Blakeman goes from telling Hochul 'stay out of LI' to 'we're going to need help'

Daily Point

Governor's address to LIA this year more of a 'kumbaya' moment 

Much of the talk before the Long Island Association's State of the Region breakfast got underway Friday morning was about last year’s breakfast.

That’s when Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman famously said he’d like the state to "Stay out of Long Island."

As it turned out, this year’s breakfast, which featured more than 1,200 guests at the Crest Hollow Country Club, had a more "kumbaya" feel to it, as Blakeman, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer all seemed to welcome state support as they discussed their goals for 2025.

Blakeman, for instance, talked about the potential of transit-oriented development, saying it was "good for Long Island," but noted that Nassau’s infrastructure is old, and needs upgrades.

"We do need to rebuild our infrastructure and we’re going to need help from the state and federal government on that," Blakeman said.

It wouldn’t normally be a comment of note, but in the context of Blakeman’s stance last year, it drew the crowd’s attention; multiple attendees cited it when discussing the event after it concluded.

Blakeman recognized that he’ll need the state for more than infrastructure. Blakeman, for instance, emphasized his plans to bring NYU Langone to Nassau Community College property and his interest in moving forward with Las Vegas Sands’ proposal to build a casino resort at the Nassau Hub.

"I believe we’re going to have the best application," he said. "I’m very hopeful that we will be the winning bid ... Hopefully, we will get a favorable decision from the licensing board and we’ll go full steam ahead."

The promise to work with the state was a refrain echoed by Romaine and Schaffer.

And none of it went unnoticed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who spoke after the county executives and town supervisor and seemed to remember last year’s Blakeman dig.

"I was listening to see if anyone said anything nice or bad about me," Hochul said to some laughter.

Blakeman didn’t stay for Hochul’s speech — and Hochul didn’t mention the Nassau county executive. But both Romaine and Schaffer got shout-outs from the governor, who said Long Island was "very much top of mind." Hochul, who traveled to the event on the Long Island Rail Road, spoke about the need for public transit funding, in addition to affordability and public safety.

And the welcome wagon extended past the governor, too. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talked about it, especially in the context of needing bipartisan cooperation in Congress to lift the cap on state and local tax deductions, or SALT. Schaffer talked about it, too, noting how the supervisors and county executives "trust each other" right now and alluding indirectly to his difficulties with former County Executive Steve Bellone.

"This is the first time I’m getting along with the county executive since Bob Gaffney," who ended his stint in 2003, Schaffer said to laughter.

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

Pencil Point

A new chapter

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Final Point

Blakeman’s wrong-judge blunder

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman took to social media Friday to echo Donald Trump’s complaints following the former and future president’s unconditional discharge on 34 felony counts in the Stormy Daniels case.

Blakeman posted on a Meta/Instagram account and tweeted on X the same message: "The political charade that took place in a NYC courtroom was the worst miscarriage of justice in recent memory. The charges against President @realdonaldTrump were contrived and completely politically motivated. Shame on all those who participated in this farce prosecution."

The tweet at 2:18 p.m. prompted some online trolling from non-fans of Blakeman. Among them: "Respecting the rule of law goes for everyone," "Not a good look for you!" "Oh shut up and do something positive for Nassau County," and one supporting Trump bringing Blakeman into the administration, adding: "Anything to have you out of Nassau. Empty suit. Have accomplished nothing for us." Another: "Never bothered to fix the assessment system."

Blakeman’s Instagram posting, made at 3:15 p.m., was a bit more surprising. The county executive posted with his message a picture of a judge — but the wrong one.

Rather than showing state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, a resident of Nassau County no less, who issued the zero-penalty sentence on Friday, Blakeman’s posting had a photo of Arthur Engoron. That was the judge in New York State’s civil fraud lawsuit targeting The Trump Organization, finding the 45th president liable for fraud and ordering Trump last year to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties.

Blakeman routinely uses his official county account to post partisan, nongovernmental messages.

Trump and his circle took nasty out-of-court verbal shots at both Merchan and Engoron, perhaps causing some confusion.

On Friday, Trump faced Merchan by Zoom call. He essentially gave one of his rally speeches and called charges against him — upheld by a jury — the product of a "witch hunt."

The mix-up on Instagram comes at an ironic moment. This week, it was announced that Meta would end its fact-checking program for Facebook, Instagram and Threads. The move was seen as Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg bowing to Trump as the second MAGA term begins.

Maybe this is what happens when Meta stops fact-checking.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

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