Nassau County Government and gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman took a shot at Gov. Kathy Hochul throughout his State of the County handle Monday whereas touting his anti-crime and pro-ICE insurance policies.
Blakeman, a Trump ally set to face off towards Hochul in November, boasted that Nassau is “not a sanctuary county” the place native legislation enforcement limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities, whereas crowing about joint space operations with federal brokers that he mentioned helped take away hundreds of “prison” migrants from the streets.
He offered his administration’s hardline stance on immigration and public security because the mannequin he would undertake statewide if elected to exchange the Democratic Hochul as New York’s prime pol.
“I’ve made it a precedence to make sure that taxpayer {dollars} usually are not used to assist migrant applications in Nassau, and I’ve repeatedly known as on Gov. Hochul to cancel over $6 billion in state taxpayer funds which have been wasted on individuals who haven’t earned a factor,” Blakeman informed the county legislature, referring to funding spent to offer housing, meals, education and different companies to migrants and their households.
He additionally highlighted the native drop in crime and hundreds of latest police hires within the county.
Blakeman detailed that Nassau’s main crime price fell by about 7% and that overdoses have dropped round 10%, in accordance with information from county police.
He mentioned cooperation with ICE has resulted within the elimination of greater than 2,000 undocumented migrants for the reason that begin of final yr.
Blakeman claimed lots of these migrants had been accused of crimes resembling tried homicide, rape, theft and human trafficking.
He insisted that the law-enforcement effort is narrowly centered on people accused of committing crimes — though information from the feds revealed about 60% of ICE detainees in Nassau don’t have any prison report.
“As your county government, guaranteeing the protection of each resident is all the time my prime precedence,” Blakeman mentioned in his speech.
Past immigration and public security, Blakeman defended the county’s ban on transgender athletes competing in ladies’ sports activities and praised efforts to protect Native American-themed college mascots in native communities resembling Massapequa and Wantagh.
“I’ve been a staunch ally within the battle to maintain Massapequa the Chiefs and Wantagh the Warriors, resisting Albany’s efforts to erase our historical past,” he mentioned.
The exec additionally highlighted what he described because the county’s broader success fiscally, noting that his administration has not raised property taxes in 4 years, obtained a number of bond score upgrades and even eradicated deliberate tax hikes from the earlier admininstration.
“Our county continues to prosper economically attributable to our fiscally conservative choices,” Blakeman mentioned.
“Even [Democratic] State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli acknowledges that Nassau County is underneath no fiscal stress,” he added.
However Nassau Democrats blasted Blakeman’s handle as political theater and accused the county government of failing to ship on key guarantees whereas prioritizing his gubernatorial ambitions.
“Tonight, all of us heard a sophisticated speech with a whole lot of guarantees,” Nassau County Legislature Minority Chief Delia DeRiggi-Whitton mentioned in a rebuttal after the handle.
“Throughout Mr. Blakeman’s final marketing campaign, he promised that his solely focus was serving the individuals of Nassau County,” the foe mentioned.
:Actually the day after being re-elected, he started speaking about operating for governor,” DeRiggi-Whitton mentioned, including that Blakeman is “some of the partisan elected officers I’ve ever handled.”
DeRiggi-Whitton criticized Blakeman’s price range choices and claimed requests from the Democratic caucus to fulfill on key infrastructure points resembling getting older roads, sewers and parks have largely gone ignored due to partisanship.
Some Democratic-led districts have in the meantime struggled to obtain already accepted public-safety grants that she mentioned first responders are ready on.
“We’re all very proud that, underneath [Democratic previous] County Government Laura Curran, Nassau turned the most secure county in America — and we have to make it possible for it stays that means for the longer term,” DeRiggi-Whitton mentioned.
