Bridget Fleming talks CD1

Daily Point

First things 1st

Eager to stop the chatter about her political intentions, Democratic Suffolk County Legis. Bridget Fleming told The Point that she is all-in on her effort to unseat GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin in the 1st Congressional District, and has no intention of seeking to fill retiring 22-termer Kenneth LaValle’s spot in the state’s 1st Senate District. 

Fleming, who lost in a run against LaValle in 2012, said of the chamber’s longest-serving member, “I wish him all the best as a statesman who served the region well,” and added, “I have absolutely no interest in running for State Senate. I am committed to the race for the 1st Congressional District.”

Those who seek the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat and sent out statements in the wake of the news about LaValle included:

• Southampton Town Board member Tommy John Schiavoni, of Sag Harbor, who wrote of LaValle’s announcement: “Not only is this news long overdue, given he’s currently the record holder as the longest-serving member of the Senate - but he’s been an ineffective leader the entire time.”
• Skyler Johnson, a 19-year-old Suffolk County Community College student, whose campaign emailed: “Skyler aims to represent people who have enjoyed living here for decades, as well as those who will be voting for the very first time. No one in Senate District 1 is more important than anyone else and that’s something we want to emphasize. Whether it’s on the phone, while canvassing, at our events, or on social media, Skyler inspires hope for the future of Long Island.”

—Lane Filler @lanefiller

Talking Point

Making their picks

Bringing it in line with the state’s racetracks at Saratoga and Aqueduct, Belmont Park will get a local advisory board, thanks to a change in state law that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed late last year.

And local officials aren’t wasting time in appointing area residents to the 15-member board.

State Sen. Anna Kaplan, who sponsored the bill, said former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen sent in her picks last year before leaving office, appointing Elmont residents Jon Johnson and Tiffany Capers. Both support Belmont Park’s redevelopment, and Capers, a past president of Elmont High School’s Parent Teacher Student Association, also served on new Supervisor Don Clavin’s transition team.

Meanwhile, the village of South Floral Park used its January meeting last week to unanimously appoint former Deputy Mayor Gary McCollin as its single representative, according to Mayor Geoffrey Prime. 

On Thursday, the New York Racing Association told The Point that its picks are among NYRA’s top executives: Chief Executive David O’Rourke, Senior Vice President Glen Kozak, who lives in Floral Park, and spokesman Patrick McKenna.

But other appointments haven’t been made. A spokeswoman for Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, who has five spots on the board, four of whom must be Elmont residents, said Curran plans to make her picks in the next few weeks. Floral Park Mayor Dominick Longobardi told The Point that the village board would make its two appointments within the next month.

The Queens community board that represents neighborhoods that border Belmont also will appoint two people.

The board will work with NYRA and the state’s Franchise Oversight Board to provide community input on issues related to Belmont’s racetrack and the surrounding land, including the ongoing development of an arena, hotel and retail village, but also potential changes to the racetrack and grandstand. The law provides no timetable on when appointments must be made or when the board should meet.

“This is certainly the right time to have a group like the Belmont Park advisory board, considering changes are happening at that facility which will impact Elmont and the surrounding community for generations to come,” McKenna told The Point.

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Conflicting messages

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

Final Point

Who said it? Day 2

Answers from yesterday's quotes: 

1. Marianne Williamson
2. John Delaney
3. Andrew Yang
4. Amy Klobuchar
5. Joe Biden

Part 2 of our 2020 Democratic contender books series: Identify the candidate with the following background that shaped who they are. 

1. “As a bachelor who traveled with a big expense account, I had a girlfriend in every city, skied in every resort, ate in every four star restaurant, and never missed a Broadway play.” The candidate burned the candle at both ends, while trying to work extremely hard.
2. This candidate knows the difficulties of growing up without money. Born in the candidate’s grandmother’s bed without the assistance of a doctor, the candidate was then “wrapped in a blanket and placed...in the warm oven with the door open until the doctor arrived.” 
3. This candidate grew up in a household full of political and intellectual discussion. “I would hear but not understand arguments over the uselessness of post-structuralism or the relevance of Hobsbawm’s historiography, wondering what any of it meant and how anyone could be as passionate about it as the people seated at the dinner table who just a couple hours earlier were indulgingly asking me about my loose tooth or my baseball card collection.” 
4. This candidate's father worked his way up to being a top IBM salesman who told him as a teenager, "Son, don't you dare walk around this house like you hit a triple, 'cause you were born on third base." The candidate agrees: "I've said many times of my generation that we drink deeply from wells of freedom and opportunity that we did not dig."

—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano