The Long Island Daily

While falling short of the resounding victory some LIRR employees hoped for, the five railroad unions that went on strike two weeks ago surpassed many observers’ expectations — by securing raises higher than transit workers have seen in years, while giving up relatively little and cementing themselves as major players in New York’s labor relations landscape, union leaders, MTA officials and source...

Schools should do more to limit technology in the classroom but calls from the nation's second-largest teachers' union to impose sharp new restrictions on computer use — including a ban on screens for the youngest students — go too far, several Long Island educators said this week. The American Federation of Teachers’ president, Randi Weingarten, laid out the union’s proposals in a speech Wednesda...

The United States Golf Association and New York State Department of Transportation will create an express lane along more than 3 miles of Sunrise Highway, solely for use by the shuttle buses ferrying spectators and volunteers from Calverton to the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in June. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that over the last two weeks, construction crews have been buildin...

Here’s a question everyone around here has been asking the past couple days… Are weekends rainier than the work week? If the question sounds preposterous, consider this spring: Including the sodden Memorial Day weekend we just experienced, it rained five of the last six weekends. Nicholas Spangler and Anastasia Valeeva report in NEWSDAY that it rained on half, or 10, of 20 weekend days since the s...

Scoring a 130 to 93 victory last night while finishing a four game sweep of the Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Knickerbockers now advance to the National Basketball Association championship round - the NBA Finals for the first time this century and the ticket-buying frenzy on the secondary market for the Knicks’ first Finals home game at the Garden next month already has begun. Anthony Ri...

The Environmental Protection Agency this week announced a long-anticipated proposal to rescind federal limits on certain toxic "forever chemicals" in drinking water, established two years ago by the Biden administration, a move New York has sought to neutralize. Tracy Tullis and Laura Figueroa report in NEWSDAY that the Trump administration plans to roll back restrictions on four types of these ch...

State aid to Long Island schools is expected to total $5.5 billion for the 2026-27 school year, with most districts receiving at least a 2% increase in foundation aid, according to a Newsday analysis of state data. The majority of school districts in Nassau and Suffolk will get more funding from the state for the next school year, according to aid runs published yesterday , the day after Long Isla...

At least five Long Island school budget proposals failed to garner enough voter support yesterday while 115 others won approval, according to early returns last night. As reported by NEWSDAY, in Suffolk County, Three Village failed to win a simple majority, meaning more than 50% of voter support Tuesday. The outcome was 2,051-2,340 in Three Village. Results for the remaining four Long Island schoo...

A deal to end the historic Long Island Rail Road union strike was reached late last night, with riders expected to see a resumption of rail service by noon today, Gov. Kathy Hochul said. As reported by Newsday Staff, the agreement reached shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, provides relief to the tens of thousands of harried and frustrated Long Islanders who saw their commutes double or even triple duri...

The first Long Island Rail Road strike since 1994 has rolled into a third day and the start of the workweek. Negotiations between MTA and union leaders are expected to resume at 7:30 this morning. As reported in NEWSDAY, Long Islanders arrived in Queens by the trickle early today, riding shuttle buses mobilized to replace LIRR trains. The shuttle bus that left Ronkonkoma at 4:05 a.m. arrived at 17...

The first strike since 1994 could shut down the Long Island Rail Road as soon as 12:01 a.m. Saturday...that's right after midnight tonight...as the MTA and five labor unions remain locked in a contract standoff. If commuters didn't have enough anxiety over the possible Long Island Rail Road strike, service to Penn Station was “extremely limited” this morning due to yesterday’s track fire. There ar...

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's lead negotiator said yesterday a deal to avoid a commute-crippling Long Island Rail Road strike was within reach, as the transit agency put a $134 million offer on the table that would pay workers "all of the money that was requested," and that the unions have budged from their previous demands. The MTA, however, is relying on a lump-sum payment to meet...

A potential Long Island Rail Road strike could have a “catastrophic” impact on local economy and employees’ ability to get to work sites, shops and offices. The region could see a daily loss of $70 million in economic activity, according to past analysis adjusted for inflation. Local employers, both large and small said they are weighing contingency plans on how to get employees to job sites. Vict...

Every day on average, half a million vehicles cross the Queens-Nassau border on the region's major highways — the Long Island Expressway, the Northern State and Southern State parkways. Peter Gill and Alfonso A. Castillo report in NEWSDAY that shutting down the Long Island Rail Road, if a possible strike becomes a reality this coming Saturday, and sending at least a portion of the 270,000 daily we...

Southampton Town police shot and killed a man armed with a knife on Sunday afternoon after officers responded to a call of a "violent" disturbance in a family home, Suffolk County police said in a statement last night. Peter Gill and Janon Fisher report in NEWSWDAY that Southampton Town police said they received a call at 2:43 p.m. yesterday from a resident on Topping Drive in the hamlet of Northa...

MTA managers, making their case against Long Island Rail Road unions' demands for 14.5% raises over four years, say LIRR employees threatening to strike are already the highest-paid railroad workers in the nation. But LIRR labor leaders argue both their pay and negotiating position are warranted given the high cost of living in New York and recent raises given at other railroads across the country...

Corporal punishment and harsh discipline during toilet training against toddlers and preschool-age children that went unreported to the state. Young children left without competent supervision and staff who failed to immediately inform parents of serious incidents. Day care centers that failed to conduct criminal or sex offender background checks for new hires, in violation of state guidelines. Ro...

On Long Island, the number of households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits…known as SNAP…has grown since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Experts say the spike stems from the region's cost-of-living crisis that has made housing unaffordable and can make food an afterthought. More affluent households seeking food assistance might not meet the lower-income fe...

Microplastics have been found in bodies of water all over the globe, from the Arctic to the Caribbean Sea to Long Island Sound. They can leach into groundwater from those waterways, and from septic systems and cesspools, or from rainwater runoff that collects particles from streets or landfills. And they make their way into our bodies from the food we eat and the water we drink, whether from the t...

Chronic absenteeism in Long Island schools remained stubbornly high in 2024–25, despite efforts to get students back into the classroom following a surge in absences during the pandemic. Lorena Mongelli and Arielle Martinez report in NEWSDAY that in Nassau and Suffolk combined, 17.3% of students in public schools were chronically absent, meaning they missed 18 or more class days during the school...

Long Island business leaders yesterday expressed concern of the potential economic impacts from an LIRR union strike, while also warning that unprecedented raises for railroad workers could be "unsustainable." Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that leaders from seven Long Island business advocacy and economic development groups, in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, expressed their "deep...

Paying Long Island Rail Road workers the raises they're demanding to avoid a strike could lead to service cuts, job reductions, or fare hikes as high as 8% — twice the usual rate, MTA officials said yesterday. But LIRR labor leaders, who met with Metropolitan Transportation Authority managers for an impromptu bargaining session Wednesday, blasted the figure as baseless, and maintained the MTA can...

Gasoline prices on Long Island rose more than 12 cents a gallon over the last week, pushed by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has choked oil exports from the Persian Gulf, as well as seasonal factors, according to AAA. By Monday morning, the auto club put the average price per gallon at just under $4.13. Gas Buddy put the average at $4.09, the highest in 12 months, though well off the $5.05...

The Long Island Rail Road will begin summer service schedules on May 18 on the Montauk, Long Beach and Ronkonkoma lines — including more weekday trains to Montauk. Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that separately, beginning May 11, some midday weekday trains on various branches will see their departure times adjusted by a few minutes to accommodate maintenance work and accessibility upgrades outside...

The confessed serial killer, Rex Heuermann, told family members that the woman whose body was found in a wooded area in North Sea was indeed the first murder he committed and the only one that was not planned ahead of time. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that in a documentary released yesterday on the streaming service Peacock, Heuermann’s wife and daughter recounted conversations they had w...