant this year.

As the Newsday editorial board continues its endorsement meetings with county and town candidates, many of them are pointing to the potential for DRI money as one way to jump-start downtown redevelopment in their communities. And it seems there’s an applicant for nearly every part of the region.

In Nassau County, the village of Hempstead and the hamlets of Port Washington and Oyster Bay are seeking the grant.

In Suffolk, applicants include East Farmingdale, Riverhead, Kings Park and Smithtown.

In some cases, town and village officials have been applying for years — only to lose out to the four Long Island communities that so far have won the annual prize: Baldwin, Central Islip, Hicksville and Westbury. In others, this is their first shot at the big pot.

In 2019, when Baldwin was Long Island’s sole winner, Oyster Bay, Smithtown, Kings Park and Riverhead all applied. Others included Westhampton Beach, Southampton’s Riverside neighborhood, Amityville, Lindenhurst, Huntington Station, Lake Ronkonkoma and Northport. In Nassau, Farmingdale, Lynbrook, Valley Stream, Rockville Centre, Long Beach, and Freeport were among the applicants who didn’t get the grant.

It’s unclear how many of those communities applied this time around — but clearly, the competition will be intense.

And to the victor goes not only big money, but perhaps also bragging rights during the next season of endorsements.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Scary business

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

Final Point

Newsday project studies vacant retail sites

nextLI, a Newsday project funded by a grant from the Rauch Foundation, asked Long Islanders to tell us the commercial and retail spaces in their communities that are struggling or empty. Those suggestions helped the nextLI team identify spaces across Long Island that may be ripe for repurposing.

4WARD Planning Inc. was then commissioned to analyze these and other existing underperforming community shopping centers and regional mall sites on LI. Eight sites across Nassau and Suffolk counties were selected as market-receptive for redevelopment.

Learn more about the local shopping center sites and the interventions suggested, as well as other case studies across the country on how to transform blighted retail spaces in a nextLI market analysis. The report includes the socioeconomic, labor, industry and real estate changes happening on Long Island, and their financial impact.

If solutions like these can be put in motion and the expected economic growth triggered, we can help keep the next generation living and thriving on Long Island.

nextLI introduced the report to the region with a webinar on Oct. 12. You can watch the launch with local housing experts Jimmy Coughlan of TRITEC; Sarah Lansdale, the director of the Suffolk County Division of Planning and Environment; and Valentin Staller of Staller Associates here.

— Coralie Saint-Louis @coralienewsday

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