Bruce_Blakeman

Bruce Blakeman

Bruce Blakeman

American politician

Bruce Arthur Blakeman (born October 2, 1955) is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the 10th County Executive of Nassau County, New York.[1] He was elected in the 2021 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Laura Curran. He previously served as the commissioner for the New York-New Jersey Port Authority as well as a Nassau County legislator and Hempstead town councilman.

Quick Facts 10th County Executive of Nassau County, Preceded by ...

Early life and education

Blakeman was born in Valley Stream, New York. Blakeman's father was Assemblyman Robert M. Blakeman. His mother, Betty, served in the Army and his father was a Merchant Marine and later Naval Reserve Officer. His brother is Brad Blakeman, who was Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush.[2]

Blakeman attended Valley Stream Central High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from Arizona State University and a Juris Doctor from the California Western School of Law.[3] Blakeman holds a certificate in Homeland Security management from Long Island University.[4]

Early career

Bruce Blakeman was first elected to the Hempstead Town Council in 1993.[5]

In 1993, federal district court judge Arthur D. Spatt ruled Nassau County's Board of Supervisors to be in violation of one man, one vote. The Board of Supervisors authorized the creation of the Nassau County Legislature as a successor to their body. Elections were held in November 1995, and Blakeman, at the time a Hempstead town Councilman, was elected to the first legislative class to represent the 7th district. He was also elected the body's first presiding officer.[6] The body took their seats on January 1, 1996.

In 1998, Blakeman was the Republican nominee for New York State Comptroller. He lost in the general election to incumbent Democrat Carl McCall.

During a particularly bad election year for Nassau County Republicans, Blakeman lost his seat in the Legislature in the election of November 1999 to Jeff Toback, and the Republicans lost the majority.

In June 2001, Blakeman was appointed by Governor George Pataki as a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He held that position until 2009.[7][8] He was a commissioner during the September 11th attacks.[relevant?]

In 2007, as a member of the New York law firm Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Greenberg, Formato & Einige, Blakeman brokered the purchase of 52 acres of land in Melville by Canon USA for the construction of new headquarters.[9] About 1,200 people worked at their old Lake Success offices at the time. Previous attempts to move their headquarters to Westbury and Brookville were unsuccessful, and Canon was expected to move out of state if the deal fell through.[10] Long Island Business News reported that Blakeman received a "multimillion-dollar" commission for the sale.[11]

In the 2010 special election, Blakeman ran for United States Senate, but lost the Republican primary to former congressman Joe DioGuardi. In 2014, Blakeman ran for the 4th congressional district, after incumbent Carolyn McCarthy announced her retirement.[12] He won the Republican nomination, but was defeated 53% to 47% in the general election by Democrat Kathleen Rice.

Hempstead Town Councilman

In January 2015, Blakeman was appointed to the Hempstead Town Council, replacing James Darcy[13][5] after previously serving on the Hempstead Town Council from 1993 to 1995.[5]

In 2017, Blakeman joined fellow Republican councilwoman Erin King-Sweeney in endorsing Democratic challenger Laura Gillen in the race for Hempstead Town Supervisor.[14] Gillen, who ran against incumbent Town Supervisor Republican Anthony Santino, went on to win the election, becoming the first Democratic Hempstead Town Supervisor in over 100 years.[15] Gillen named Blakeman Deputy Town Supervisor.[16][17]

In 2019, Blakeman and King-Sweeney endorsed Republican Receiver of Taxes Donald X. Clavin Jr. against Democratic Town Supervisor Laura Gillen for Town Supervisor.[18] Clavin went on to win against Gillen.[19]

Blakeman was succeeded on the Hempstead town council by Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Miller.[20]

Nassau County Executive

In March 2021, Blakeman was chosen by Nassau Republicans to run against incumbent Democratic Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.[21] In the 2021 election he squeaked by with 50.35% of the vote.[22]

On September 19, 2022, Blakeman introduced his annual budget proposal. This proposal did not raise nor lower taxes, and added nearly 100 additional police and law enforcement jobs to the County payroll.[23]

On January 11, 2023, Blakeman joined Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Cairo and other elected officials to call for the resignation of Congressman George Santos. Blakeman pledged not to work with Santos, criticizing him for lying about his resume, and falsely claiming his grandparents were Holocaust survivors.[24][25]

COVID mandates

Before taking office, Blakeman pledged to fight actions imposed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic, such as the face mask mandate in public school districts and public places, including businesses. On January 6, 2022, he signed an executive order making masks optional. After a Nassau County Supreme Court Justice declared Governor Hochul's mask mandate unconstitutional, Blakeman pushed for all local mandates be made optional. However, the New York Court of Appeals stayed the ruling pending appeal.[26] Blakeman also refused to support a vaccine mandate for county workers.[27]

Bail Reform

After taking office, Blakeman signed an Executive Order directing the Nassau County PD to record the number of criminals released under the Bail Reform law passed under former Governor Andrew Cuomo. He has since called for the repeal of such bail reform law, citing statistics showing over 9,000 Nassau criminals being released and committing new crimes once released, as well as the general uptick in middle-of-the-night robberies of people's vehicles.[28]

On March 31, 2023, in response to the state legislature's not repealing bail reform, Blakeman created a new Nassau County Police unit modeled after New York City's Hercules team, to help deter crime and decrease response times. Blakeman Split the county up into four quadrants, and assigned 4 teams of five cars per quadrant who patrol with their lights on, traveling under the speed limit to increase visibility.[29][30]

Ukraine

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Blakeman helped conduct a rifle drive which resulted in the collection of 60 rifles for Ukraine at a Nassau County gun shop. At the time it was unclear how the rifles would be sent to Ukraine: a Homeland Security said that a weapons shipment would have to be approved by the Department of State. A couple weeks later, the Florida gun manufacturer Kel-Tec agreed to deliver the donated guns to Ukraine as part of a larger shipment of 400 weapons.[31][32]

Nassau Coliseum

Blakeman is a proponent of a lease from Nassau County to the Las Vegas Sands entertainment company to redevelop the site of the Nassau Coliseum, including the construction of a casino.[33] The deal passed the Nassau County Legislature with a vote of 17-1 with one recusal to transfer the Coliseum lease to the Sands.[34] Hofstra University filed suit against the deal, claiming that the county violated the state open meetings law by not adequately providing enough transparent, public hearings for the project. Hofstra had also been critical of the project due to possible increases in crime, traffic and gambling addiction. On November 10, 2023, a state judge ruled in Hofstra's favor and struck down the deal. Barring a reversal on appeal, the County would have to re-initiate the process and hold more thorough hearings and re-vote in order to continue with the casino initiative.[35]

On January 17, 2024, Blakeman and Nassau Legislative Presiding Officer Howard Kopel announced the issuance of subpoenas to Hofstra University President Susan Poser. Blakeman and Kopel accused Poser of colluding with Hard Rock International, a direct competitor for the casino license. Hard Rock and Hofstra stated that neither had been in touch with the other. Hofstra described the subpoenas as retaliatory and an "attempt to distract and impede a fair and open process."[35][36][37][38]

Support for Daniel Penny

On May 24, 2023, Blakeman held a rally and press conference in Manhattan in support of West Islip resident Daniel Penny. Penny, a former marine, was arrested by the NYPD on a charge of fatally choking Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was allegedly acting in a threatening manner, aboard a New York City subway train on May 1 in Chinatown.[39][40] Over the course of the rally, 3 counter-demonstrators were arrested.[39][40]

Viral Water Balloon Video

While walking in the annual Stewart Manor 4 July parade, a 10-year-old girl, threw a water balloon at Blakeman from 100 feet away striking him in the head. It is a long-standing tradition to throw water balloons at fire engines, and politicians at this parade.[41][42]

Blakeman obtained a video of the strike and posted it across social media with the caption "The Mets and Yankees could certainly use her". The video immediately went viral, having been seen more than 40 million times across all platforms.[43]

Blakeman was able to locate the girl, 10 year old Alexa Cardona from Franklin Square, NY and her family, and worked with New York Yankees President Randy Levine to bring her to a Yankee game and enjoy watching batting practice from the field.[43][42]

Immigration

On August 16, 2023, Democratic Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said Nassau Coliseum should be among the options for housing some of the thousands of migrants currently in New York City. During a Media availability, Blakeman responded to Richards' claim saying "Let me make it clear — one more time — Nassau County is not a sanctuary county. We have no plans to have any migrant program here in Nassau County,".[44]

One week Later, Governor Hochul said she would not force counties to shelter migrants saying "...we cannot, and will not, force other parts of our state to shelter migrants. Nor are we going to be asking these migrants to move to other parts of the state against their will," [45][46]

War in Israel

Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, on October 11, Blakeman held a rally in support of Israel at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theater in Eisenhower Park. 6,000 people were reported to have attended. Aid for Israeli Defense Force soldiers was collected at the rally.[47][48] On November 28, 2023, Blakeman called for the resignation of Susan Poser, president of Hofstra University, over a letter she sent to the Hofstra community about the Hamas attacks in Israel. Blakeman accused Poser, who is Jewish, of anti-semitism.[49][50]

Transgender women at county sports facilities

On February 22, 2024, Blakeman issued an executive order banning women's sports teams that include transgender women from using county facilities. The ban applies to youth, college, and professional sports. Sports teams including transgender men were not targeted. In a press conference beforehand, Blakeman repeatedly referred to transgender women as "bullies" and "biological males," and recommended that they join men's or co-ed teams instead. LGBTQ advocates condemned the order as discriminatory and illegal under state law, and accused Blakeman of using the controversy over transgender people in sports for self-promotion. Governor Kathy Hochul spoke out against the order, and state attorney general Letitia James and the NYCLU said they were reviewing legal options.[51][52] In March the Long Island Roller Rebels, represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union, filed suit against Blakeman over the order.[53]

Personal life

Blakeman married Segal Magori Blakeman in 2015.[54] He was previously married to Nancy Shevell, who is now married to Paul McCartney of The Beatles. He has one son, Arlen,[55] and two step children, Ariel and Avi. Blakeman is the first Jewish Nassau County Executive. He is a member of the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach, a Modern Orthodox synagogue.[56]

His nephew, NYS Court Officer Tommy Jurgens, was killed in the line of duty on 9/11 while assisting in the evacuation of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center. Blakeman provided a DNA sample to identify his nephew's remains.[57]

References

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