Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman addressed the county Legislature, municipal leadership and residents Monday, March 9, in Mineola, touting low crime, fiscal conservatism and support for federal immigration enforcement.
“I am happy to report that our county remains strong, and our future is bright,” he told the session in his State of the County address on Nassau.
Blakeman took the stage to “The Business” by Tiësto, and gave an optimistic speech emphasizing Nassau’s low crime and poverty rates.
He said Nassau is the most affordable county in New York State.
According to the Economic Policy Institute‘s comparisons of average living costs, however, Allegheny County is far more affordable than Nassau, with lower estimated costs for housing, food, childcare, healthcare, and taxes.
The institute said a family of four in Nassau needs almost $174,000 yearly compared to just over $105,000 annually for a family of the same size in Allegheny. It said that Queens County is also more affordable, with a family of four needing about $168,000 yearly.
Blakeman said the county is ranked the safest in the United States and credited law enforcement, the sheriff’s department, and the county police’s collaboration with federal immigration enforcement agencies.
He said violent crime across the county fell by around 10% last year and acknowledged recent police activity, including “the largest drug bust in county history” and the “largest gang takedown in our history.”
Blakeman has signed a 287(g) agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s ICE agency, meaning local law enforcement can cooperate with federal agents. The agreement has been widely protested on the island, and Gov. Kathy Hochul has introduced legislation to outlaw such agreements.
He said Nassau is not a sanctuary county and that ICE arrests have not occurred in schools, hospitals, churches or daycare centers.
“All arrests are targeted toward removing criminals,” Blakeman said about the ICE arrests.
According to Newsday, Nassau officials have jailed more immigrants with no criminal history than those who have a record. Schneps Media LI reported last year that more than 1,400 ICE detainees have been held in Nassau County jails.
Blakeman said one of his proudest achievements is his partnership with Tunnel to Towers, an organization that was founded after the 9/11 attacks to support veterans and first responders. His brother, Brad Blakeman, is on the board of the organization. Blakeman trumpeted the transfer of a deed for the Long Beach Motor Inn to Tunnel to Towers.
He said he will fight to keep Native American mascots in county high schools, which have increasingly been removed across the country in a turn against using such iconography.
New York State has banned such mascots, and schools in Massapequa and Wantagh have sought appeals and extensions in attempts to keep their mascots.
Blakeman also said he had enacted laws limiting protests at religious institutions.
“I recently signed a law preventing protesters from targeting churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship,” Blakeman said.
He touted a law banning transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports. The New York Civil Liberties Union is appealing the law, saying that it unlawfully discriminates. As of October 2025, it was upheld in court.
Just after Blakeman’s address, County Legislator and Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton issued a rebuttal that emphasized his freezing assessment rolls, and said Blakeman focuses on political posturing rather than meaningful action.
“Compare his promises to what he’s actually done, you will see the gaps,” she said. “He promised tax cuts. Not one has been delivered.”
“I have not raised taxes one penny in four years,” Blakeman said in the speech.
“Bruce Blakeman is making Nassau County less safe and more expensive, all in the hopes of keeping Donald Trump happy,” New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay S. Jacobs said. “Bruce Blakeman has cheered on Trump’s illegal tariff tax hikes and overseen the largest spike in violent crime in a decade, as he undermines law enforcement by enabling Trump’s ICE agents and allegedly stocking his own private militia with friends, family, and political patrons.”
