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By Mike White 🇺🇸 Dec. 11, 2025

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☕ Good morning, Long Island!

🌬️ Boy yesterday was windy. I was fortunate enough to have stayed indoors. Felt like a snow day, but with work.

⛪ Has anyone else noticed a recent uptick in attendance at your local Catholic Church? If so, or even if not, I'd love to hear your personal observations or any information you might share for a report.

✍🏼 Just respond to this email.

Weather: There's a 20 percent chance of snow showers after 4 p.m. today. Otherwise it will be mostly sunny with a high near 36. 🌥️

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SPECIAL REPORT | by Brian Harmon

Rebels Lacrosse folds, youth teams across Long Island scramble to regroup

• Hundreds of youth laxers across Long Island are without a team after the abrupt shutdown of Rebels Lacrosse, one of the region’s largest travel lacrosse organizations.

• The collapse has left families out thousands of dollars and high school juniors scrambling to salvage their college recruitment prospects.

​Click here for the full report.

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Second, meet the Long Island founder behind a booming $150M apparel brand

⚾ Baseball Lifestyle 101 has grown into a $150 million apparel powerhouse. The company’s social-media-driven rise was followed by a brick and mortar retail expansion that has turned its “baseball lifestyle” aesthetic into a full-blown phenomenon. It started right here on L.I.

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Third, Mighty Fine opens Huntington popup amid plans for two new cafes

🥧 Mighty Fine has opened a holiday pop-up at the former site of Finley's of Greene Street — giving new life to the historic building just months after Finley’s closed after more than three decades in business. The cafe is expected to open fully next year, along with a Bay Shore location.

MORE FOODIE NEWS

🧁 Craveology opens this Saturday in Centereach, where three brothers will be serving over-the-top desserts after a decade running a soft-serve truck. It’s their next big step in bringing creative sweets to Long Island.

📖 + 🍸 The Bookstore — a new “bartender co-op” from seven longtime barkeeps — opened this fall in downtown Patchogue, combining cocktails, books and laid-back neighborhood vibes

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More headlines to highlight

🎩 A 17-year-old from Syosset has been accepted into the prestigious Magic Castle Junior Society in Hollywood — a big leap after years spent practicing magic on Long Island.

👮🏼 Andrew Garcia, a Pat-Med alum, was honored with an Excellent Police Duty award by the NYPD for outstanding service in Queens.

🙏🏼 Neighbors have rallied behind a mother and son killed in a tragic house fire in St. James — raising more than $2,000 in donations so far.

🏈 Garden City's Zach Olson finished his high school football career an undefeated 46-0 — the longest win streak by any player in L.I. history.

🧢 We sat with Anthony Kay. The left-hander from Long Island has signed a two-year deal with the Chicago White Sox, marking his return to the MLB after two dominant seasons pitching in Japan.

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SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

Long Island’s holiday hosting game has a new star in Style & Graze

What began in 2022 as simple charcuterie boards has exploded into a go-to option for parties, with custom setups, décor, bartenders and even a refrigerated van to handle the demand. Click to read.

Greater Babylon coverage is funded in part by The Argyle Theatre, where Broadway comes to Babylon. Click here for tickets to Annie.