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News December 12, 2018

LIU poll: Climate change is real, and it’s not too late

By GREGORY ZELLER // Great swaths of the country may still register as “the base,” but a vast majority of Americans break from President Donald Trump on the key topic of climate change. That according to Brookville-based Long Island University, which this week released a new Hornstein Center poll showing nearly 80 percent of Americans are climate-change believers. Not only that, but the poll shows that more than three-quarters of Americans believe humans have contributed…

Newsletters December 12, 2018

No. 364: Planning HQ2, digitizing Robert Moses and still taking giant leaps for mankind, a half-century later

  All downhill from here: Over the hump we go, dear readers, as another wintry Wednesday arrives (though it’s still not winter) and we race through the midpoint of another busy workweek. Ride share: Before we get to it, welcome new newsletter subscribers Alida, Greg, Michael, Marc, Carmela, George, Nina, Stanley, Stacy, Brittany, Sarah, Christopher, MJ and Cristian. What a fine-looking group! Please keep your hands in the car at all times. Not taking sides:…

Newsletters November 30, 2018

No. 361: Meteors! Mark Twain! Carter DeLuca relocates! And some very fine fellows lead LI’s labs

  The month that wouldn’t die: It’s eight days since Thanksgiving and still November, dear readers, a calendar quirk that makes this Nov. 30, and Friday, and the end of another busy week of socioeconomic innovation. It’s also the 531st anniversary of Reinheitsgebot, the German beer-purity law requiring that beer be brewed from only water, malt and hops. Please commemorate responsibly. Route canal: In other water-related Nov. 30 news, ground was broken today (in 1824)…

Opinion November 19, 2018

Amazon warrior Cuomo defends deal, crushes critics

By GOV. ANDREW CUOMO // Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. The full text of the governor’s op-ed is available here.   The Amazon transaction is an historic transformative moment for the entire New York City region. I have done enough development work during my career to know there is no large development project that is accomplished without controversy, especially in a city like New York and especially in this polarized, hyper-political time. While…

Tourism November 12, 2018

Partners pump $18M into Jones Beach education center

By GREGORY ZELLER // The comprehensive revitalization of Jones Beach State Park will continue with the construction of a multimillion-dollar conservation-and-sustainability educational facility. The Jones Beach Energy and Nature Education Center will be a public resource for all seasons, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, which announced this week that a public-private partnership would pour some $18 million into the creation of the new center – part of an effort designating the state park’s western…

Newsletters November 9, 2018

No. 356: Blacks in golf, women in Johns Hopkins and advanced aerospace manufacturing in Riverhead – thank you, veterans

Finishing strong: It’s Friday, dear readers – welcome to the end of another busy week of socioeconomic innovation and related delights. It’s Nov. 9 out there, and if you had the Jews aiding the Muslims – as charged by Egica, king of the Visigoths, at the Seventeenth Council of Toledo on this date in 694 AD – nice job. A hundred gold solidus for you. Salute: If today’s the ninth then Sunday’s Nov. 11, when…

Newsletters October 31, 2018

No. 353: Don’t be scared, it’s just our Halloween edition (featuring spacemen, blood machines and ghost chickens)

  In the spirit: Welcome to Wednesday, fearless readers, the midpoint of another busy week of socioeconomic innovation and the start of another holiday season. It is, of course, Oct. 31, a date that needs no introduction – though whether Halloween is a pagan ritual dating back to Celtic Druids, as many believe, or actually a Christian creation is open to some debate. Boo: Either way, the first jack-o-lanterns were made from turnips, the fear…

News October 18, 2018

Albany also kicks in on Island storm-resiliency projects

By GREGORY ZELLER // The City of Long Beach isn’t the only Long Island location gearing up for the next big blow – or battening its hatches with non-local government assistance. Earlier this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that more than $20 million was being funneled into storm-preparedness projects in Long Beach, including $18 million-plus earmarked for final engineering and construction of a “critical infrastructure flood-protection system.” While New York State’s Division of…

News October 15, 2018

FEMA funnels $20M into Long Beach storm-prep efforts

By GREGORY ZELLER // More than $20 million in federal funds will help protect the City of Long Beach against the next 100-year storm. Long Beach is receiving roughly $20.06 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency – including $1.6 million previously awarded for engineering and design work and roughly $18.48 million now reserved for final engineering and construction – for a “critical infrastructure flood-protection system.” The effort is designed to prevent flooding and otherwise…

Newsletters October 5, 2018

No. 346: Taking off at JFK, soaring at SBU and landing a 5G network (and why office workers tend to crash at 3 o’clock)

Welcome to the weekend: And kudos, courageous reader – you’ve conquered another busy workweek and earned a two-day respite. It’s Oct. 5 all over the place, and if you had Heraclius arriving at Constantinople in 610 AD, killing Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becoming emperor himself, well done. Nobody saw that coming. Especially Phocas. We could learn a thing or two: Here in the 21st Century, its World Teachers’ Day, a United Nations World Educational, Scientific…

Economic Development October 2, 2018

Past success, future hopes fuel LIREDC’s 2018 report

By GREGORY ZELLER // The Long Island Regional Economic Development Council has met its Oct. 1 deadline and submitted its annual progress report/wish list to the Empire State Development Corp., Albany’s main economic-development engine. The 2018 progress report, titled “Long Island: Completing the Puzzle,” both highlights the efforts of the Long Island REDC since Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched his competitive statewide economic-development program in 2011 and lists the projects the regional council hopes to support…

Transportation September 21, 2018

LIRR ‘Double Track’ pulls in well ahead of schedule

By GREGORY ZELLER // Just two years after Gov. Andrew Cuomo accelerated plans for a Long Island Rail Road overhaul, the long-awaited “Double Track” project has been completed – more than a year ahead of schedule. Cuomo on Friday announced the completion of the LIRR Double Track, roughly 18 miles of track added between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma, expected to ease congestion and allow for reverse-peak service expansions as necessary. The 18 miles of track –…

Newsletters September 19, 2018

No. 341: Farming out east, divesting at Applied DNA and skipping the most important meal of the day (plus … Super Lawyers!)

Middle ground: Welcome to Wednesday, friends, and the midpoint of another busy workweek on beautiful Long Island. It’s Sept. 19 out there – Day 730 of the bitter Brangelina divorce proceedings, which kicked off when Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt two years ago today. Stay tuned. Shofar, so good: It started at sundown Tuesday and lasts through sundown today, when they’ll be blowing the ceremonial ram’s horn at synagogues around the world….

Education September 6, 2018

‘Food for thought,’ redefined, at the Panther Pantry

By GREGORY ZELLER // Following Albany’s lead on food-insecurity issues among New York college students, Adelphi University has opened the doors of its first-ever food pantry. Late last month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a comprehensive No Student Goes Hungry program, with the ambitious goal of providing “a food pantry or stigma-free food access for students in need” at every school in the State University and City University of New York systems by the end of…

Workforce September 6, 2018

State pumps $15M into SUNY’s clean-energy programs

By GREGORY ZELLER // The state university system’s clean-energy workforce-development efforts have received an eight-digit shot in the arm. A $15 million state investment will bolster SUNY’s clean-energy workforce and training programs, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, with $6 million heading to specific campus-based efforts – including several on Long Island – and an additional $9 million earmarked for colleges and universities planning apprenticeships and internships with industry partners. The funding is part of…