​

​

By Mike White · July 22, 2025

If you like our content, please forward this email to friends.

SIGN UP

☕ Good morning, Long Island!

☀️ Today will be mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

📰 We've done a ton of writing these past few days, and the coverage runs the gamut.

🗞️ In the meantime, your very own Mike White and my Greater Long Island team got some press of our own, this time from Poynter.com.

✍🏼 Feel free to respond to this email with feedback.

---

Stony Brook Film Festival

The stars were out for opening night at the Stony Brook Film Festival, now in its 30th year at Staller Center for the Arts, located on the university campus. The festival runs through Saturday, July 26.

---

NATURE

First, Long Island’s lizard population is booming, and spreading east

🦎 It all started with a few escapees in Garden City. Now, the Italian wall lizard is thriving across Long Island, with experts saying the population is steadily expanding east.

🦶🏽 Grab your flip-flop, because New York has now fully entered its fifth year dealing with invasive lanternflies — and it’s on us to control the spread. Look out for the red, spotted "teenage" version now.

🦞 Three ultra-rare orange lobsters — each a genetic marvel at one in 30 million — were plucked from ShopRite supermarket seafood tanks in Bay Shore and Wallingford, Connecticut, and returned to the sea.

🦈 Photographer and drone videographer Joanna Steidle spotted more than a dozen sandbar sharks last weekend moving through shallow water just off Montauk Point — and caught the moment on camera.

---

HEALTH

Second, from cancer fighter to RN: Sayville survivor graduates from college

🎓 Hometown inspiration Matt Zender has officially earned his RN after completing Stony Brook University’s demanding nursing program.

---

FOOD & DRINK

Third, RHUM becomes RUMBA in Patchogue after tri-level renovations

🍹Rooted Hospitality Group has officially rebranded RHUM in Patchogue as RUMBA Island Inspired Cuisine and Rum Bar, aligning the name with its original Hampton Bays concept. And with a complete makeover.

☕ It’s not your average coffee shop. At the new Rich Pour in Massapequa Park, co-owner Dana Masi wants every customer visit to feel like an experience — not just a caffeine stop.

🥐 And Dark Horse Coffee, the Sayville café that became an instant hit along Sunrise Highway, is heading to Port Jeff. This time, they're going big.

---

GLI SPORTS

Fourth, Westhampton’s Dylan Laube reflects on his NFL rookie year — and what’s next
​

​

🏟️ Westhampton’s Dylan Laube reflects on NFL rookie year — and what’s next. He told Greater Long Island he hit a crossroads just weeks into his rookie season in the NFL, when he fumbled on his first carrry.

🏈 New LuHi head coach Tiquan Garner has big goals for the Long Island Lutheran High School football program. He takes over for Chris Reno, who stepped down after 18 seasons leading the Crusaders.

Two Suffolk County ballplayers, from Hauppauge and Rocky Point, saw their Major League dreams take a major step forward by being selected in the first and third rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft last weekend.

---

More headlines to highlight

A 61-year-old Westbury man has died after being pulled into an MRI machine while wearing a heavy metal chain around his neck, police said.

The Long Beach Fire Department and Long Beach Lifeguard Patrol teamed up Wednesday night to make several water rescues across multiple locations after lifeguards had gone off duty.

The Mastic Beach man who allegedly crashed a boat into a jetty in the Shinnecock Canal over Memorial Day weekend — critically injuring his bride-to-be — has now been indicted on multiple felony charges.
​

---

SPONSORED

The Natural Hounds movement has expanded into Huntington
​

This dog-loving duo has expanded into downtown Huntington with a third Natural Hounds location at 44 Gerard Street. This is their story.
​