Add The New York Post on Google He got cut for Kat!
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman claims he was axed from the lineup of speakers for the upcoming West Indian Day parade breakfast to make room for Democrats.
Sources close to Blakeman’s camp said he was invited to give remarks at the annual breakfast before the parade on Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway — but he was told no thanks once opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed she’d join the roster which already includes lefty darling Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The alleged snub — which organizers denied — comes weeks after state Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo (D-Bronx) refused to pass the mic to Blakeman during remarks at the Dominican Day parade in August.
GOP Candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman claims he was “blocked” from speaking ahead of next week’s West Indian Day Parade. Michael Nigro “Kathy Hochul blocked me from the Dominican Day Parade, and now the West Indian Day Parade,” said Blakeman, who is now serving as the elected Nassau County executive.
“As the polls tighten and more New Yorkers learn about her tax-hiking record, it’s clear why she doesn’t want me to have a mic,” the Republican added. “No matter what she does, she can’t keep me from making the case for a better and more affordable New York.”
A parade organizer who spoke with The Post flatly denied that Blakeman had ever been invited to speak, nor had he been scheduled to deliver remarks.
The organizer said the group contacted Blakeman operative Menashe Shapiro last week to inform him that they were limiting the speaking program to statewide and citywide elected officials and three local Brooklyn reps, after NYPD asked they limit the breakfast to make sure the parade steps off on-time.
Blakeman had purchased a table at the event and is scheduled to attend even though he’s excluded from the list of speakers. Attendees are also told not to make political statements along the ride as the parade is nonpartisan.
Hochul and Mamdani are slated to speak, as is city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. City Council Speaker Julie Menin, City Comptroller Mark Levine, and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, according to the organizers.
Hochul has marched in the West Indian Day Parade as governor every year since it returned from its COVID-19 hiatus in 2022.
An organizer for the parade flatly denied that Blakeman had ever been invited to speak, and that he was told last week that the speaking program was being limited to mostly statewide and citywide elected officials. Paul Martinka for NY Post A spokesperson shrugged off Blakeman’s claims.
“No, the governor’s team didn’t block Bruce Blakeman from speaking – this is as fake as his AI campaign ads,” Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki said.
Hochul is seeking her second full four-year term after the former lieutenant governor replaced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021.
