What’s with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and musicians?

In June, Blakeman’s administration filed a suit to stop an outdoor concert that was part of an annual hip-hop event scheduled at UBS Arena in Elmont – three days before the event that draws a predominantly black audience was scheduled to take place

Nassau County officials backed off the filing after concert organizers said they would contribute $80,000 to cover the cost of the county Police Department’s role in policing the event.

The county’s court filing, which came more than a month after the concert was announced, cited security concerns, such as “riot-like behavior,” past “nuisances” and incendiary remarks against police at previous Summer Jams—none of which took place in Nassau.

Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages (D–Lawrence) had a different explanation for the proposed ban, its timing and the language of the country’s filing: race.

Solages, one of four people of color in the Nassau County Legislature, said he believed that Blakeman’s “primary motivation was to exploit this event so that he can score political points with the extreme MAGA wing of his base in filing the complaint.

Just three months later, Blakeman has taken on two other music genres—folk rock and pop rock—after organizers of the annual ‘Just Wild About Harry’ Tribute Concert complained about signs posted at the Eisenhower Park venue to promote the event.

Blakeman’s name, they said, was much larger than that of Harry Chapin, the person being honored.

Judith Zweiman, a musician and singer-songwriter who helps organize the event, said there have been “county executives in the course of the time we have done this show for and there’s never been humongous signs all over the parks and all over the stage bearing their names.”

Stuart Markus, a singer-songwriter from Merrick and another concert organizer, said many individuals involved in the tribute concert, expressed “deep revulsion and consternation” about the large signs with Blakeman’s name. They believed, he said, Blakeman was making the event more about him than Chapin.

Markus expressed his concerns about the signage in a letter to Nassau County Parks Commissioner Darcy Maccarone Belyea, noting that Chapin’s name was omitted from the concert’s television and social media advertising.

It doesn’t take a Madison Avenue Mad Men advertising genius to figure out that ads for a concert honoring Harry Chapin should mention his name.

Blakeman’s name, on the other hand, was prominently mentioned in all concert materials. As it has been on promotions for all taxpayer-funded Nassau County events.

The county website guide to concerts and movies is headlined Bruce Blakeman in large letters and Nassau County Executive below in smaller letters. A smaller Nassau County logo sits atop Blakeman’s name.

All the photos in the six-page section feature Blakeman.

Unmentioned are the tens of thousands of Nassau County residents whose taxes actually pay for events for which Blakeman is taking credit.

Markus and his fellow musicians ultimately canceled the annual event honoring Chapin but not before Blakeman, who was the Nassau County Republican Party’s liaison to Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, went full MAGA.

In a letter to Markus, Blakeman touted his efforts to repair the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre and acknowledged Chapin’s talent as a singer and songwriter and his work to end World Hunger.

But then he went on to praise himself, saying, “I never held a grudge he (Chapin) was a Democrat operative.”

A “Democrat operative?”

A folk musician who lived in Huntington, Chapin was known for writing the hits “Cats in the Cradle” and “Taxi.” He then used his fame as a musician to fight to end world hunger.

He was a key participant in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977 and founded Long Island’s first food bank, Long Island Cares

He would die in 1981 in a fiery crash on the Long Island Expressway en route to a free benefit concert at Eisenhower Park at the venue that now bears his name.

Yes, Chapin was a delegate for Arizona Congressman Mo Udall in his unsuccessful race against Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and supported various liberal causes.

But a Democratic operative? Please.

Blakeman then went on to take aim at Markus.

“Unlike you, I celebrate political differences as part of the American process,” Blakeman wrote.

Earlier in the letter, Blakeman said Markus’s real issue is “you don’t like the fact that a Republican was elected county executive,” noting that Markus had referred to him as a member of the Republican Party in his letter to the parks commissioner.

Markus said he has previously been a registered Republican and is a historical “ticket splitter” when voting.

But he acknowledged that politics played a role in his decision not to participate in the concert.

“Knowing that so much of the Republican agenda has been pushing tax cuts for the wealthiest and the corporations, and cutting programs that help poor people put food on the table like the child care tax credit, it feels dishonest and dirty,” Markus said.

But really? Is that the way Nassau’s county executive should speak to a singer-songwriter from Merrick who is part of an annual effort to honor Chapin and aid his efforts to eliminate hunger on Long Island?

Blakeman is taking a page from the Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis playbook.

Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview) has called for an end to Blakeman’s ”rampant campaign of taxpayer-funded self-promotion.”

We agree. Few politicians don’t try to grab credit for events and projects – these days even those they voted against. But there needs to be some control over exploiting projects and programs on the taxpayer dime.

Drucker is also correct in calling for Nassau County to officially make July 16, the date of Chapin’s death, Harry Chapin Day in the county. This proposal has not yet been acted upon by the Legislative majority.

“Harry Chapin was one of the greatest humanitarians who ever graced Long Island’s shores,” Drucker said. “County Executive Blakeman’s self-serving, vindictive dismissal of Harry as just a political operative grossly mischaracterizes the significance of his contributions to our society and the ongoing fight against hunger.”

Right again.

Blakeman concluded his letter to Markus by stating that he would continue to promote the event as it is the right thing to do, not to win Markus’s approval.

But Markus put the onus on Blakeman.

“It is up to him to decide which is more important to him: honoring and promoting Harry’s legacy and mission or promoting his own name,” Markus said.

The trend so far has been for Blakeman to place personal promotion and MAGA politics over the public good. We can only hope that Blakeman changes his act.