As Blakeman soaks up support at the GOP convention, protesters criticize him on ICE

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman greeted supporters at the state Republican convention on Monday evening inside the Garden City Hotel as about a dozen protesters outside rallied against the presumptive gubernatorial candidate’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Hundreds crowded inside the hotel to show support for Blakeman, who was flanked by his fresh pick for lieutenant governor, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, and Lee Zeldin, a former congressman from Shirley who lost the governor’s race in 2022 and now heads the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“She’s not just captain of the Titanic,” Zeldin said of his former opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is running for reelection as a Democrat. “She’s actually aiming for the icebergs.”

The event kicked off a three-day Republican convention where Blakeman is expected to accept his party’s nomination for governor on Wednesday.

Blakeman took the stage shortly after, thanking Zeldin for showing Republicans the “road map” to success in an overwhelmingly Democratic state in the 2022 gubernatorial election. “We came up a little short, but this time we’re going to finish his mission,” Blakeman said.

“Kathy’s first lieutenant governor was indicted and had to leave office in disgrace, and then her second lieutenant governor … is running against her for governor. Even [Antonio] Delgado knows she’s wrong for New York!” Blakeman shouted, referring to Hochul’s second lieutenant governor.

Hochul’s first lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, resigned after being charged with fraud and bribery. Delgado announced a run for governor in June. He recently announced democratic socialist India Walton as his lieutenant governor pick.

Blakeman himself faced hurdles finding a running mate. Late Sunday, Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino turned down Blakeman’s offer to be his running mate, triggering a last-minute scramble to replace him with Hood on Monday.

Nassau and Suffolk County Republican party chairs and Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine also rallied the crowd, along with New York State Republican Party chair Ed Cox.

Last fall, Cox threw his support behind GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. Elise Stefanik until she abruptly dropped out of the race. At the time, Blakeman lashed out at Cox for backing the upstate congresswoman, saying at the time, “I don’t know who appointed [Cox] the king of the Republican Party.”

Shortly after the GOP rally, a counterprotest of about two-dozen demonstrators were found across the street from the hotel, cordoned behind barricades in a "free speech area" near the LIRR parking lot.

Protesters carried signs that read, "ICE out of Long Island," blew whistles and chanted through bullhorns. There were no confrontations at the demonstration, which also drew the attention of Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, who stood by.

Among the speakers were Jeff Siegel, 68, of Port Washington, who led vigils in Port Washington after a bagel shop manager, Fernando Mejia, 68, was detained by ICE.

He said he drove Mejia's family to visit him in Newark, New Jersey, before he was transferred to a detention center in Louisiana and eventually self-deported to El Salvador after 120 days awaiting his hearing.

"I think it's fitting that we're fenced in this way. We have not been deported, but here we are being fenced in and being told exactly how we're allowed to exercise free speech," Siegel said. "When we speak about ICE … there's an enormous ripple effect."

Siegel said he didn't expect the protest to affect where lawmakers at the GOP convention stood on immigration, but he hoped the demonstrations would attract more people to speak up.

“These protests have been growing, because those passing by see that there are other people that feel the same way that they do," Siegel said. "The immigrant community appreciates what we're doing, but they're afraid to come out, but they're glad we're there."

Other protesters targeted President Donald Trump and Blakeman for an agreement between Nassau’s police, sheriff’s department and ICE. Blakeman has defended his partnership with ICE, saying it has made the county safer.

Beth Agar, 67, of Old Bethpage, held a sign quoting Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show that read, "The only thing more powerful than hate is love."

"I think it's important to be here because Bruce Blakeman has been despicable for Nassau County," Agar said. "We are here because not only do we not want him as county executive, we don't want him to be our governor."