Nearly everyone is now familiar with the Yiddish term, "chutzpah," which has become part of the American lexicon. Chutzpah (pronounced HOOT-spuh) is roughly equivalent to "nerve" (in the slang sense).

A nearly perfect illustration of chutzpah is to be found in a quote attributed to Thomas DiNapoli, the assemblyman from the North Hempstead area that was, until recently, the Nassau County Democratic Chairman until he decided to declare his candidacy for the democratic nomination for county executive.

Last week, this newspaper ran an article about Tom Suozzi, the mayor of Glen Cove, who also announced that he is seeking to become the next Nassau County Executive. Mr. Suozzi has been at it for the better part of two years. Mr. DiNapoli, it would appear, has been at it for the better part of two weeks.

In the Suozzi article, Mr. DiNapoli is quoted as saying (in response to the Suozzi announcement) that he looks forward to discussing issues with Mr. Suozzi and he, "will continue to extend him every opportunity to join my ticket" when he (Mr. DiNapoli) runs for county executive in the fall.

I'm not sure where Mr. DiNapoli got the chutzpah to make such an arrogant declaration which assumes that he is somehow either a frontrunner among Democrats, or is otherwise guaranteed the party's nomination - and Mr. Suozzi will have every opportunity to take a back seat position.

So far as I can tell, it's Mr. Suozzi, not Mr. DiNapoli, who revitalized Glen Cove's downtown. And it's Mr. Suozzi, not Mr. DiNapoli, who solved Glen Cove's deep-seated financial problems, the very same kinds of problems that the county now faces. And it's Mr. Suozzi, not Mr. DiNapoli, who's done a hugely remarkable job in cleaning up enormous amounts of toxic wastes as he rebuilds and restores Glen Cove's waterfront. Mr. DiNapoli's claim to fame, on the other hand, is that he managed to pull the Democrats together enough to win 10 of the 19 seats in Nassau County's Legislature last year, thus achieving an astounding margin of one vote. With all due respect to that claim, given what the Republicans have done to the finances in this county - where the state of New York is now threatening to take over our budget and have people from Wall Street and Albany running our county - a trained seal could have accomplished a one-seat margin of victory over those guys.

No, I shoudn't think that Mayor Suozzi need aspire to run on a ticket headed up by Mr. DiNapoli. Suozzi, a four-term mayor, an attorney and a CPA, is himself quoted as saying that while he likes and respects Mr. DiNapoli, he just feels that he's better prepared for being the county executive because he's got years of executive experience handling budgets and running a government, while Mr. DiNapoli's experience is in the legislative arena in Albany. I agree. I'd prefer the guy who's already done the job to be my pick to be the guy who's needed to do the job again. And I'd also prefer the guy who knows how to show a bit more humility and a lot less chutzpah.

Paul J. Amatuzzo