The ‘Piano Man’ Billy Joel has unintentionally found himself in the midst of a nasty Long Island political debate.
Dean Hart, a politician running for New York State Assembly in Long Island, is running on a platform which includes a proposal to erect a $1 million marble statue in front of Nassau Coliseum to honor the 67-year-old who will play at the re-opening of the stadium in April. Hart called out Republicans for not recognizing the iconic Long Island native.
“Next to Teddy Roosevelt, Long Island really doesn’t have a more famous or popular person than Billy Joel,” Hart said in the release. “I can’t think of a better way to unite Long Islanders than by erecting this marbled monument before Billy opens up the new Coliseum in April.”
Hart lobbed shots at Republican incumbent Michael Montesano, who failed at attempting to rename a state route after the singer. The democrat said Montesano “either impotent or is simply not trying.” Funny enough, Montesano claims Hart’s democrats were the ones who prevented the street from being named after the performer of Just the Way You Are.
“This is because he really has nothing else I guess, so he wants to pick on this,” Montesano told Politico. “I’ve never seen something like this before.”
Putting up a statue at Nassau is a nice idea, but Hart and Montesano need to stop using Joel while politically posturing to get votes. It’s all A Matter of Trust. I suggest putting on some Joel, stop fighting over something so arbitrary and focus on real issues that matters to voters.
