Thursday, October 1, 2026
Bruce Blakeman has had four years to make his mark as Nassau County executive — and he believes he has delivered. From boosting public safety to cutting taxes and protecting the county’s quality of life, his administration has stayed focused on core priorities.
Blakeman, 70, spent his early political career in various offices in the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County. He was the commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 2001 to 2009, and was appointed to the Hempstead Town Board in 2015. Blakeman challenged then County Executive Laura Curran in 2021, and won.
As he seeks a second term, Blakeman told Herald reporters at a roundtable: “Now I have a record to run on.”
He acknowledged Las Vegas Sands’ withdrawal from its proposed casino project at the Nassau Hub, noting that alternative development plans are now progressing under a “Plan B” strategy. That alternate plan, Blakeman said, includes entertainment, residential, retail and hospitality components. Sands is now working with local developers to refine the new proposal, interviewing and vetting potential options, and Blakeman said he hoped to have information to present to the public in early January.
He expressed pride in the county’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the first of its kind in the U.S. — which is using a portion of the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow to hold detainees.
“I think the general public is very happy,” he said. “It’s made us a much safer county.”
In regard to the state’s takeover of Nassau University Medical Center, also in East Meadow, Blakeman said that in recent years, New York’s leadership has eliminated the hospital’s funding. It was headed in the right direction, he said, under its previous leadership, eliminating its financial deficit and maintaining its commitment to treating underserved populations.
He said he believed the state’s actions suggest an intent to either close the hospital or repurpose it as a mental health facility. “I think it’s nefarious,” he said, “and I think that it’s deleterious to the health of the community.”
Blakeman expressed support for his civilian deputy force, which he said is not a “militia.” Under state law, he said, county executives have the right to declare emergencies and deputize people for service.
“I created nothing more than a database of people who are willing to serve, who will be willing to train without getting paid,” he said. Most are military veterans or former law enforcement, he added, and will undergo firearms training in accordance with state law.
He also defended the county’s transgender sport ban, which prevents transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams at county-run parks and facilities. The bill, he said, received highly publicized support from Caitlin Jenner.
Blakeman also highlighted rising home values, the hiring of 600 new law enforcement officers, and seven Wall Street credit rating upgrades over the past four years — indicators, he said, of a structurally sound and fiscally responsible county budget.
Blakeman acknowledged that there is a need to address housing affordability for young people and senior citizens, but added that he disagreed with the state’s attempts to supersede local control.
“We’re densely populated, and we don’t have the land, and the public doesn’t want the density,” he said. “That’s why people move to the suburbs, and out of an urban environment.”
