Republican nominee for New York governor Bruce Blakeman savaged Gov. Kathy Hochul in an exclusive, 20-minute interview with The Post’s Rich Calder this week, branding her a Mamdani “tool.” The 71-year-old Nassau County Executive vowed to reverse the damage the left has done, using political muscle to force the state Legislature and City Hall to kill congestion pricing, flood the streets with cops, and slash income taxes. He also revealed his behind-the-scenes play to bring the New York Jets back to Long Island. Here are the excerpts of the Q & A:
Q: During Tuesday’s debate, Gov. Hochul brought up President Trump’s name roughly 20 times . . . trying to tie his unpopularity in Democratic New York State – especially NYC – to you. What are you doing to ensure this “Trump the Boogeyman” strategy fails?
A: Well, I have a history of not taking orders from anybody and bucking my party when I thought they were wrong. Donald Trump is my friend. He has supported me, and I have supported him. But the decisions that I make will be decisions made solely in what I feel is in the best interest of New Yorkers. Kathy Hochul has nothing else to talk about but Donald Trump because she has a record of failure and misery with high taxes, high utility bills, and lawlessness in our community.
Q: So you feel she is using Trump to shift focus away from criticism she’s facing over her own policies?
A: There’s no question about it. You don’t see anything that she puts out in this campaign about her record, and she doesn’t attack my record because it’s impossible to attack a record where I cut taxes, haven’t raised taxes one penny in five years, seven bond upgrades, four budget surpluses, and US News & World Report said I have the safest county in America.
Q: You’ve repeatedly said you plan to cut New York’s utility bills in half, if governor. I know you’ve accused Hochul of driving up bills through a “green energy scam” and vowed to let New York produce more gas through fracking, but do you have a clear plan for cutting bills that drastically?
A: Well, let’s take Pennsylvania, for example. Pennsylvania doesn’t have the green energy scam, and they allow for the extraction of natural gas, and their bills are more than 50% less than New York. So, my strategy is as follows: get rid of the green energy scam; increase the supply of energy, including natural gas. By increasing the supply, we will be able to bring down utility costs to half of what they are now.
Q: Why do you feel the governor, who calls herself a moderate Democrat, is so leery to disavow socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani on controversial remarks and stances?
A: Well, I wouldn’t call her moderate. She’s an extremist. I don’t care what she calls herself, but let’s look at her record. The highest taxes in the United States. That’s extreme. Utility bills are 70% higher than the national average. That’s extreme. Backing Zohran Mamdani, who is antisemitic, anti-Christian, and anti-American. That’s extreme. Campaigning with AOC [Rep. Alexandia Ocasio-Cortez], who’s part of the hate America crowd in the Democratic Party. That’s extreme. So, I think her record is one of being an extreme, polarizing leader in our state. I want to be a unifier, unite people with the common purpose of making it more affordable and safer to live in New York.
Q: In January, you told me the governor’s race would be an existential battle to save New York’s soul from socialism? Is that something you still agree with?
A: I think it is more urgent now than ever. When I spoke to you in January, Zohran Mamdani had just taken office. And now we’ve seen that the policies he wants to impose in New York City, and the policies that Kathy Hochul wants to impose in New York State, are policies that will ruin our economy and create unsafe communities.
Q: Is Hochul a closet communist or socialist? Why or why not?
A: I think Hochul is a useful tool of the socialist Democratic, anti-American movement in her party and that she is now taking orders from Zohran Mamdani, who clearly is the Democratic Party leader.
Q: How are you going to stop the mass exodus of New Yorkers moving to Florida and other parts of the United States?
A: The same way I did in my county. People are moving into my county — not out of my county … because I’ve kept taxes down and made it the safest county in America. People like the prosperity I’ve created. I’ve created good jobs with good benefits. I’ve created economic activity and an exciting environment and vibrant atmosphere where people want to live rather than the depressing, high-tax, high-utility rates, and low economic outlook that Kathy Hochul has created here in New York, making us [No.] 50 — dead last — in economic outlook in all of America. That is a national embarrassment for the once great Empire State.
Q: During the campaign you’ve pledged a sweeping statewide ban on transgender students in girls’ school bathrooms and locker rooms, promised to abolish congestion pricing and repeal cashless bail laws. These are all plans that a governor can’t do on their own and would require support from the state Legislature. Considering the far left controls the Senate and Assembly, why do you think you can accomplish this?
A: Well, I think we’ll elect more Republican senators and assembly members. And the governor has tremendous leverage over the budget process. So, there are things that the Democrat legislators will want. And there are things that I want, and if I don’t get what I want, they’re not getting what they want.
Q: In April, you laid out your plan for your first 100 days as governor to me. It included a bombshell plan that would effectively wipe out state income taxes for many households. Once again, wouldn’t you also need Legislature approval to do this, and do you feel the far-left politicians running it would get on board?
A: Yeah, I feel very confident because when I win a big victory, politicians get the message, and they will know that people are voting for tax relief. They’re voting for lower utility bills, and they’re voting for safer communities. So, I believe the members of the Legislature will get on board because they will understand that it is Kathy Hochul who has made it less affordable to live in this state, and that by just following her record is something that the electorate does not want.
Q: Do you think state Attorney General Letitia James can be impartial as special prosecutor to re-examine the “Cornell 7” sexual assault case based on her past statements in support of the victim?
A: Well, if you watched her debate with her [Republican] opponent Saritha Komatireddy, she basically said as attorney general she doesn’t follow the law or the facts, which was just unreal that she would say something like that as the attorney general of New York. I think that there are good prosecutors out there that should be handling this case, . . . [such as Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond] Tierney or [Nassau County District Attorney] Anne Donnelly . . . They’re experienced prosecutors. I would have appointed them — not somebody who has prejudged the case and has no understanding of how the attorney general’s office should operate.
Q: What will you specifically propose for New York City to make it safer?
A: I will force Zohran Mamdani to fill the vacancies that have occurred with all the retirements and people leaving the Police Department in the last year, because they don’t feel [he] has their back . . . No. 2, I would force him to enforce the law, not be selective about enforcing the law — enforce the law across the board — and I will not let him make our communities less safe. And I will not let him target any community with what I feel is threatening rhetoric that makes people feel less safe, particularly in the Jewish communities of New York.
Q: What can you do to make him buckle if he doesn’t want to agree?
A: Well, again, the governor has tremendous control over the budget. The governor can take over various departments of city government, and declare an emergency, so there’s a number of things that I can do. But my sense is that once I’m elected, Zohran Mamdani will get the message, and he will start to behave himself.
Q: Your political ally, Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan, has used surveillance cameras to improve safety at Madison Square Garden, and we recently reported that you made Nassau “one of America’s most surveilled” counties by installing Flock cameras that use AI every 9.5 miles. Would you use the same approach . . . statewide as governor, and have you ever talked to Dolan about surveillance?
A: No, I’ve never talked to him about surveillance. We use technology in Nassau County to stop crime and to solve crime. And we have strict requirements on the use of that technology. It can’t be used for personal reasons. It can’t be used for political reasons. So, we have guardrails on how that information can be disseminated, and it can only be disseminated to actually thwart a potential crime, or to solve a crime that’s already occurred.
Q: Would you have any interest in doing this on a wider reach statewide?
A: Well, obviously, if the technology works, yes. First of all, you have to have a lot of different approaches. It is called the layer approach to homeland security and law enforcement. No. 1, you have to have enough personnel to do the job. No. 2, you have to harden assets. You do that with construction and engineering. No. 3, you need to use technology, such as cameras, facial recognition, and other technology that we use. And No. 4, intelligence gathering. You have to get intelligence that you share with other law enforcement agencies, so that you can stop a crime or a terrorist attack before it occurs.
Q: There’s been numerous reports that your campaign coffers are historically low. How helpful was the $3 million boost provided by the SuperPAC funded through Dolan’s companies to spread your message, and are there any other such large PAC funds coming in from other groups?
A: Well, I have no control over those funds, pursuant to law. We are not allowed to coordinate. I am grateful that there are people out there that support my positions and my candidacy, but we’re doing just fine raising money. I have been matching Kathy Hochul pretty much dollar for dollar, and I will continue to do so. We are raising money at a faster clip now than we ever have because people can smell my victory. So, I’m not concerned at all. We’ve been on social media and TV and radio and streaming and direct mail and newsprint, for this whole campaign, and we are involved in a very, very robust campaign that will lead us to victory.
Q: Do you feel President Trump and national Republicans have supported you adequately in this race?
A: Yes, I believe that they have supported me adequately, and I welcome everybody’s support, just like I welcome the endorsement of actor Debra Messing, a liberal Democrat, who trusts me to make safer communities and improve quality of life; like Bonnie Lautenberg, a lifelong Democrat, whose husband, Frank, was in the United States Senate and a pillar of the Democratic Party; like Bob Holden, who was a Democrat city council member, who feels that Kathy Hochul’s policies are destroying communities in Queens. So I have a lot of support, broad-based support, and feel that all this support has come together. I’m peaking. The polls are virtually dead even, and I expect to be the next governor.
Q: A Pollfinity survey released Tuesday says your campaign has narrowed the gap behind Hochul to just 3 points, meaning you’ve gained serious ground in the past few months. Any thoughts as to why?
A: Our message is resonating. People across the board feel miserable with Kathy Hochul as their governor; they want a governor that will make them happy again. They want a governor that will put New Yorkers first. They want a governor that will create good jobs with good benefits. They want a governor that will cut their taxes, cut their utility bills in half and bring safer communities.
Q: Are you surprised President Trump continues to embrace the idea of working with Mayor Mamdani?
A: I think government officials have to work with each other, whether they like them or not, and whether they like their policies or not. So, I have to deal with Democratic government officials all the time, so I have no problem with that.
Q: Do you feel Hochul played any role in the push to get Andrew Cuomo to resign as governor during the 2021 sexual harassment scandal? As you know, Cuomo has denied the allegations made by his accusers.
A: I think Kathy Hochul was probably one of the first people to call for his resignation before there was any due process, which was completely self-serving because she knew [as lieutenant governor] that if he resigned, she would become governor. So, I found that her actions were unfair and not dignified.
Q: But she never actually did this publicly, so I’m saying do you think she did it behind the scenes? She did not do that publicly.
A: I believe she publicly called for his resignation.
Q: Hochul spearheaded the public-private partnership to build her beloved Buffalo Bills a new $2.1 billion home. Is there anything you can do as governor to get my Jets out of New Jersey and back where they belong — in New York?
A: Well, I’ve made a public offer to the ownership and the leadership of the New York Jets that we have a site [near the Nassau] Coliseum that we think would be perfect for a football stadium. And basically, to date, the Jets have indicated that they’re perfectly comfortable where they are.
Q: The team’s history and fan base is tied to Long Island and Queens – not New Jersey. It trained for decades at Hofstra University near the Coliseum and once played at the old Shea Stadium. Is it safe to say that Long Island or Queens would be excellent homes for them?
A: I think it would be an excellent home for them.
Q: Are there any other campaign platforms or major issues facing New Yorkers that you’d like to address?
A: I think we’ve got to get back to American values. We’ve lost those values in Albany. The Democratic Party now is a party of leaders who hate America, and I’ve dealt with a lot of Democrats over the years, whether it be Ed Koch, or Hugh Carey, or Mario Cuomo, or even Bill Clinton. The one thing I knew about them: we may not agree on a lot of issues, but I knew they loved America. You can’t say the same thing about Zohran Mamdani or even AOC, and [Congressional candidates Darializa Avila] Chevalier and Brad Lander. Kathy Hochul is completely subservient to them, and New Yorkers find that very troubling, and I believe that New Yorkers will vote for me either on the Republican or Conservative Party lines, or if they don’t wish to do that, we have the “Affordable” party line, so they can vote on that line and still be able to say they haven’t voted for a Republican. I’m a common sense, pro-choice Republican with a history of getting results, cutting taxes, and making communities safe. And I will match my record against Kathy Hochul’s any day of the week, because my goal as governor is to make people happy, and she’s done nothing but make New Yorkers miserable.