NIFA warns Blakeman on opioid settlement interest

Daily Point

Nassau asked to return nearly $14M to opioid fund, to help fight addiction and for other services

Nassau County’s fiscal watchdog has emerged with a warning for County Executive Bruce Blakeman over his administration’s move to transfer nearly $14 million in interest on the county’s opioid settlement funds to Nassau’s general fund.

Nassau Interim Finance Authority chairman Richard Kessel said in a letter to Blakeman that the authority found that the county has accumulated $102.9 million in its opioid settlement fund, but has spent just $16.5 million.

“While sitting on the settlement funds in the face of this public health crisis is bad enough, it is unconscionable for your administration to transfer the interest in a backroom manner to prop up the County’s budget,” the letter said.

Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle did not respond to The Point’s request for comment about Kessel’s letter. In previous comments to the Newsday news division about the decision to transfer interest to the general fund, Boyle pointed out that opioid deaths have declined, arguing also that interest from any county fund accrues to the general fund.

Added Boyle: “The money is being put to good use.”

Kessel, however, disagreed, writing that NIFA’s directors “recommend” the county return the interest to the opioid settlement fund, while also “working with legislators and stakeholders to spend the money therein as intended without further delay.”

“… You have been entrusted by the residents of the County to utilize these monies for the sole purpose of assisting efforts to provide interventions, recovery services, education, support and assistance to those who suffer from opioid addiction and their families,” Kessel wrote. “By not putting the bulk of the [opioid settlement fund] to good use and now transferring the interest, your administration has failed this duty.”

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

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Final Point

LI Gen Z podcaster has other bridges to cross

Emily Austin, who at only 24 bears the very varied reputational title of sports reporter, podcaster, proprietor of PETA-approved cosmetic products and Gen Z influencer, was appointed in late 2024 to the authority that runs the Atlantic Beach toll bridge.

She said in a statement then: “I want to use my platform to make sure there’s open communication between the residents and the board and really utilize technology as much as I can to have dialogue within the community.” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman nominated the Hofstra graduate for the no-pay post.

Well, that didn’t last too long. Politico Playbook reported in January that she’d missed the previous six in-person board of commissioners' meetings for the Nassau County Bridge Authority. Now Austin is off the board. “Scheduling conflicts” were cited.

Last year, in utilizing technology at her command, Austin created a website, “Hot Girls For Cuomo,” with the mission of helping former Gov. Andrew Cuomo defeat Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor. She has also vocally supported President Donald Trump’s Iran actions as enforcing “Peace Through Strength” abroad.

Unfortunately, the “Hot Girls For Cuomo” domain was registered by someone who did not back the ex-governor’s ambitions. Clicking on it sent you — and still sends you — to Attorney General Letitia James’ 2021 report on sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo.

Austin has turned to boosting Blakeman for governor, saying he “has made Nassau County one of the greatest places on earth to live, especially the United States.” In a podcast interview with Blakeman earlier this year, she egged on his condemnation of Gov. Kathy Hochul — but in doing so, might have inadvertently slipped a bit off the Republican message.

After Blakeman noted Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani last fall and called her “Comrade Hochul” Austin said: “I think it’s appalling. I don’t know how Gov. Hochul continually wins. I mean, to be fair, there haven't been incredibly strong candidates running against her.”

Her analysis ignores 2022, when Rep. Lee Zeldin of Suffolk County mounted the strongest Republican challenge to a sitting Democratic governor since the 1990s. It was Hochul’s first gubernatorial win, by 5.6 points. More than six months out, Republicans are wondering if Blakeman will come as close as did Zeldin, who’s Trump’s EPA administrator.

Today’s political lesson: Gen Zers of all stripes, like everyone else, do their best when they check facts, no matter how convinced they are in their viewpoints.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

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