Edited by: TJVNews.com

In a dramatic and unexpected move Tuesday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced he would refuse to nominate any representatives to the board of Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC), accusing New York Governor Kathy Hochul of orchestrating an “illegal” state takeover aimed at shuttering the institution. The surprise declaration was made during a press conference held just steps from the beleaguered hospital’s front entrance.

 Flanked by NUMC staff, Blakeman, a Republican, delivered a pointed rebuke of the Democratic governor’s actions, declaring, “Instead of being partners, they want us to be puppets. That ain’t happening.” His remarks, covered extensively by The New York Post, mark the latest escalation in a bitter political standoff over the future of one of Long Island’s last remaining public hospitals.

 Blakeman had been expected to announce his appointees to NUMC’s board following the mass resignation of ten board members last week. Instead, he declared he would not cooperate with what he called Governor Hochul’s “puppet board,” accusing the state of intentionally engineering a financial crisis to justify seizing control of the facility.

 “The state blatantly passed a law, which is illegal, to take over Nassau University Medical Center with the sole interest in closing the hospital as we know it,” Blakeman said. He insisted the state’s long-term plan was to gut NUMC’s operations and convert it into a behavioral health center — an assertion denied by state officials, yet supported by a 2024 letter obtained by The New York Post, signed by Hochul herself, in which the Department of Health suggested NUMC could only remain fiscally viable by cutting staff and departments and focusing on behavioral health.

 “This is nothing more than a cover-up,” Blakeman charged, accusing Albany of “defunding this hospital with the intent to take it over” and fabricating the appearance of financial distress. He pointed to the work of former NUMC chairman Matthew Bruderman, who has filed a lawsuit alleging that the state deliberately withheld funding in a scheme that has since triggered a federal investigation. “Without any transition plan, without any coordination whatsoever, this is a power grab,” Blakeman said, as quoted by The New York Post.

 The state, however, has painted a starkly different picture. Gordon Tepper, Hochul’s Long Island spokesperson, dismissed Blakeman’s accusations as “ridiculous,” telling The Post that the board’s restructuring “is the best possible news for anyone who relies on NUMC.” Tepper laid blame for the hospital’s chronic fiscal instability on “gross mismanagement at the hospital for years under the County’s watch,” asserting that the state’s intervention was a necessary rescue.

 The political rupture comes as NUMC was reportedly on the brink of a financial turnaround. Blakeman and hospital administrators have said that under new leadership and without laying off workers or shuttering departments, NUMC is projected to close the year with an $11 million surplus — a stunning reversal from years in the red. As The New York Post reported, NUMC received $180 million in state subsidies in 2021, but no such funding has arrived in 2024 or 2025 — a claim Hochul’s office disputes.

 Despite the partisan divide, appointments to NUMC’s restructured board are moving forward. A day after the board resignations, Hochul appointed Stuart Rabinowitz, the former president of Hofstra University, as board chair. She also selected three additional members. Under the new arrangement, the governor gets six appointees in total — including one each recommended by the Assembly Speaker and Senate Majority Leader.