Billy Joel Rides His Motorcycle Through the Hudson Valley

Music legend Billy Joel can be spotted all over the Hudson Valley today.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo will be joined by his girlfriend, Food Network star and breast cancer survivor Sandra Lee, Joel, and hundreds of others as they ride motorcycles from Long Island to New Paltz to help raise breast cancer awareness.

It’s part of the governor’s “Get Screened, No Excuses” campaign. The campaign is billed as “the nation’s most aggressive effort to eliminate the barriers that often prevent women from getting screened, such as difficulty scheduling mammograms or burdensome insurance hurdles.”

Monday, Gov. Cuomo will sign legislation to expand screening hours at about 210 hospitals and eliminate insurance hurdles for mammograms and other diagnostic imaging procedures.

“Early detection is the best possible treatment for breast cancer, but far too many women face burdensome scheduling and insurance barriers that prevent them from gaining access to the diagnostic services they need any deserve,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “This ride is about spreading awareness and sending that message loud and clear, because when it comes to getting screened for cancer, waiting is simply not worth the risk.”

The ride is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Sunken Meadow Park. The group should arrive at Citi Field by 11:30 a.m. Joel, Cuomo, Lee, and others will arrive in the Hudson Valley by 2:00 p.m., at Bear Mountain State Park.

The group is scheduled to leave Rockland County by 3:00 p.m. and head to New Paltz. Riders should arrive at the DEC Regional Headquarters at 4:00 p.m.

Gov. Cuomo will ride a custom Harley Davidson. The motorcycle will later be auctioned off by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to raise money to prevent and cure the disease.

Other legs of the first-ever statewide breast cancer motorcycle ride are scheduled for July.