Video: Say goodbye to the Jets

This week’s feature in Long Island Business news is about the exodus of the New York Jets, the professional football team that after this summer will no longer call Long Island home. The team leaves behind nonprofit foundations and plenty of downtrodden fans.
LIBN visited the last Jets camp, which opened at Hofstra University last week.
Enjoy [...]

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Private Cablevision, reporting for duty again

We all knew it was only a matter of time.
Cablevision heads are using the backdrop of a better-than-expected jump in subscribers - as well as its milestone of 2 million Optimum Voice users - to once again throw out the idea of taking the company private.
Of course, shares of the Bethpage based media company are [...]

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A state of transparency

Forget Facebook, we here at the LI Biz Blog have found the latest and greatest way to waste time … err … we mean, research the state government.
Check out this new site, called See Through New York. It’s a detailed, although slow and a bit clunky, database of state agency payrolls, expenditures, contacts and other [...]

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FiOS reclaims HD throne

It took a while, but Verizon is making inroads in its promise to offer 150 high-definition channels by the end of 2008. The tally has just hit 100.
The company’s fiber optic FiOS service now boasts …. deep breath …all of the networks in HD (CBS, ABC, etc.) as well as USA HD, TNT HD, TBS [...]

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How can there be two winners?

Lake Success-based DealerTrack and its rival, Michigan-based RouteOne, both released the results of a preliminary hearing on their patent infringement lawsuit. And both declared themselves the winner.
DealerTrack, which links auto financiers with car dealers, cheered a judge in the United States District Court for the Central District of California for favoring DealerTrack on five rulings.
DealerTrack [...]

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At least they’re better than Jersey

The National Resources Defense Council released a report on Tuesday analyzing the results of beach water quality monitoring data collected by the U.S. Enviornmental Protection Agency in 2007.
The report showed that while Long Island’s more than 150 beaches by no means received high marks, they were better than the beaches in New Jersey, which ranked [...]

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Can you hear them now?

Hundreds of members from the CWA Locals 1105 and 1108 will rally in Patchogue this evening, joining others from Maine to Virginia, in an attempt to thwart a potential strike regarding contract negotiations with Verizon.
The workers, part of the Communications Workers of America, will be joined by members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. [...]

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In case you missed it

Here’s the full text of Gov. David Paterson’s speech about the state’s finances last night. If you want to watch the video, go here.
My fellow New Yorkers,
Our state now faces increasingly harsh economic times. When I travel across the State I see communities suffering. Everywhere I go I meet people who are losing their jobs [...]

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So easy even a caveman can read it

Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman thinks everyone should be able to read and understand the county’s financial reports, not just those with accounting degrees.
So, for the first time since 1973, the comptroller’s office has released a “plain-language” financial condition report summarizing the county’s finances in a simple, easy-to-read format.
The report details the county’s fiscal turn-around from [...]

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LI is no place for party schools

Each year, the Princeton Review (no relation to Princeton University) releases a myriad of lists ranking institutions of higher education on everything from professor accessibility to cafeteria food. The most popular (notorious) of these lists ranks party schools, which usually includes the same re-treads of warm weather schools and football powerhouses. This year, the University of Florida ranked [...]

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Steve Israel visited New Orleans

How do we know? Well, the Democrat from Huntington took a video of his Congressional Delegation trip. Israel, along with 21 other members of Congress and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, traveled out the New Orleans area speaking with Hurricane Katrina victims, who are still reeling from that disaster three years after the hurricane struck.
Here’s the video:

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Paterson to be a LI no show

Turns out Gov. David Paterson won’t be on Long Island for the economic security forum Wednesday night.
Instead, his Economic Security Cabinet, made up of 20 state agencies, including the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, City University of New York, Department of Agriculture and Markets, Department of Health, Department of Labor, Department of State, Department [...]

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Tune in tomorrow afternoon

Gov. David Paterson has decided to skip the middle man and talk directly to the people of New York state tomorrow about its ongoing fiscal woes.
The governor has asked the media to give him some time in the middle of the afternoon so he can let New Yorkers know what he plans to do to deal [...]

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Johnson tries for a triple play

State Sen. Craig Johnson, D-Port Washington, threw his hat into the ring over how to best reform property taxes in New York today by unveiling a detailed three-pronged approach to overhaul the property tax system.
Johnson’s plan, which is co-sponsored by Deputy Minority Leader Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, does what Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and Gov. David [...]

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NY state’s ‘Amazon Tax’ may be no more

Seeking Alpha is reporting that the New York State Senate has voted to repeal its so-called “Amazon Tax,” which required all Internet companies with affiliates in New York to charge sales tax on shipments bound for the Empire State.
The tax, which would bring in upwards of $50 million in revenue for the state, had been [...]

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Talking sewers

Legis. Kate Browning, WF-Mastic, will be holding a public forum at 5:30 p.m. today to discuss the creation of a sewer district for Montauk Highway.
The Suffolk County Department of Public Works will present two proposals. The first proposal includes laying sewer lines on Montauk Highway from William Floyd Parkway in Shirley to Barnes Road in Mastic. [...]

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AFL approves Dragons purchase

Charles Wang can’t back out of his New York Dragons sale any longer.
The Arena Football League today approved the purchase of the Dragons by investment group head Steve Silva.
The Dragons at the same time announced they will move their offices to Uniondale.
From the statement:
The team recently named a new Chief Operating Officer Tim Kelly, formerly [...]

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Latest LI Bizcast is live

In this edition of LI Bizcast, Long Island Business News looks at the thriving book publishing industry on Long Island, the state of a future liquefied natural gas terminal off of the coast of Long Beach and renewed interest by local and Connecticut  power players to make compromises regarding the Islander East pipeline.
Enjoy the show.

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This week’s journey through Long Island

This week’s issue of Long Island Business News reaches from East Hampton to the waters outside of Long Beach.
Enjoy.
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Our trip to the market

In his week’s Long Island Business News, Ambrose Clancy writes about the Long Island Farmers Market, run by J. Kings Food Service Professionals in Holtsville.
Here’s a video we whipped up from the trip.

And don’t forget to visit our Blip.tv page to view the show in fullscreen.

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Paterson to talk economy on LI next week

Gov. David Paterson will bring his traveling show on economic security to Long Island next week, part of a 13-stop tour throughout New York state.
Paterson will be at Farmingdale State College on from 4 to 7 p.m. on July 30. The Long Island meeting is sandwiched between two meetings in New York City on July [...]

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Who said you can’t go home again?

I’ve always thought “Shambala” was the perfect anthem for us members of the Monadnock Regional High School Class of 1973.
Released early in our senior year by Texas singer B.W. Stevenson – you know him better for “My Maria” – the song was almost immediately covered by Three Dog Night, which took it all the way [...]

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Do you really want West Nile?

Suffolk County Legis. Jay Schneiderman wants residents to do all they can to eliminate the threat of West Nile virus from their homes and properties. The virus, which is carried by mosquitoes, can cause high fever, muscle weakness, stupor and disorientation and even death.  Since 2001, when the first human case of West Nile virus [...]

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Making all the difference?

A few days ago, we looked at a new Long Island Press series that pointed out the futility of trying to get to work using only public transportation on Long Island. But it’s getting a little less futile.
Suffolk County has announced it will soon fit its Suffolk County Transit buses with bicycle racks so a [...]

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Comtech is just a tike yet

Standard & Poor’s released a list of 13 companies it expects will continue to grow, adding them to its Global Challengers 300 index. On that list, Melville’s Comtech Telecommunications Corp., a maker of satellite communications equipment.
Comtech shares have been up and down in the last 52 weeks. The company’s first estimates for 2008 revenue guidance, [...]

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Suozzi on the road again

The Tom Suozzi property tax cap express train departs Long Island again starting next week.
Suozzi will leave the friendly confines of Nassau County for five locales throughout New York preaching the gospel of the 4 percent property tax cap recommended by the state Commission on Property Tax Relief he led and proposed by fellow Long [...]

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Wine royals to visit Island

Twenty years ago, when Long Island wines were considered boutique at best and over-priced fruit juice with a buzz at worst, local growers organized an event which gave the area instant cred.
Called “Maritime Climate Wine Growing: Bringing Bordeaux to Long Island,” in 1988 some of the noble and ancient Bordeaux chateau came to [...]

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Levy to host first energy summit

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy will be hosting the first regional Energy Summit on Thursday, inviting elected officials, utility leaders, business leaders and environmental and energy advocates to discuss a cooperative plan for the region’s future energy needs.
In addition to Levy, the Summit will include Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, LIPA President and CEO Kevin [...]

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Jay Gibbons gets the call to the Show (sorta)

Jay Gibbons, aka Meat, didn’t last long on the Long Island Ducks.
Gibbons, 31, signed with the Ducks last month, after being turned down by just about every Major League franchise because his name was listed in the Mitchell Report.
Turns out, however, that everyone does get a second chance, especially if they bat .280 with five [...]

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Learn how to use that smartphone

Here’s something LI Biz Blog could use, as its editors still haven’t figured out how to operate their Palm Treos without getting so frustrated that they pray a pair of turkey vultures would swoop down, steal the phones and drop them in Lake Ronkonkoma.
But Verizon is going to help us all.
The cell phone service company [...]

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