Billy Joel and NY Governor team up to clean beaches of Long Island

Billy Joel and NY Governor team up to clean beaches of Long Island

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and singer Billy Joel teamed up to help pick up trash at a beach on New York's Long Island.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and singer Billy Joel teamed up to help pick up trash at a beach on New York’s Long Island.

Joel joined Cuomo and other elected officials Saturday at the 21st annual Oyster Bay Beach and Harbor Cleanup. Cuomo and Joel arrived about 10 a.m. by boat at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park.

Although Joel has donated money to Democratic candidates running for office, he has never publicly affiliated himself with the Democratic Party. He played a benefit with Bruce Springsteen to raise money for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. Joel has also played at benefit concerts that have helped raise funds for political causes.

Billy Joel and politics is a rather recent development in his 40-some odd years as a wildly famous rocker. Of the $13,500 Joel has given to political causes since 1988, $8,000 was to Democratic candidates and the rest has been to the ASCAP Legislative Fund for the Arts.

However, Joel has said about musicians endorsing political candidates, “People who pay for your tickets, I don’t think they want to hear who you’re going to vote for and how you think they should vote.”

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his GOP challenger, Rob Astorino, were on Long Island, each surrounding himself with and getting praise from local Republican politicians.

Cuomo, a Democrat, is seeking re-election.

They walked ashore bearing black garbage bags that they filled during the event. During the cleanup of the beach, Joel said that he has firsthand experience seeing what kind of garbage people throw in the bay because he sees it washing up on his property.

Astorino joined fellow Republican Rep. Peter King at a kickoff event for King’s re-election campaign in Wantagh.

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