Long Islanders have suffered some real estate woes in the past few years, and Billy Joel is no different. The singer, who is having some trouble selling his mansion in Sagaponack, recently cut the multi-million dollar asking price for a second time.

The "Piano Man" originally bought the beachfront estate from the late Roy Scheider for his then-wife Katie Lee in 2007 for $30 million.

He later sold an adjacent plot, but the mansion that he originally put on the market in 2009 at $22 million has not been snatched up. So he slashed the price to $18.5 million in hopes that it would help sell the estate.

But still Joel had no luck, prompting him to slash the price tag once again. The skillfully designed home, with its interior design done by Nate Berkus, is now listed at $16.8 million.

With four bedrooms, six bathrooms, 145 feet of oceanfront and a little more than an acre of space, it's a sight to see. According to the property listing, set up by realtor Biana Stephanian of The Corcoran Group, another perk is the terraces on every floor, perfect for taking in those beautiful oceanfront views.

Joel is just one of several big shots who have houses up for sale that haven’t been getting any bites in the current market.

The late Dinah Shore's home sat on the market for two years. Burt Reynold's home lasted five years on the market before he gave up. Pierce Brosnan and Barry Manilow's Malibu mansions, baseball star Manny Ramirez's Boston home and Hulk Hogan's place in Florida, have all been up for sale for some time.

It's a tough housing market, as Joel ought to know by now.

Billy Joel, who owns a mansion in nearby Centre Island, is frequently spotted around downtown Oyster Bay, eating at restaurants and attending events. But he rarely shows up at town board meetings.

Tuesday, however, the musician/songwriter came to a meeting to learn more about and support the board's vote to create the latest section of a statewide Blueway Trail highlighting paddling routes and shoreline attractions.

The board approved a resolution to hire Nelson, Pope & Voorhis of Melville for $134,000 to map out a water trail along the North Shore showing launching areas and other services.

Though Joel had to leave before the vote, on his way out he called it "a great idea. I'm surprised it hasn't been proposed earlier. There is such a rich heritage here, such beauty that can be seen by boaters."

The "Piano Man," who owns two fishing boats, a landing craft, a commuter yacht and a steel cargo ship, knows local waterways well. "But I can always use more information," he said. "I'm always looking to utilize our water and waterfront. That's why I have boats."

The town's participation in the new statewide program was suggested by local environmental group Friends of The Bay. Pat Aiken, executive director of the group, after the meeting called it "a fabulous thing for the North Shore. I think it's going to help a lot with encouraging tourism."

Ever since her divorce from Long Island native Billy Joel, celebrity chef and author Katie Lee has been shacking up in her one-time love nest on the ocean in Sagaponack, New York. But while Joel (unsuccessfully) tries to sell the PriceChopper veteran, Katie has moved to a new home in Water Mill, New York, says Real LI.

The new digs are, by most accounts, a downgrade from her previous $16.8 million spread - but they're still pretty awesome! The 6,700-square-foot home sits on a north-of-the-highway plot of land that sold in 2008 for $1.350 million. And the shingle-style home comes with a jazzy gourmet kitchen - perfect for trying out new recipes. But the best part? The property, which was most recently listed for $3.999 million, once wanted as much as $4.850 million. Translation: Katie made out like a bandit!

Say what you want about Billy Joel. Just know that the man has your best interests at heart.

Throughout his lengthy career, the singer/songwriter has held Questions & Answers/cocktail sessions at intimate venues, offering folks the opportunity to ask him questions around mouthfuls of scallops wrapped in bacon. In between piano interludes on his Steinway baby grand and playful interaction with the crowd, Joel motivates and energizes the crowd regarding the creative process. It's like Zig Ziglar heading up a production of Joey & Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding: Billy Joel will give you the only roadmap ever needed to achieve success in life!

Anyway, in honor of 1978's massively popular "52nd Street" getting the vinyl reissue treatment, here are five bits of sagely advice Joel never offered to aspiring artists during his Questions & Answers, but very well could have.

1.) "Laying down tracks is like laying brick."
Joel is forever reminding the lunch pail-and-Timberland subset of his audience that he's just as proletarian as them - that there's a "job" aspect to being an opulent, bidet-using, topiary-loving, multiplatinum-selling artist. He often accomplishes this by making his narrators all blue-collar punchy and sweaty. "Rosalinda's Eyes" discusses union wages and the difficulty of finding a steady job. "Today I do what must be done," go the rather opaque lyrics in "Until The Night." "I give my time to total strangers" could be about working in a soup kitchen, manning a suicide hotline, or handing out free samples of Chinese dumplings at the Roosevelt Field Mall food court.

2.) "Strive to be cool. If the general public says you've failed, tell them to collectively eat shit."
"52nd Street" is a blatant stab at being devotedly hip. The album's moniker pays tribute to New York's former jazz scene. Bebop trumpeter Freddie Hubbard guest stars. Joel name-drops chic Manhattan haunts like Elaine's. But peer a little closer. The cover art calls to mind this flugelhorn-playing dipshit. Joel sings that it's okay to wake up with only ourselves - an admission to being a chronic AM diddler if I ever heard one. And in "Zanzibar," Joel brags about possessing a jazz guitar, an instrument exceeded in its lack of libidinousness by only the vibraphone. Come on, Billy. In the Benny Goodman Sextet, no groupie wanted to fuck Charlie Christian. They wanted to hop on Fletcher Henderson. You know this.

3.) "Image is everything. Without it, you're just another Michael McDonald."
My favorite Joel album is "Greatest Hits: Volume I & Volume II." Leaning on his piano and scrubbing a hand through his hair, our hero looks haggard and exasperated. "Being an artist is hard," he's telling us. "It's even given me these frown lines." (In reality, Joel was upset that day because Christie had fired his personal chef.) Joel's poses are so refined - he executes the "wall lean" to perfection on his "52nd Street" cover - they even look terrific blown up on stadium JumboTrons. And he knows to never ever drop the "I am a working class schlub from Long Island" shtick, even when the only person around is his Guatemalan housekeeper.

4.) "Don't be afraid to lose yourself in yourself."
The level of narcissism on "52nd Street" made Joel a hitmaker. With anyone else it would have made them a psychiatrist's couch potato. "Honesty" ("When I'm deep inside of me/Don't be too concerned") and "My Life" ("I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life/Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone") find Joel at his most self-obsessed. Do you remember the movie "Multiplicity?" (No, of course you don't.) It starred Michael Keaton as a suburban dad who fills his home with clones of himself. I like to imagine that Joel saw the flick and then promptly called his physician to ask how much the procedure would cost and if it was any less painful than his tonsillectomy.

5.) "Play the hand the big "Piano Man" in the sky deals you."
Through it all, Joel has fully embraced his gnomish roots, even though they've left him with stubby, sausage-like fingers, a body resembling a Weeble, and an aversion to harsh daylight. He's long worn his race's traditional red felt, conical cap with pride.