If Cuomo doesn't seek a 4th term, who would run?

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Credit: soundcloud.com/nygovcuomo; Photo Credit: Darren McGee- Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Daily Point
Long Island has a lot of players on the board
On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo vowed not to resign over the harassment allegations currently throwing New York’s political world into upheaval. But it remains to be seen whether he’ll end up trying for a fourth term.
If he doesn’t, take a gander at the chessboard on Long Island, where plenty of elected officials might see a newly open route to higher office.
On the gubernatorial side, Rep. Lee Zeldin has been open about his interest, and Rep. Tom Suozzi and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone hardly less so, if past statements are any indication. Suozzi could dust off those "Fix Albany" posters, and Bellone has a guaranteed but term-limited job until 2023.
Meanwhile, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is the Switzerland of Democrats, could present a case for steady leadership and continuity, without some of the drama.
One of the strongest contestants, and an immediate frontrunner, would be state Attorney General Tish James, a veteran of the city political scene whose investigation of Cuomo could very well decide his future and hers.
A gubernatorial bid by James would prompt other chess board moves, like leaving an opening for Rep. Kathleen Rice to try for attorney general once again in what would surely be a wide field of potential contenders like State Sen. Michael Gianaris. Gianaris’ Long Beach colleague, Todd Kaminsky, has a prosecutorial background and could try for AG or, perhaps, Rice’s congressional seat.
If we’re imagining many very hypothetical moves ahead, say Zeldin actually runs and makes it through a Republican primary and gives up his House seat, what kind of scramble would that launch for a swing-ish district that has become nationally prominent in the Trump era? While Kimberly Guilfoyle is rumored to be eyeing a California race or just settling into the Florida sun, we note that boyfriend Donald Trump Jr. appears to still own a Bridgehampton property, within the confines of CD1.
—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano
Talking Point
As immigration comes to the fore, here’s a good read
As Congress gears up for another round of immigration debates, The Point suggests "The Undocumented Americans" by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio for your reading list.
In the book, which was a 2020 finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction, Villavicencio weaves her own experience of living in the United States without documentation with reported pieces about undocumented life around the country. Early chapters cover New York, including the immigrants who volunteered across the region (sometimes without getting paid) to clean basements after superstorm Sandy. A particularly haunting section focuses on the immigrants hired as subcontractors to work on The Pile after 9/11, with sometimes tragic consequences to their health: "Vans drove from Queens out to Long Island, through Nassau and Suffolk Counties, up and down the immigrant enclaves, looking for day laborers to bring to Ground Zero."
The focus on key moments in recent American history and how immigrants without documentation played a role in them is central to the book — we also see the immigrant experience in Flint, where non-English speakers were sometimes slow to get information about the contaminated water. It adds up to a message that these immigrants have experienced the defining moments of recent American history, and should often be angry about their treatment.
That’s an emotional register that defines one end of the current immigration debate, a far cry from the heartstring-tugging upwardly-mobile focus on young DACA recipients in the Obama era. Villavicencio’s fiery view is borne of the Trump era of sanctuary churches and the fear of ICE raids and deportations — an era and a take that will echo through the latest immigration debates even though Trump is gone.
—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano
Pencil Point
Supply and demand

Andy Marlette Credit: Andy Marlette
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Promo Point
Evaluating the future of standardized testing
Last spring, as the pandemic took hold and closed schools, state standardized tests in New York were canceled. The federal Department of Education granted a state request to cancel English and math tests for students in third to eighth grades and the Regents exams that are normally required for high school graduation.
But this school year, with New York still struggling with the pandemic and more than 700 different school district learning plans, state education leaders got a shock.
The federal government will not hand out any blanket waivers for required tests; however, it also won’t allow students, teachers or schools to be penalized for failing to take or pass the exams.
So what does this mean for schools and students this year, and what does the future of standardized testing look like?
In the NewsdayLive event "Education and COVID-19: Testing Students in a Pandemic, and Beyond," Newsday columnist and editorial board member Lane Filler talks to Malverne Superintendent and former president of the New York State Council of School Superintendents Lorna Lewis, Education Trust-New York Executive Director Dia Bryant and Stony Brook University Director of Teacher Education Preparation Programs Terry Earley about where standardized testing is at in New York, and where it’s headed.
You can view the full webinar here.
—Lane Filler @lanefiller