Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is betting that tax cuts and property-rights promises can carry him past Governor Kathy Hochul in November, unveiling a new platform Friday that takes aim at New York City's pied-à-terre tax, a stalled property-sale law, and the city's specialized high school admissions system. Blakeman called it the “Protect the New York Dream” initiative, framing it as a direct answer to what he describes as a wave of socialist policies emanating from Albany and City Hall.
The rollout, reported by the New York Post, lands just a day after President Donald Trump appeared alongside Blakeman at the Mack Center in Garden City, where Trump praised the Nassau executive's public safety record and his cooperation with federal immigration officials, according to CBS News. Democratic opponents held a counter-rally outside the venue during Trump's visit. The timing places Blakeman's economic pitch squarely on the heels of a high-profile show of national GOP support, even as his campaign works to keep the race focused on affordability rather than his ties to the president.
Tax Cuts Aimed At the Middle Class
At the center of Blakeman's platform is a promise to eliminate state income tax on the first $50,000 earned annually by single filers and the first $100,000 earned by joint filers, per the New York Post. He is also pledging an across-the-board 10 percent income-tax cut for New Yorkers earning under $250,000. Under current law, the state taxes personal income across nine brackets ranging from 3.90 percent to 10.90 percent, with single filers earning up to $50,000 paying rates between 3.90 percent and 5.50 percent, according to Teamed Global.
Blakeman has pledged to deliver what he calls historic financial relief within his first 100 days in office if elected. He argues that progressive local agendas are pushing businesses and taxpayers to relocate to Florida, a claim he has made repeatedly on the campaign trail. Hochul's campaign, meanwhile, points to her own record of cutting middle-class taxes to historic lows and trimming red tape to lower housing costs, according to the same Post report.
Targeting the Pied-à-Terre Tax and COPA
Blakeman's agenda also takes direct aim at New York City's new pied-à-terre tax, an annual surcharge on non-primary city residences valued at $5 million or more that took effect July 1 and is projected to generate $500 million a year, per the New York State FY2027 budget agreement detailed by Reed Corporation. Per the Post, Blakeman contends Hochul offered little to no opposition to the tax, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani championed it.
He is also opposing the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, which he says is designed to control how private property is sold. The measure, reintroduced in the City Council in May with majority support after former Mayor Eric Adams vetoed an earlier version in December, would require select community land trusts and affordable-housing nonprofits to make first offers on residential buildings with at least three units, according to the NYC Community Land Initiative. The bill would require eligible organizations to match competing private-sector offers and would impose $30,000 fines on landlords who refuse, per the Post. Mamdani has signaled support for the revived measure, and Adrienne Adams — Hochul's running mate and a former City Council speaker — backs it as well.
A Fight Over Specialized High Schools
Blakeman has also pledged to protect New York City's specialized high schools, including Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn Tech, promising that students would be rewarded for academic excellence if he is elected and that educational standards would not be lowered under his administration. He has accused Mamdani of planning to phase out merit-based admissions, an allegation attributed to Blakeman rather than confirmed by Mamdani himself. Admissions to the schools have been governed since 1971 by the state's Hecht-Calandra Act, which mandates a single standardized exam as the sole admission factor, according to New York State Senate records; repeated legislative attempts to amend or repeal the statute have stalled in Albany. Blakeman also says he would protect and expand gifted-and-talented programs.
Hochul's record includes passing universal free school meals and enacting a bell-to-bell cell phone ban in schools, both cited by the Post as part of her broader case for reelection. Hochul spokesman Ryan Radulovacki dismissed Blakeman's platform, telling the Post that Blakeman is “100% MAGA,” a label the campaign is likely to keep repeating given Blakeman's appearance alongside Trump this week.
Where the Race Stands
The rollout comes as a Siena College poll released Tuesday showed Blakeman narrowing Hochul's lead to 10 percentage points statewide, with Hochul ahead 49 percent to 39 percent, according to the Siena Research Institute. Blakeman led Hochul 49 percent to 41 percent in downstate suburbs including Long Island, but trailed badly in New York City, 64 percent to 19 percent, per Newsday.
The same survey found voters favored Hochul over Blakeman on increasing affordable housing, 51 percent to 35 percent, and on cost-of-living issues, 48 percent to 41 percent — even though Blakeman outscored her on being seen as tough and in touch. That gap helps explain why affordability sits at the heart of Blakeman's new platform: it is precisely the terrain where polling shows him weakest against Hochul, even in the suburban areas where he otherwise leads.
Blakeman's Long Island Track Record
Blakeman's statewide pitch draws heavily on his tenure as Nassau County Executive, a post he has held since 2022. He enacted executive orders prohibiting sanctuary county policies and created roving police units known as Operation Overwatch, according to Nassau County government records, and he regularly contrasts Nassau's crime statistics with those of New York City on the campaign trail.
The affordability platform follows a string of other Blakeland proposals this year, including a push to return $2.4 billion from the state's climate fund to lower utility bills and a pledge to kill New York's BitLicense cryptocurrency regulation, as Hoodline previously reported. His campaign is also backed by a super PAC called Make it Cheaper, registered in June and run by former Lee Zeldin campaign treasurer Kristofer Graham, formed in part to help close a cash gap after Hochul held a 16-to-1 fundraising advantage over Blakeman earlier this year, according to City & State New York.
Blakeman is also running on an independent Vote Affordable ballot line, after his campaign submitted 66,345 signatures in May, well above the 45,000 required under state law. With the general election now less than three months away, Blakeman says the New York Dream is not dead and that he intends to fight to protect it, casting his campaign as a referendum on affordability, safety, and property rights for suburban and working-class voters alike.
