Billy Joel. | Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP Billy Joel an issue in Long Island Assembly race

ALBANY – For years, Glen Head Republican Michael Montesano has been one of the Assembly’s most vocal proponents of local musician Billy Joel.

Since 2014, Montesano has been the sponsor of legislation that would rename a state route in Oyster Bay “Billy Joel Boulevard.”


The bill has come under attack from some Democrats due to the fact that Joel is still alive. Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, for example, has said that street names should be reserved “for people who have made a contribution as a recognition posthumously.” Montesano has continually defended his bill from these critics, saying that Joel “has done a lot of public service to support his hometown area.”

But according to Democratic challenger Dean Hart, the fact the bill hasn’t passed yet is a sign Montesano isn’t working hard enough for the people of Long Island.

“My opponent is either impotent or is simply not trying, because everyone loves Billy Joel,” Hart said in a Thursday press release. “No wonder Albany is a mess, our representatives can’t do something as simple as renaming a small portion of a road in Billy Joel’s backyard, where there’s near universal support.”

Hart has upped the ante by pledging $1million to erect a “giant marble statute” of Joel.

“Next to Teddy Roosevelt, Long Island really doesn’t have a more famous or popular person than Billy Joel,” Hart said.

Montesano said that the reason the bill hasn’t passed is the opposition from the Assembly Democrats whose ranks Hart hopes to join.

“The question for my opponent is, since he’s a Democrat, what’s he going to do to convince his colleagues and the chair of the Transportation Committee to let this bill pass?” he said. “Because that’s where the stumbling block is.”

He also doesn’t think it’s the sort of issue a campaign should be fought over.

“This is because he really has nothing else I guess, so he wants to pick on this,” Montesano said. “I’ve never seen something like this before.”

Hart has engaged in colorful campaign activities in the past. He brought a donkey to the Nassau Democrats’ convention earlier this year.

In a sealed 2013 court case, he was accused of stealing $4.5 million from his 79-year old mother, charges which Hart has denied.

“I’ve never stolen a nickel from my mother or harmed her in any way,” he said earlier this month.

Joel does have close ties to New York’s government. Gov. Andrew Cuomo presided over his 2015 wedding, and he’s the godfather of Joel’s one-year-old daughter.

