George Maragos apologizes for ‘annoying’ campaign robo calls

Some Nassau County residents are incensed over getting late-night or pre-dawn robocalls touting George Maragos for county executive.

Marc Rubman, 71, of Cedarhurst, said he was home watching TV at 12:21 a.m. Saturday when his phone starting ringing. His wife was sleeping at the time.

“I was thinking, ‘Who’s calling at this hour of the day? Did something [bad] happen?’” Rubman said.

To his surprise — and annoyance — it was a Maragos robocall, asking for his vote in the Democratic primary in September.

Rubman hung up mid-message. “They’re certainly not making any friends that way,” he said.

On Facebook and Twitter, other Nassau residents were also fuming Saturday about getting robocalls at home at times ranging from 12:30 a.m. to 3:45 a.m.

Maragos issued a statement Saturday afternoon apologizing for the late calls.

“I can understand how worrisome and annoying it must have been. It was an unintended technical error that should not have happened,” the candidate said. “ . . . I am truly sorry, and I assure you that I will take all steps possible to insure it does not happen again.”

Maragos, the county comptroller, faces a primary challenge from Laura Curran, a county legislator from Baldwin.

Mark Temares, 53, of Garden City, who is recovering from open-heart surgery, said he was jarred awake by a 3:49 a.m. robocall Saturday.

He said he later called the Maragos campaign to complain but couldn’t reach anyone.

Despite that and the lost sleep, Temares isn’t holding a grudge.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” he said. “Mistakes happen.”