Brookhaven Supervisor Brian X. Foley and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer are calling on the United States Commerce Department to declare a “Commercial Fishery Failure” in the Great South Bay as a result of brown tide.

The declaration will bring much-needed federal funding to the area to pick up the fishing industry in the Bay from the brink of disaster.

From Schumer’s release:

The massive bloom of brown tide first appeared in April of this year, spreading as far west as South Oyster Bay, but now has moved throughout the estuary with blooms in Southampton, Quogue, and the Moriches. According to Stony Brook University, this year’s bloom is ‘the largest and most intense ever recorded in this ecosystem.’ For more than 20 years, outbreaks of brown tide have crippled boating and fishing in the Bay, particularly the clam-fishing industry. The Bay now produces 1 percent of the standard clam catch that was being caught in a typical summer as recently as the early 1980’s.

In June 2005, the Massachusetts and Maine delegations got two separate declarations and appropriations from Congress to address red tide. Schumer and Foley are hoping for the same here.

More from the release:

The algae is lethal to the juvenile and larvae populations of the scallop and hard-clam fishery, and seems to have discouraged seabird populations, crabs, and horseshoe crabs in Great South Bay as well. Moreover, mass die-offs of eel-grass meadows have been reported are already throughout the Bay, bringing the specter of light scallop landings during the fall harvest.

The reappearance of the brown tide in this estuary is surprising to many local fishermen and researchers, as this occurrence does not coincide with the cycles observed over the past three decades. The tide appeared in the Great South Bay in 2007, with massive blooms recorded in much of the Moriches and Shinnecock Bays. NY Sea Grant’s Brown Tide Research Initiative has suggested that Long Island’s south shore estuaries may be experiencing an environmental “regime shift, making them more vulnerable to brown tides” in the future.

The consequences of a more frequent and intense brown-tide phenomenon in the Great South Bay will be devastating to the recent efforts undertaken by activist groups and local governments to heal the estuary. The brown tide is caused by a tiny plankton known as “Aureococcus anophagefferens.” It has appeared across the Nassau County line for the first time this year and has cell densities that have exceeded 2 million cells per cubic millimeter of seawater, the densest ever recorded and an amount significant enough to kill young larval and juvenile shellfish populations at the bay bottom, which will result in the destruction of the adult population for many harvests to come.

Recent efforts undertaken by the Nature Conservancy and other local government to “re-seed” the bay - 2.8 million seeds at a 13,400 acre bay bottom preserve off West Sayville - will be severely and negatively affected by this intensified bloom. This program was meant to reinvigorate the environmental and economic health of the Bay and the brown tide severely undercuts the effort’s efficacy. In 1985, hard-clam landings from the Great South Bay amounted to over 100,000 bushels; in 2007, hard-clam landings were reduced to just 5,000 bushels. This 22-year time period has seen a decrease of 95% in commercial landings as a result of the devastating brown tide algae. Immediate action is necessary if the commercial fishing industry in the Great South Bay is ever to return to its once prestigious and vibrant form.

The history of brown tide in the Great South Bay dates back to 1985 and, by many accounts, was responsible for the destruction of the greatest scallop fishery on Long Island and in the Northeast at the time. The hard-clam fishery in the Great South Bay was the largest in NYS history and for a decade produced a majority of produce clams bought and served in the eastern United States. Landings of this species have declined by more than 95% since the onset of brown tides in Great South Bay.

To attack this problem once and for all, Schumer, Foley, and members of the local Long Island fishing community have made a direct appeal to Commerce Secretary Carlos Guitierez asking him to declare a “commercial fishery failure.” The argued that the failure declaration is a sorely-needed tool to combat the decades-long decline of the Great South Bay. Recent efforts by state and local governments to rehabilitate the commercial fish stock are at severe risk of being undercut by the persistence of the brown tide. Schumer said the Secretary has the discretionary authority to declare this commercial fishery failure a disaster. The disaster declaration will help Senator Schumer and the Long Island congressional delegation secure funding for research and rehabilitation to help state and local officials combat the tide.

Here’s a mashup map of this week’s issue of Long Island Business News.

View Larger Map

Last night, Starbucks Corp. released the full list of the 600 stores it will close nation wide.

Here are the Long Island stores:

• 2330 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow
• 426 Central Avenue, Cedarhurst
• 101 South Research Place, Central Islip
• 123 Fulton Avenue, Farmingdale
• 385B Broadway Mall, Hicksville
• 1750 Veterans Highway, Islandia
• 106 Old Country Road, Mineola
• 1441 Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde Park
• 1 Railroad Avenue, Roslyn Heights
• 20 North Highway, Southampton
• 53345 Route 25, Southold
• 467 Old Country Road, Westbury
• 1504 Old Country Road, Westbury

New York City will see six stores close, but there will still be at least 50 in the metropolis.

From the Wall Street Journal story:

The list reads like a cross section of the U.S., with closures planned inside shopping malls, near beach resorts, in college towns and off highways. Las Vegas will lose the most stores of any U.S. city, with 13 expected to close. It is followed by San Diego, with 10; Dallas and Baton Rouge, La., each with nine; and Houston, with eight. Starbucks’s hometown of Seattle is scheduled to lose seven cafes.

Most of the nation’s major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, will lose at least one Starbucks. Although there are economically struggling towns on the list, such as Flint, Mich., there are also affluent suburbs, including Walnut Creek, Calif., and Newton, Mass.

The closings will thin out some areas that had a high density of Starbucks. San Francisco’s Metreon entertainment complex, located at an intersection the company had determined could support three Starbucks, will lose one of those locations. In towns with fewer Starbucks, city officials have said they will try to persuade the company to reconsider closing their location, and customers have said in Internet postings that they are circulating petitions to save their location.

The story starts like this:

The economic troubles that have pummeled the nation’s big banks are now targeting shares of Long Island’s financial institutions.

For some banks, even holding mortgages is enough to scare investors. Case in point: Astoria Financial.

Then, analysts chime in:

“Many investors owned Astoria because they thought it was immune to the credit problems.”

“We’ve known all along that we’ve had a growing housing crisis on our hands. Now that’s exacerbated by causes outside of the housing industry and that impacts the earnings at all banks.”

And then a funny thing happened. Earnings came out Thursday. Perhaps it was because investors expected worse, or maybe some banks, such as Astoria, aren’t in such dire shape. Whatever the reason, Astoria shares rose big-time on Thursday, closing out at $21.56.

The company’s shares remain much closer to a 52-week low of $16.65 than the high for that period, $29.99, but the stats in the weekly paper are outdated and you ought to know that.

Also, New York Community Bank, not hit nearly has hard by our sources, had a good week. Shares are now at $17.98. Or we should say, open at $17.98. If you want an update, click here.

As for an update on the other banks mentioned in the story, click here and put in the ticker symbol.

What’s better than stuffing your face full of local food on a late-summer Sunday?

On September 7, the North Fork Reform Synagogue will hold its second annual North Fork Foodie Tour.

Here’s the idea: Once you buy your tickets you schedule your own tour of participating farms, restaurants and vineyards, tasting until your tongue gets numb.

Enjoy. From the statement … which happens to be a bit overwritten:

With your map in hand and a description of each of the venues, arrange your own self-guided tour that might take you from Riverhead to Orient.

If it’s cheese you desire, a visit to Catapano Dairy Farm is the place to go. There you get a chance to tour the dairy, see the beautiful long hair goats at work and at play and taste all of their wonderful cheeses. For naturally grown vegetables of all kinds, particularly the heirloom tomatoes of every color and shape and Asian vegetables for the best stir fry you can imagine, visit Sang Lee Farms. Go to Satur farms, where New York City’s most discerning chefs come for heirloom tomatoes, delicious mesclun and succulent herbs. And don’t pass Garden of Eve Organic Farm, Golden Earthworm Organic Farm, or The Farm where you will have a chance to tour the gardens and taste the strange-looking heirloom tomatoes and dishes made from the harvested vegetables.

If you have never seen chickens roaming free, you will be fascinated by the fowl at Ty Llwyd Farm. They not only exercise within their yards, but they make nests in the earth outside their coops. Children will love to measure eggs in an old-fashioned measuring device. Travel to Riverhead, not the Western Plains, to see bison at North Quarter Bison Farm. Find out where the bison roam and how the farm operates.

Or luxuriate in the pungent scent of lavender at Lavender By the Bay where you can find fresh-cut and dried lavender and sundries made from lavender. Try everyone’s favorite — honey made with the help of bees feasting on the lavender. You may buy some fresh lavender to beautify your garden and keep the deer away, and receive recipes and other information about the many uses of lavender.

Specialties at A Taste of the North Fork include jars of scrumptious jams, jellies and 20 other tasty delights in a jar. Chutney, mustards, marmalades and relish, desserts and many other items can be artfully gift wrapped for your favorite hostess.

If you love oysters, you might want to visit Pipes Cove Oysters where you will learn how the shellfish are grown and harvested and how to shuck (and even eat) them. You can learn how to grow your own shellfish at SPAT, the Southold Project in Aquaculture Training.

And just when you think you’re done, there is a wine tasting and tour at the Shinn Estate Vineyards. Here you will meet Barbara Shinn and David Page, the gracious owners of this vineyard and bed and breakfast, who are hosting the same-day ticket sales as they did last year.

Set aside the date of September 7th and invite your friends and family to join you at the Second Annual North Fork Foodie Tour. At $25 a ticket for all of the venues , it is a wonderful bargain; children under 12 free. If you wish to talk to someone about the event, you may call 631-722-5712. See www.northforkreformsynagogue.com for additional information.

Imagine that, green beer and it isn’t even St. Patrick’s Day.

Several organic breweries will be showing of their frothy beverages at this weekend’s South Shore Real Beer Festival held at The Nutty Irishman restaurant in Bay Shore.

However, the organic brews aren’t Long Island made.

From the statement on the July 19 event:

New to this year’s South Shore Real Beer Festival will be the inclusion of organic beer.  “Everyone is going green,” said Drew Dvorkin, owner of T.J. Finleys.  “The green movement is alive and well in the craft beer industry with some exceptional organic beer from breweries like Peak Organic and the award-winning Orlio Organic.  Both will be at this weekend’s festival to give samples to the skeptics, the curious and the faithful fans,” Dvorkin added.

The South Shore Real Beer Festival, now in its second year, will include the amazing Long Island craft breweries plus awesome craft beer from national, award-winning breweries-more than 20 in all.  Festival attendees will have the opportunity to sample more than 50 craft beers from more than 20 national breweries at the South Shore Real Beer Fest.  Hamburgers and hotdogs will also be served at the event.  The festival will offer special guest lectures from industry professionals covering topics as varied as the state of craft beer on Long Island and which foods pair best with various beer styles.

In case you haven’t left the comfort of the air conditioning yet today, let us fill you in on a not-so-well-kept secret: It’s hot out there today.

OK, so not Florida or Arizona hot, but still, hot for Long Island.

As a result, the town of Hempstead has decided to extend the business hours of its town pools as well as open 14 cooling centers throughout the town today and tomorrow.

The air conditioned centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the pools will be open an additional hour.

Now, don’t try to be a hero and go golfing anytime from 1 to 3 p.m. today. Instead, take a dip in the pool or hang out, take advantage of the town’s a/c and play some dominoes.

Here’s a list of the cooling centers and pools with extended hours. Enjoy, and stay cool Long Island.

They’re leaving all of New York State, too.

Shocking, right?

Assembly Republicans have apparently just caught wind of this, and decided to … hold forums to talk about it.

Starting today in Elmira, young Republican assemblymen Rob Walker, R-Hicksville, Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook, and Jack Quinn, R-Hamburg, will be hosting the forums, named RemaiNY.

Forums also will be held in the Capital District, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown and New York City over the next two years.

According to the Census, 22 percent of all New Yorkers ages 20-34 moved out of the state between 1990 and 2000. And you thought youngsters were just leaving Long Island. Good to know we’re not alone.

The forums are expected to discuss the lack of affordable housing, high property taxes, availability of quality jobs and overall high cost of living.

The goal is to stop the exodus by providing solutions to restore New York’s promise for this generation, and generations to come, according to a press release from Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco.

“It is my honor to be able to chair RemaiNY,” Walker said in the release. “Throughout my own assembly district, I have met hundreds of young college-aged people and those who are entering the work force who are choosing to leave the state because the opportunities do not exist or the costs are too high. We must find solutions to broaden the appeal of staying in New York for our young professionals and find ways to improve finding jobs, raising families and addressing the high costs of our post-secondary education. I believe that this is the ultimate goal of this listening tour and I am eager to begin the numerous forums planned throughout the state.”

So are we, Rob. So are we.

The Long Island Association on Wednesday said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority needs to include in its 2009-2014 Capital Plan funding for the Long Island Rail Road’s third track project.

The LIA said that Long Island’s future economic well being depends upon that project’s timely funding and completion.

Here’s a quote from Matthew Crosson, the LIA’s president:

We understand that there are other projects that require MTA’s funding. However, only the LIRR third track project will have a clear and direct economic benefit for Long Island. East Side Access for example, which the LIA has supported, will have minimal economic value for this region.

Crosson and others have argued that the third track would lead to an increase in reverse commuters, which means LI companies could better tap into a vast talent pool in New York City.

As for East Side Access, we would guess plenty of Island residents working on the East Side of Manhattan probably find that project to be far more important than a third track. But we will leave it to the experts: you, the commuter. Which is more important?

]]> http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/which-direction-for-lirr/feed/ http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/theres-a-new-statue-in-town/ http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/theres-a-new-statue-in-town/#comments Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:23:40 +0000 Michael H. Samuels http://libizblog.wordpress.com/?p=3320

Hear ye, Hear ye, let it be known, from this point forward, to all ruffians, hoodlums and criminals that attempt to pillage, plunder and raise havoc throughout Nassau County, that they have a new member of the Rough Riders to deal with.

Meet Rough Rider Tom Suozzi, also known as the Nassau County Executive. Suozzi, top hat in hand, ascended to his lofty throne atop the colt Little Nassau Tuesday, great nephew of Teddy Roosevelt’s Little Texas, along with other Rough Riders to unveil the Paul Manship Theodore Roosevelt sculpture in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola.

Suozzi invited the Rough Riders to the county as part of a “Bully Picnic” to commemorate the 109th anniversary of the laying of the building’s cornerstone by Roosevelt and the re-dedication of the building as the centerpiece of the county seat.

On July 13, 1900, then-Gov. Roosevelt laid a three-foot long granite cornerstone at the northeast corner of the building, once considered to be one of the finest buildings in the state. It remained the center of Nassau County government until the beginning of World War II

In 2002, renovations began to improve the building’s infrastructure, remove hazardous materials and preserve and restore the historic architecture and of the building.

The newly dedicated 13-foot tall statue of Roosevelt, who joined the Rough Riders in May 1898 and led the volunteer cavalry in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, was made in the 1960s by sculptor Paul Manship. It was cast at Paul King Foundry in Johnston, R.I., in 2002 and is the only copy available from the Manship estate.

“This beautiful sculpture is a fitting tribute to Nassau County’s own, Teddy Roosevelt, an independent-minded Republican, great conservationist, fearless police commissioner and battler of democracy,” Rider Suoz said in a statement. “I am pleased that many years from now this sculpture will symbolize the great promises of our County, its people and its future, just as this building did 109 years ago.”