Long Island

Gov. Hochul's proposal to lower car insurance premiums is built on suspected fraud. But a body of evidence reveals that there really is very little.

Yet another anti-congestion pricing lawsuit was thrown out today, after a state Supreme Court justice spiked a lawsuit brought by the Town of Hempstead.

The big story late last week was Newsday's three-part series on the large increase in fatal crashes on Long Island since the pandemic.

The Long Island Railroad is building some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the region -- even the world. The hugely expensive East Side Access tunnel and terminal at Grand Central and the construction of a third track for the LIRR Main Line will open up new possibilities for convenient, all-day transit that people can use for all types of trips. But not if Long Island continues to operate its rail and bus networks as a two-tiered transit system.

With a presumed re-election bid coming in 2015, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has determined his political career is more important than people's safety.

The threat of service reductions and fare increases always loomed large over the transfer of Long Island Bus service to a private operator. After Nassau County refused to assume its share of costs for the service, international private transit provider Veolia Transport was brought on to take over from the New York MTA at the beginning of the year.

Nassau County's unwillingness to pay for its own buses is ending in disaster for Long Island Bus riders. The MTA has announced that it plans to cut 25 of the 48 LI Bus lines and axe weekend service on two more.

In part our interview with veteran vehicular crimes prosecutor Maureen McCormick, the former Brooklyn ADA, now with Nassau County, offers insight into the state of traffic justice in New York State, and describes how she and others in the prosecutorial community are working to strengthen laws that deal with negligent drivers.

While many of her colleagues are hoping to avoid taking a stand on congestion pricing by urging Speaker Sheldon Silver to kill the plan without a vote, Nassau County Assembly Democrat Michelle Schimel has come out strongly in favor with an editorial in the Great Neck Record: