​

🎄CHRISTMAS & HANUKKAH COUNTDOWN 🕎

By Mike White · Dec 17, 2024

🥞 Good morning, Long Island! Today is National Maple Syrup Day. Perhaps celebrate at The Shed or Toast Coffee + Kitchen.

🌧️ It'll be rainy, mainly before 10 a.m., and cloudy through mid morning with a gradual clearing and a high near 56.

🗞️ For newcomers, I select Greater Long Island news stories or just great reads, fun events and trends Islanders should know about.

🛒 According to last week's poll results, Long Islanders' go-to supermarket of choice is Stop and Shop (28.2%), followed by ShopRite (21.6%) and then Giunta's Meat Farms (19.6%).

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

🎭 And click here for 'A Christmas Carol' tickets at Argyle Theatre.

---

Getting a puppy this holiday season? First, head to the vet, then get over to The K9 Shop, now with six Long Island locations from Lynbrook to Manorville. Click here to read all about The K9 Shop — and the transformational journey of one remarkable pup.

---

First, it looks like payback time

🚦 Drivers in both Suffolk and Nassau counties might all soon have the chance to be compensated for excessive fees charged through controversial red light camera programs. Here's a poll, too:

​

Do you approve of red light camera programs? Yes. The cameras help keep our roads safe. No. This is nothing but a cash grab.

---

Second, some food news & more

​

🍩 Want a locally made doughnut right now? We have some spots for you.

🥑 Looking for a Trader Joe's to open near you? We've found five spots that would be perfect for the specialty grocer on the East End and Suffolk's South Shore, two areas where a TJ's is sorely needed.

🍝 Stella Ristorante in Floral Park, an iconic staple of Long Island’s dining scene for decades, will close its doors for good after New Year’s Eve 2024, Greater Long Island has learned.

🥩 Step inside Suffolk’s first Wild Fork Foods, now open in Lake Grove

🌮 The owner of the Street to Table dining concept that opened in Merrick in 2019 will be opening a second location soon in Huntington Station near the mall.

🎅🏼 If you're still looking to Brunch with Santa, The Watershed Kitchen & Inn in South Jamesport is all set to welcome you on Sunday, Dec. 22.

---

Third, more headlines to highlight

🚨 The father of a missing Patchogue teenager (pictured) has increased the reward for information leading to her safe return. to $15,000. It has been a desperate search that's lasted over a week thus far.

📰 The Long Island community is rallying around the family of the William Floyd basketball coach who died in a car wreck on Sunrise Highway in Shirley last Friday. Tap here to learn more, and to help.

💜 Nita Webb, a dedicated community leader and tireless advocate in and around Bellport, passed away on Dec. 5 at the age of 74. Anyone who knew her would tell you she was an absolute gem of a person.

---

LI History

⛷️ Looking to pack up the old station wagon and hit the slopes of … Long Island? If this were 1970, you would've had four options for skiing in Nassau and Suffolk. And we've got awesome old photos, too.

---

Opinion

☃️ It’s a short holiday season and people are scrambling for Christmas card photos. Why? Are simple greeting cards a thing of the past?

---

Long Island is hiring!

Long Island Tutorial Services, which has emerged since 2011 as an educational support powerhouse in the state, is embarking on a hiring blitz across Long Island and the rest of New York, hiring teacher aides, speech, counseling and academic tutoring positions — virtual and in person.

Click here to check out some more of our featured hiring partners.

---