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Street tacos and made-to-order guacamole are only the beginning of the draws at Long Island's venerable Mexican taquerias and restaurants. Authentic fare abounds in this fast-growing segment of eateries. Among the standouts: 
Besito (402 New York Ave., Huntington): Sometimes you want more than a taqueria, and these sophisticated siblings, boosting Mexico’s cuisine to refined but still festive levels, are only too happy to oblige. At each, a blissfully chunky guacamole is prepared tableside and tuned to your choice of heat. The chicken or carne asada quesadillas are consistently solid starters, along with the chile rellenos and tacos of various meats delivered in an iron skillet. When you want to get serious, though, Besito obliges, cinching together regional Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes with flair: The enchilada suizas and mixtas will make you long for bread and sauce sopping, while the pistachio-crusted salmon, as well as jumbo shrimp with mashed sweet potatoes, are among the larger plates, backed by a supporting cast of fine salsas and excellent cocktails (don’t miss the house pomegranate margarita). (Other locations at 1516 Old Northern Blvd., Roslyn and 399 Montauk Hwy., West Islip). More info: 631-549-0100, <a href="https://www.besitomexican.com/">besitomexican.com</a>
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Dirty Taco &amp; Tequila (3261 Merrick Rd., Wantagh): Something of a cause célèbre among the churro-challenged, this popular new eatery from AnnMarie and Tom Cataldo has done something you might have thought impossible: convince an island already awash in taco joints that it somehow needs one more. But among the succinct list of just 20 beef, chicken, fish, pork and vegetable tacos, true treasures may be found. The Baja fish number, blah elsewhere, here becomes something to exalt, courtesy lightly fried fresh cod, cabbage slaw and drizzles of lime-zested sour cream. A flour tortilla filled with ginger-marinated salmon accented by garlic sauce is wonderful. A jerk-spiced chicken taco dressed with tangy chunks of pineapple dances on the tongue as nimbly as a kung pao chicken variant, dusted with bits of crispy wontons and peanuts, and comes beautifully presented with curls of scallions. Best of all is the Thai meatball taco, a rowdy mix of ground beef, coconut curry and mint. Eating one, you feel as if a brand-new comfort food has been loosed upon the world. (Other location at 201 Sunrise Hwy., Rockville Centre). More info: 516-785-5300, <a href="http://dirtytacoandtequila.com/">dirtytacoandtequila.com</a>
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El Paso Authentic Taco Grill (787 Conklin St., Farmingdale): For over a decade, this Farmingdale spot has supplied its surrounds with next-level Mexican and central American food; from pupusas and empanadas to sopes and tacos, it all explodes with flavor and, well, calories. Tacos — whether carnitas, lengua or shrimp — come traditionally adorned with radishes, cilantro and lime. While they are a must, don’t overlook the baleada especial, a giant wheat tortilla folded over a tide of beans, melted queso, avocado and an egg. Pro tip: This spot is so popular that ordering in advance is wise, for the counter gets relentlessly busy and the waits can be long. Chances are when you show up you’ll see a few other things you’ll want, though — whether tamales, or an al pastor torta, or flan. In 2019, the owners opened a second location in Copiague. More info: 516-752-1872
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El Rodeo (130 Montauk Hwy., East Moriches): This authentic Mexican restaurant is the third jewel in a triple crown owned by the Rojas family, who also own Riverhead’s Taqueria Mexico (at 707 E. Main St.) and Taqueria Cielito Lindo (25 E. Main St.). The décor is no-frills (though possibly more-frills than the others) but colorful, and the food is on point. Tacos, served on homemade tortillas, are exemplary, particularly the campechanos, filled with beef, pork and sausage. Tacos’ stouter cousins, sopas, are also well represented, as are enchiladas, tortas (Mexican sandwiches) and light-and-tender tamales. Meaty mains are consistently fine, as is the pozole, a piquant soup thick with exploded hominy kernels and hunks of braised pork. More info: 631-909-2666, <a href="https://www.elrodeony.com/">elrodeony.com</a>
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I Am Nacho Mama (7 W. Village Green, Hicksville): Europe, the Caribbean, Central and South America--it took a village of no fewer than a dozen countries for Carlos Juarez to create a menu representing pan-Latin eclecticism at its finest. A bricks-and-mortar reworking of a food truck that took Nassau County by storm a few years back, favorites include the already legendary Mama Cuba sandwich, based on a recipe that goes back four generations, showcasing generous shavings of pernil--slow-roasted pork that takes two baths, one of sofrito, the other of beer--on its way to sharing sandwich space with ham, Swiss cheese and a superb slaw of pickled cabbage. The pork ribs, rubbed with a racy lime and salt mixture and seared on a wood-fired grill are among the best of their kind, and the same grill produces meats that form the winning basis of a dizzying variety of nachos, tacos, burritos and bowls. Best of all are the moments when cultures collide, as with the Chori burger, in which ground sirloin gets a mighty boost from Argentinean chorizo. More info: 516-226-0228,<a href="https://iamnachomama.com/"> iamnachomama.com</a>
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La Fondita (74 Montauk Hwy., Amagansett) and Coche Comedor ( 74A Montauk Hwy., Amagansett): At 74A Montauk Hwy. and 74 Montauk Hwy. sit two of the Hamptons’ most authentic Mexican experiences. The more casual Fondita is little more than an enclosed stand with counter stools and picnic tables on the lawn, along with Adirondack chairs around the pond out back, but don’t be fooled. Since 2001, the little taqueria has been turning out winning nachos, quesadillas, tacos and a fine tortilla soup, as well as a trio of meat sandwiches on Portuguese rolls. Coche, which opened in 2019 in the old Honest Diner, is the upscale, trendy cousin, not to mention the considered choice of those who like duck fat potatoes with their chicken adobo, punch-packing margaritas and celebrity sightings. The ceviches are all first-rate, whether composed of fluke and avocado, tuna tartare or snapper, and the queso fundido is a velvety winner. Among the entrees, pork barbacoa is the standout, although a persuasive case may also be made for the striped bass (with impossibly sweet corn from nearby Balsam Farms), as well as a casserole of seafood, chorizo and Mexican rice. More info: 631-267-8800, <a href="https://lafondita.net/">lafondita.net</a> and 631-267-5709, <a href="https://cochecomedor.com/">cochecomedor.com</a>
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Lucharitos (119 Main St., Greenport): Marc LaMaina's rollicking Greenport joint (and its siblings, Little Lucharitos in Aquebogue, Lucharitos Burrito Bar in Mattituck and Lucharitos in Melville) has settled into its status as a North Fork landmark. Whether you're bringing the kids for lunch or settling in with a round of margaritas, this is crowd-pleasing fare. The fearsome poses of Mexican wrestlers known as luchadores adorn the walls; on the plates you'll find dozens of iterations of tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas and bowls with fillings that range from traditional (carnitas, carne asada) to inventive (coconut shrimp, barbecued local duck). Vegetarian options abound. There's also Lucharitos Farm in Center Moriches, which sprawls over more than an acre and comprises multiple outdoor dining areas, a working farm and a play area. More info: 631-477-6666, <a href="https://www.lucharitos.com/">lucharitos.com</a>
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Mexican Grill 2000 (703 Medford Ave., Patchogue): Tucked near the back of a Patchogue strip mall, the unassuming Mexican Grill 2000 is a quiet monarch of the local taqueria landscape. Both the chef and owner of this bright, perpetually bustling spot come from Puebla, and the fare is always on point, whether crisp fried flounder layered with pico de gallo and house crema or fajita burritos jammed with peppers, onions mushrooms and grilled steak. Costillas, or beef ribs in a green or red sauce, are penultimate comfort food. More info: 631-207-6554, <a href="http://www.mexicangrillli.com/">www.mexicangrillli.com</a>
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Mi Viejito Pueblito (1687 New York Ave., Huntington Station): The riotous cilantro-and-onion-dressed tacos — house-made flour tortillas with the softness and spring of Memory Foam cradling beef, chicken, tongue, tripe and fish embeds – are no small part of the appeal of this Huntington Station hole-in-the-wall. (To wit: seven tables, streamers hung from the ceiling, walls lined with tiny sombreros, roadside art and a TV playing UEFA Cup action nonstop.) But they’re just a part of a menu of unlikely hits by Eulogio and Emelia Valerio that’s as authentically Mexican as it gets. The soup, when available, remains a must, as are the nachos simple, in which rivulets of queso and pico run through a pleasing pile of chips christened by crema in a crosshatch pattern. Dry-cured flank steak blanketed by a fan of nopals make for a fine cecina. Again and again you’ll tear off the lid of that straw sombrero tortilla warmer, bringing floury madness to strips of lovingly marinated beef, pickled cactus and a dripping of jalapeño sauce. More info: 631-470-0396 

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Taco 'Bout It (40b E. Main St., Riverhead): Wild, tropical colors mark this hidden gem, down a Riverhead alley, where chef and Oaxaca native Alejandro "Chicki" Ramirez lends a masterly touch to Mexican-food staples such as lengua tacos, lush guacamole, husk-wrapped tamales and al pastor tostadas topped with queso fresco. Burritos, quesadillas, chimichangas, nachos — Tex-Mex is well repped, too — but local seafood makes frequent appearances, as do rarer, regional Mexican dishes. Where else might you find a pambazo birria — a sandwich filled with beer-stewed, shredded beef — anywhere else on Long Island? Not likely. More info: 631-574-8787
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Taco el Chingon (2809 Merrick Rd., Bellmore): Off-the-beaten-track, this tiny, female-owned takeout spot serves superb Mexican food from a quasi-hidden strip mall. Owner Laura Lucero draws on a few of her grandmother’s recipes for quiet showstoppers such as the machete classico, an oversized house tortilla layered with refried beans, melted Oaxacan cheese and sliced avocado, plus a meat of your choosing. Tacos are the main event, from rich suadero (slow-cooked beef) to al pastor as soft as velvet and tinged by guajillo chile. This is one of the rare places on the island to get breakfast tacos, too, and other Mexican breakfast dishes such as chilaquiles. Whichever direction you go — molletes for breakfast, sopas for lunch — be sure to nab a cup of tart jamaica (lightly sweetened hibiscus tea) from the cooler. More info: 516-809-9102, <a href="http://tacoelchingon.com/">tacoelchingon.com</a> 

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Verde Kitchen &amp; Cocktails (70 E. Main St., Bay Shore): "Verde" describes the greenhouse dining room at this contemporary Mexican, but also the overarching fresh approach to a cuisine that, too often, relies on canned ingredients and clichéed preparations. Start with one of the eight margaritas, made with fresh citrus and house-made syrups, then head for the tacos whose tortillas come from the vaunted Tortilleria Nixtamal in Queens (and, for certain specials, are made in house). The barbacoa, filled with jiggly, chile-rubbed brisket with pickled serranos is sheer heaven. Groups of two or more should consider the Oaxaca market platter, a huge ceramic plate piled high with grilled skirt steak, chicken thighs and roast pork shoulder; garnished with charred scallions, halved avocados, radishes and roasted chiles; served with tortillas, rice and warm tortillas. Even the green salad here — made with local greens, pickled tomatillo, toasted sesame seeds and tomato-chile vinaigrette —it’s a delight. More info: 631-665-6300, <a href="https://www.verdekitchen.com/">verdekitchen.com</a>
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FDMEXICAN220124

The best Mexican restaurants on Long Island

LI's best Mexican restaurants

FMTOP_medallion_CLONE

Tom Brune

WASHINGTON — Since losing the presidential election in 2020, Donald Trump has raised at least $1.1 million from New Yorkers who made more than 21,000 contributions ranging from 4 cents to $5,000, federal campaign finance filings show. 
Long Islanders gave about $300,000 in at least 5,000 contributions split between residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to Federal Election Commission filings by the former president’s main political action committee, Save America PAC. 
More than half the Long Island contributors said they’re retired, the filings show. Those employed said they work as entrepreneurs, in the skilled trades, health care, sales, management, service jobs, real estate, clerical and office work and as business owners. 
Since November 2020, Trump’s daily emails and other solicitations for contributions by a half-dozen of his fundraising committees aimed at small donors helped him build a financial stockpile at the end of 2021 of an unusually large sum of $122 million. 
"He is the only one who’s done this," said Sarah Bryner, research director for Open Secrets, a nonpartisan Washington-based nonprofit that tracks campaign money. "He’s unique." 
Politicians eyeing a run for the presidency usually wait until after the midterm elections to begin a major push for campaign money. President Joe Biden’s main campaign committee raised $11.8 million last year and at the end of the year reported having $4.5 million in cash on hand. 
Trump, who wields sweeping influence with the Republican base and over his party's politicians, often hints in speeches, on social media and at rallies that he might mount another campaign for president in 2024. 
But he has not formally announced he is running for a second term in the White House and, according to FEC filings, he has not created a presidential campaign finance committee. 
Instead, he created Save America PAC as a leadership committee, which can support other candidates, other political committees and other groups, but also has no prohibition against his personal use of its funds. 
And campaign finance experts say Trump cannot simply morph Save America into his presidential campaign committee if he does decide to seek a second term. 
"He can't just transfer it to a campaign committee once he declares himself a candidate," Washington-based campaign finance attorney Brett Kappel told Newsday in an email. 
Save America PAC can give Trump’s campaign $5,000 for the primaries and $5,000 for the general election, the same amount as it can give to other federal candidates, he said. 
The PAC also can support the Republican National Committee with as much as $400,000 and can make $10,000 contributions to each of the state GOP parties, Kappel said. He can also use it for personal expenses. 
Trump created the PAC in November 2020 as he fought to overturn election results in key swing states — and his fundraising operation raised more money in December 2020 than in any month during 2021. 
New Yorkers’ contributions to Save America PAC likely exceeds the $1.1 million reported from contributors with New York addresses — an amount that could be twice as much from contributors of less than $200, the FEC threshold for listing their names and addresses. 
Still, donors in New York gave significantly less to the Trump operation than contributors in California, Texas and Florida, Bryner said. For the 2020 presidential election, New Yorkers gave Trump a third of the amount they gave Biden, according to Open Secrets data. 
"When it comes down to it, it's just a blue state," Bryner said, "and the money is also blue." 
And the pace of contributions, nationally and in New York, have slowed after the surge, the filings show. That tracks Siena Research Institute surveys on Trump’s approval rating, which dropped from 81% among Republicans in mid-November 2020 to 66% in mid-January of this year. 
"There is softening of his numbers that still leaves a tremendous support for him," said Long Island political consultant Michael Dawidziak, who mostly helps Republicans. 
Suffolk County Republican chairman Jesse Garcia told Newsday that Trump’s appeal was still strong among "average Americans from the entire political spectrum" who were "digging into their pockets, despite historic inflation, and sending him 10, 15, 25, 50 bucks." 
But Jay Jacobs, chairman of the New York State and Nassau County Democratic parties, said, "Trump in many respects is a cultural phenomenon, because he represents for too many people the voice of their resentment and their anger and their frustration. And so they're willing to overlook his bad behavior because he speaks to something far more important to them."

Long Island

usTRUMP220213

NYers contribute at least $1.1M to Trump since the 2020 election

usTRUMP220213_photos

Denise M. Bonilla

Hearing the phrase "jury of your peers" might not conjure an image of seventh-graders, but that’s exactly who is stepping in the jury box, along with other courtroom roles, in a Nassau County pilot program that aims to keep nonviolent adolescent offenders out of the justice system. 
The Nassau County Peer Diversion Court is a decade-old program that uses high school students as attorneys and jurors for a juvenile respondent who has committed a nonviolent crime. Now the program is being offered to middle-school students, giving them a chance to learn the legal process firsthand. 
After an adolescent is charged with a crime, probation officers in the family court system can refer the case to the Peer Diversion Program. 
To be eligible for the program, teen offenders must first acknowledge that they did something wrong as related to the charges being brought against them. The accused range in age from 11 to 17 and their offenses involve graffiti, shoplifting, assault without a deadly weapon and car thefts, said Arianne Reyer, special counsel for adolescent and juvenile justice for Nassau’s probation department, which runs the program. 
The program is intended as a way for young people in the justice system to be held accountable and learn from their mistakes without going through the formal court process, Reyer said. Of the cases referred to the program, 96% are completed and don’t go to court, she said. 
"We realized that young people often listen to their peers a lot more than they listen to adults and definitely feel like they don’t have a voice in the system," Reyer said. 
For the court roles, Reyer and program coordinator Michael Jasmin use a combination of school outreach and word-of-mouth to recruit applicants. High school students apply to the program and if accepted get credit for volunteering. The program has a roster of 265 high schoolers, with about 100 of those actively participating, Jasmin said. 
The teens serve as clerk, bailiff, juror, defense advocate and community advocate, the latter two similar to the defense attorney and prosecutor in an adult trial. College and law school students are the judges. The students meet after school on a Tuesday with the offenders and the trial is held on that Thursday, with the offender’s parents in attendance. 
The clerk and bailiff roles require reading from a script, Jasmin said, but the advocates have to carefully craft opening and closing statements and fine-tune questions for the offenders and witnesses. The goal is to get beyond the police report and get at why the crime was committed and how the situation could have been handled differently, aspects that would likely be deemed inadmissible in a traditional courtroom, Reyer said. 
<h3>Calling all middle schoolers</h3> 
Starting last fall, 27 students from Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead began participating in the program. 
Since trials are held in the Hempstead Village courtroom, there has long been a desire to get more youths from the community into the program, Reyer said. The middle school’s law club provided an opportunity for students already interested in the legal process to learn more. It also allows for younger offenders to have peers their own age in the courtroom. 
"We are really excited to get these middle schoolers on board, and they are so enthusiastic about it," Reyer said. 
Riley Belle, 12, said her involvement in the law club cemented a desire to become an attorney and so far she loves being in the peer program. 
"You get to influence people’s lives and you get to help them become a better person and build on the mistakes they’ve made," she said. 
Riley’s mother, Delicia Belle, 42, said she’s excited for her daughter. 
"She’s found a passion for it and I’m curious to see where it goes," she said. 
The inspiration for the pilot program was Eva Herrera Campos, 14, who in sixth grade began observing trials when her brother, Cesar, was a high school volunteer. She wasn’t interested in the law and wanted to be a veterinarian, she said, but was looking for an excuse to get away from friends who were getting into trouble. 
"I just tried to find a safe space I could go to," Herrera Campos said. 
She soon became captivated by the process and within six months was begging to play any role, she said. She was so enthusiastic and inquisitive, Reyer said they made an exception and by eighth grade Herrera Campos was brought into the program. 
"I genuinely loved it so much I wanted to keep doing it," she said. Herrara Campos is now a ninth-grader at Farmingdale High School and said she wants to become a defense attorney. 
The program, which she calls a second home, also gave her confidence and helped improve her public speaking skills, she said. 
"When I was in 6th grade I wouldn’t raise my hand even if I knew the answer was right," she said. "Now I try to speak out as much as possible, even if I don’t know if the answer is right." 
Her brother is 22 now and is still volunteering with the program, as a judge. He is in his second year of law school at St. John’s University. 
"Throughout my time there I’ve seen so many interesting and touching cases where little by little you can see the difference you make in some of these kids’ lives," he said. 
Jasmin and Reyer said one of the more impactful parts of the program is that it requires former offenders to be on the jury for other cases as part of their disposition or "sentence." 
Jurors get to ask the offenders questions, and Jasmin said he’s often surprised at the insightfulness of former offenders. 
"That part of the program I feel has the most impact on kids, because the questions that they ask are really reflective of themselves," he said. 
Reyer said it can be empowering and lead to a moment of enlightenment. 
"Not only are they learning from their own mistakes, they’re learning from the mistakes of the kids who come after them," Reyer said. "It really empowers them to make a change in the justice system where they often feel powerless and to really have an impact on other kids who might be in a similar situation." 
In addition to jury duty, all offenders are required to perform community service. The jury determines the length of service for both, and may impose other sanctions, such as writing apology letters to the victims, counseling, anger management classes or drug evaluations. Once completed, the offender’s case is permanently sealed. 
Before the pandemic, the program was handling 80 cases per year but is now spacing them out more, and heard about 50 last year, Jasmin said. Since the program began, it has completed 1,022 cases as of last month. The recidivism rate for offenders in the program is 8%. 
"We just hope that when a child leaves the program, we’ve put them in a better place," he said. 
The teen respondents often just want to be heard, said Sophia Luisi, 15, an East Meadow High School tenth grader in the program. "I think a lot of them open up more when they see that a person their age is going to be defending them or prosecuting them," she said. "It really just shows that sometimes adults can’t really see the same way that a child can when talking to a child who did something wrong."

Nassau

toPEER220116

Nassau pilot program puts law and order in hands of teens, preteens

The Nassau County Peer Diversion Court has expanded its program to middle schoolers at Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead. The program gives students who have been charged with nonviolent crimes the option of having their case heard before a courtroom of their peers.


Pilot program allows nonviolent juvenile offenders to be tried by peers

Hempstead Town

Newsday

toPEER220116_video

Michael Gormley

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul and two powerful state legislators say they are looking to make a significant change in welfare law so New Yorkers in need will no longer be denied temporary public assistance because they exceed outdated limits on how much they can earn and save. 
The plight of social service recipients facing these asset limits has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic shutdown, Democratic and Republican leaders agreed. Many recently unemployed workers seeking temporary assistance for the first time have to "spend down" their assets, including savings or a second car, in order to qualify. Others were forced to pass up a job or a raise of as little as 50 cents an hour to keep their public assistance, state officials and advocates said. 
It's called the "benefits cliff" — the limit on how much recipients can earn and save before they are dropped or barred from Temporary and Disability Assistance, formerly called welfare. Advocates and state officials say the benefits cliff is an outdated, counterproductive procedure that forces New Yorkers deeper into a hole of dependency, instead of providing a bridge out of it. 
Hochul and two of the State Legislature’s progressive leaders, Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx) and Assemb. Yuh-Line Niou (D-Manhattan), are targeting the "asset test" in a law created to help avoid fraud, waste and abuse of the social services system. 
The legislature’s two Republican leaders also believe the law should be adjusted to help needy New Yorkers but say there still must be a balance to ward off fraud and waste. 
Hochul wants to raise the caps on savings, now about $2,000, and earnings — now, the first $90 of earnings plus 55% of the remainder each month are not counted against public assistance aid. Niou and Biaggi want to eliminate the caps altogether, with less rigid safeguards against fraud and waste. Some advocates are seeking a sliding scale to avoid an abrupt cutoff of aid. 
The maximum temporary assistance is $789 a month for a family of three in New York City. Recipients are limited to 60 months, or five years, in a lifetime. 
"The asset test, being so low, forces our clients into a permanent state of financial crisis in order to be able to apply for benefits and makes it nearly impossible for them to dig their way out of it," said Abby Biberman. She is the senior supervising attorney for the New York Legal Assistance Group in Albany, an advocate for legal services for the poor combating economic, social and racial injustice. 
The public assistance cash limit was last increased by 5% in 2012, and the allowance for funds to pay rent hasn’t increased significantly for decades, Biberman said. 
Here’s a case: A family consisting of a parent and two children can receive $1,580 to cover their monthly rent. The family also can get $389 in monthly cash as well as benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP — to help pay for food. If the parent then lands a job earning $1,500 per month, or $18,000 a year, which is below the state poverty level of $21,720 for a family of three, the family would then get kicked off temporary public assistance. Under a formula in current state law, the "standard need" for the household is $1,459 per month. 
"They have fallen off the benefits cliff," Biberman said, relaying the experience of a client. "The public assistance ‘standard of need’ is … simply outdated. In addition to that, it really doesn’t allow for clients to smoothly transition off of benefits and achieve financial stability." 
Hochul said the limits are holding back families and individuals during the pandemic who never expected to depend on social services. 
"This has been a tough hit for all people from all walks of life, this pandemic," Hochul said. "It’s winding down, but there’s still the collateral damage, the fallout, from people who have not been able to earn the same amount of income, so they are falling between the cracks. That’s what that adjustment is about." 
About 469,000 New Yorkers receive Temporary and Disability Assistance statewide. 
Hochul hasn’t released details of her proposal. It will be subject to negotiation with the legislature, where an existing bill would eliminate the asset limits. But her inclusion of the proposal in her 2022 agenda creates a momentum to change the assets cap, as similar bills foundered in 2018, 2019 and in 2020. 
Seven states — Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio and Virginia — have no asset test or limits, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2018, Massachusetts more than doubled its limit and Vermont more than quadrupled its limit. 
"I look forward to learning more specifics on the governor’s plan, because addressing poverty and homelessness must absolutely be a priority," said Senate Republican leader Rob Ortt of North Tonawanda. "However, it’s important that we work toward a balanced solution that removes earnings disincentives but still maintains important safeguards that are necessary to prevent fraud and abuse." 
Assembly Republican leader Will Barclay said addressing homelessness and poverty "are critical priorities, especially in the current climate caused by the pandemic." He called the benefits cliff a "disincentive for individuals to get back to work or to increase earnings." 
"We should get help to the people who need it, but we obviously need to be mindful of abuse in the system," Barclay said. "An asset test or limit is a measure of protection for taxpayers. For the most part, Governor Hochul has recognized the importance of such a requirement with asset limits. But any proposals from the radical left to eliminate all asset limits are completely irresponsible — New York State shouldn’t be in the business of writing blank checks." 
Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, an advocacy group for the poor and working poor, praised Hochul's plan. "Public assistance is meant to be a bridge for families and individuals who fall on hard times," he said. "Unfortunately, the system itself mires families in poverty by limiting how much they can earn or save and still be eligible for services and benefits they desperately need. " 
Biaggi's and Niou's bill states that eliminating the limits also would save the state and county governments the cost of conducting detailed asset tests. 
Niou, the bill’s Assembly sponsor, said the asset test is far-reaching and impacts New Yorkers from young families of women and children to seniors. She said the test plays a role in the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage program to provide affordable medications to 325,000 older New Yorkers; and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps put food on the table for 2.7 million New Yorkers; as well help in paying for heating bills and child care. 
"People I know are afraid to take a small raise, as little as $10," Niou told Newsday. "They are forced to stay in the cycle instead of move upwardly because they are trapped. … It’s too much of a risk when so much is at stake." 
Biaggi, the Senate sponsor, said the pandemic underscores the need for change. 
"As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial for New York State to remove all asset limits that impede New Yorkers from accessing public assistance," Biaggi said. "It is our responsibility to ensure that those in need of government programs and assistance are not met with barriers or forced to spend down in order to become eligible — which only brings them further from economic self-sufficiency and defeats the purpose of social services to uplift those in need of assistance."

News

Region/State

stCLIFF220130

Hochul wants to make social services 'fiscal cliff' less precipitous

stCLIFF220130_photos

Tom Rock

LOS ANGELES — The Rams are trying to win a title for Aaron Donald. 
Aaron Donald is trying to win one for someone else. 
Three years ago the most dominant interior defensive lineman of his generation — and maybe ever — made a promise to his 5-year-old daughter Jaeda. He told her she would be able to play in the confetti that covered the field after they won the championship. The Patriots kept him from fulfilling that vow, beating the Rams in Super Bowl LIII, and it was hard to tell who was more disappointed. 
Anyone who has ever promised something to a child knows those contracts are never forgotten. 
"She always asks me, ‘Remember, Daddy? You said I could play in the confetti when we win the Super Bowl. You’ve got to win the Super Bowl,’ " Donald said this week of the now 8-year-old holding him to his word. "Those are memories that last forever. Being able to share that with your family, with your kids, that’s special." 
Or at least Donald imagines it is, because he has never done it. 
He’s done just about everything else imaginable. He’s been a Pro Bowler every one of his eight years in the NFL, voted an All-Pro seven times and named Defensive Player of the Year three times. He has 98 career sacks in 127 games. 
He is so revered and respected that during Rams defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson’s media availability this week, a reporter asked about Donald by calling him "the best defensive player in the world." 
Robinson corrected that description. 
"The best player in the world," he said. 
But there is that one hole on his resume. 
"I know what it feels like to be there [in a Super Bowl], but I don’t know what it feels like to win," he said. "I feel like I accomplished a lot in a short amount of time in this league. 
 The only thing I’m lacking now is being a world champion." 
Not for long, if the rest of the Rams have anything to say about it. 
"This building wants to win for Aaron Donald, to create more for his legacy and what he’s done," defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said. "Our people in PR, community relations, the football office, ops, everything that we have, the training room, his players, his brothers — we want to win for Aaron Donald." 
Part of that is because of how much Donald has meant to the game, but it’s also because of what Donald has meant to the Rams. 
On a team that has more imported parts than a Formula One garage — almost all of the key players come from elsewhere, including Matthew Stafford, Odell Beckham Jr., Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd, Eric Weddle, Andrew Whitworth — Donald stands out as a homegrown product. The Rams selected him with the 13th pick in the 2014 draft (one pick after the Giants took Beckham), and in his first three seasons, the team posted a losing record. The last five have finished with winning records — four of them with a playoff berth and two of them with a Super Bowl appearance. 
"That means a lot,’’ Donald said of everyone in the organization pulling for him. "Words can’t express the way that feels, hearing it from my teammates, definitely your brothers. You’re doing everything in your power to help the team win, to help them win, and for them to feel they’re trying to help me accomplish something, that’s huge, man. It’s a blessing my guys got that much love for me to try to do that. We’re trying to win this not just for me, for all of us.’’ 
And now, that last step: Super Bowl LVI against the Bengals. 
"That’s really all we talk about," Miller said of his relationship with Donald. "Everything that I talk to him about is about winning a Super Bowl, how can I help him be a better Aaron Donald, how can he make me a better Von Miller. Our whole friendship is about winning this Super Bowl." 
Morris recalled watching that Super Bowl three years ago. 
"I remember watching Aaron Donald’s face because they kept showing him on television," Morris said. "I looked into his eyes, and I felt that hurt. I felt that pain. And when I got here, that was the first thing that I said to him. I said, ‘I’m going to do everything in my power, everything possible, to help you win a championship.’ " 
Donald had a different reaction at the end of his most recent game. He gave a passionate sideline address to his teammates, flexing the vocal leadership muscles that those close to him — including Miller, who joined the team in midseason — have been getting on him to flex more often, and when the Rams closed out their win over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, he started pointing. 
Not at the opponent. Not at his teammates. At his empty ring finger. 
"When that happened, it was just off of emotion, a lot of emotions running through you, excitement,’’ Donald said. "The ultimate goal is to be playing in this game." 
And if things go well, to be playing in confetti with Jaeden after it, having kept a three-year-old promise and providing the crowning achievement in a Hall of Fame career that has one empty box left to check.

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Super Bowl 2022: Aaron Donald eyes elusive Super Bowl ring

Donald eyes elusive Super Bowl ring

Cardinals Rams Football

Bengals rookie kicker Evan McPherson wants to be legendary. He’s off to a great start. 
McPherson is 12-for-12 on field-goal attempts in the playoffs. He needs three more in Sunday’s Super Bowl to break Adam Vinatieri’s 15-year-old record for a single postseason, and McPherson said he’s shooting for it. He has never met or spoken to Vinatieri, but he can’t wait for that opportunity. 
"Adam’s a guy I looked up to and watched a lot of videos on," McPherson said. "I love to watch his run with the Patriots when he’s kicking game-winners in the Super Bowl. I think every kid’s dream is to kick the game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl. He’s definitely meant a lot to me in my career." 
McPherson has kicked two game-winners in the Bengals’ unexpected run to the Super Bowl. He hit from 52 yards out as time expired in the divisional round in Tennessee and kicked a 31-yarder in overtime in the AFC Championship Game to knock out Kansas City. 
Vinatieri has the only walk-off field goal in Super Bowl history. His 48-yarder lifted the Patriots over the Rams 20 years ago in Super Bowl XXXVI. McPherson wouldn’t mind doing that. 
"I think it’s super-cool," he said. "If we get the opportunity to do that, I hope we come through with it." 
McPherson usually comes through for Cincinnati. 
The fifth-round pick from Florida has been successful on 40 of 45 attempts, playoffs included, and set a record with 12 field goals of at least 50 yards. 
In an overtime loss to Green Bay in Week 5, McPherson missed his only two field-goal tries. He celebrated after seeing his overtime kick go straight off his foot, but it ended up being no good. 
Since then, he is 35-for-37. 
"Knowing that’s just one kick, it doesn’t define me," McPherson said. "The next one is the only one that matters. To fight through a little adversity is always good for kickers, just to see you if you could get over that hump. To see that I was able to was a big confidence-booster for me." 
So much so that before McPherson’s kick against the Titans, he said to his teammates, "Looks like we’re going to the AFC Championship." McPherson told TMZ that before his game-winner against Kansas City, he said to holder Kevin Huber, "Let’s be legendary." 
McPherson’s confidence right now is higher than many of his kicks. 
"I think you really got to have it as a kicker," he said. "I feel like if you’re confident you’re going to go out here and hit the kick, there’s a better chance of it going in. You really have to go out there and know in your mind there’s really no way you can miss the kick. That’s kind of how I process going through a kick."

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Super Bowl 2022: Bengals' Evan McPherson gets a kick out of streak

Bengals'  McPherson gets a kick out of streak

APTOPIX Bengals Chiefs Football

Andrew Gross

One sequence summed up the Islanders’ inability to finish chances in Friday night’s 3-1 loss to the Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton. 
Zach Parise, getting to the crease, couldn’t convert a two-on-none rush with defenseman Noah Dobson at 3:44 of the second period. Then defenseman Adam Pelech was denied at the net on a two-on-one 24 seconds later. 
The Islanders also failed to score on two two-on-none opportunities in Wednesday’s 6-3 win in Vancouver. Coach Barry Trotz said it might be because they don’t disguise their intentions on the odd-man rushes. 
"A couple of times we’ve shown pass the whole time," Trotz said. "There wasn’t a lot of deception. That allows a goalie to plant his edge a little bit and be ready for that pass. We could use a little more deception. Or just shoot the puck and if you don’t score, there’s a rebound, you get a second chance."  
<h3>In net</h3> 
Semyon Varlamov likely will be the starter on Saturday night in Calgary after Ilya Sorokin started against the Oilers. 
With Varlamov still unavailable after missing training camp, Sorokin started back-to-back games on Oct. 23-24 in wins at Arizona and Vegas. Varlamov appeared in back-to-back games when he started a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Nov. 15, then came on in relief in the second period of a 6-1 loss at Florida the next day after Sorokin allowed four first-period goals. 
The Islanders are 2-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs.  
<h3>Isles were wary of Oilers</h3> 
The Oilers opened their three-game homestand with back-to-back losses to Vegas and Chicago, which is why Jay Woodcroft and not the fired Dave Tippett was behind their bench against the Islanders. 
If anything, that left the Islanders even more wary of the offensively dangerous Oilers, and with good reason. 
"It’s a clean slate for the entire team over there and everyone’s looking to make their first impression on the new coach," Matt Martin said. "They’ve got two of the best players in the world [Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl]." 
The Oilers, who also have added the talented but troubled Evander Kane, won nine of their first 10 but have played sub-.500 hockey since then. 
"You always will have the initial adrenaline because it’s probably put on the players when there is a coaching change," Trotz said. "Usually, that initial game, you’re going to get a lot of energy, a lot of commitment. There’s a responsibility to that group to respond after a coaching change." 
<h3>Isles files</h3> 
Josh Bailey tied Mathew Barzal for the team lead with his 18th assist . . . Defenseman Andy Greene had four of the Islanders’ 16 blocked shots . . . Kyle Palmieri rejoined the team after missing Wednesday’s game as his wife gave birth to their first child. He was a healthy scratch along with Kieffer Bellows and defenseman Sebastian Aho.

Sports

Hockey

New York Islanders

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Barry Trotz: Islanders would benefit from a little more deception

Trotz: Islanders would benefit from a little more deception

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The Islanders’ scoring chances and odd-man rushes kept coming for a second straight game. This time the goals did not follow, though, partly because of goalie Mike Smith and partly because they couldn’t finish. 
"I look at it as a good hockey game," coach Barry Trotz said. "I really felt we could have been up a couple of pucks in the first period. We didn’t find the back of the net. A little bit of us and a little bit of Mike Smith, I thought he played very well. We had some really good looks." 
So the Islanders reached the midpoint of their season — the last NHL team to do so — with a frustrating 3-1 loss to the Oilers on Friday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton that kept them 15 points out of the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. 
The Islanders (17-18-6) will play in Calgary on Saturday night after opening this four-game road trip by matching their season high for goals in a 6-3 win in Vancouver on Wednesday. Ilya Sorokin, not as sharp as he was against the Canucks, made 33 saves against Edmonton. 
"You can say [Smith] played a really good game, but we’ve also got to find a way to score," defenseman Scott Mayfield said. "I like the chances we did get. I like the shots we took. I think we got some Grade-As in there that I think will go in more times than not. Just not tonight." 
Per naturalstattrick.com, five of the Islanders’ 10 high-danger chances came in the first period. The Oilers had no high-danger chances in the opening 20 minutes but went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead. 
The maligned Smith, who brought a dismal 3.83 goals-against average and .890 save percentage into the game, stopped 37 shots for his first win since Oct. 16. The Oilers (24-18-3) were playing their first game for new coach Jay Woodcroft, who was promoted from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield to replace the fired Dave Tippett. 
"I thought our game was good tonight," said Anthony Beauvillier, whose power-play goal from the left brought the Islanders within 2-1 at 15:04 of the second period. "All four lines were going and we created a lot of stuff. It’s unfortunate we’re getting out of here empty-handed." 
Trotz kept his shaken-up lines intact from Wednesday’s win. Cal Clutterbuck stayed on Mathew Barzal’s top line, Ross Johnston skated on Brock Nelson’s second line and Beauvillier, usually a top-six forward, was on fourth-line center Casey Cizikas’ right wing. 
The Islanders scored five goals in the first period against the Canucks and again started strong on Friday. But Smith, making only his ninth appearance this season, turned aside all 19 shots he faced in the first period. That included stretching out his left pad to deny Barzal at the post on a power-play rush at 17:06. 
Smith also turned aside Cizikas as he got to the net at 18:38 of the second period and Beauvillier hit the crossbar on a two-on-one rush at 1:17 of the third period. 
Defenseman Cody Ceci’s blue-line slap shot beat a screened Sorokin to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead with 56.6 seconds left in the first period. Zach Hyman’s 100th career goal — he kept the puck on a two-on-one and beat Sorokin underneath his glove from the left circle — made it 2-0 at 10:17 of the second period. 
The Oilers regained a two-goal lead on Jesse Puljujarvi’s power-play goal at 9:14 of the third period, just three seconds after Mayfield tripped Connor McDavid (two assists). Puljujarvi beat Sorokin through his pads from the low slot while falling to the ice.

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Islanders reach midpoint of season with loss to Oilers

Islanders Oilers Hockey

LOS ANGELES — Michael Irvin knows a lot about wide receivers. He’s a Hall of Famer who played the position, so there is a pretty good depth of knowledge. 
But when he wants to know more, he turns to Jerry Sullivan. 
Sullivan is the wide receiver guru who made such an early impact on Irvin that he nearly convinced him to play his college football not at warm, glitzy, sexy, successful University of Miami but at cold, bland, boring Indiana. The Bloomington winters likely were too much for Irvin to stomach so they never connected formally, but the two have stayed in touch for the past four decades. 
"He’s been working with wide receivers that long," said Irvin, also an analyst for NFL Network. 
Irvin trusts Sullivan’s opinion on his trade more than just about anyone’s, including his own. 
So when Sullivan started raving about a kid he was working with at LSU, Irvin listened. 
"He said he’s never seen anybody with such raw physical skills and abilities," Irvin said of Sullivan’s assessment of Ja’Marr Chase. 
There was something missing, though. Something that Chase needed to develop. His talents were all-world, but his drive to be great? It was middle of the road. 
That’s where LSU teammate Justin Jefferson came in. 
"[Sullivan] said the best thing for him was he spent a lot of time around Justin Jefferson," Irvin said. "He said Justin Jefferson is the only other athlete he’d seen who wanted to win as much as I did, that he had that level of competitiveness. And when they spent time together, it rubbed off on Ja’Marr and now he’s a whole new beast. He’s always had the physical skill set, the gift, the ability, but now he’s got a taste of the lion’s hunger from Justin Jefferson. He bit into it and now he has it. He has everything." 
It’s that combination of skill and spirit that has allowed Chase to explode on the NFL scene. The Bengals wide receiver’s 1,455 receiving yards set a rookie record, edging Jefferson’s 1,400 yards for the 2020 Vikings. 
Chase has set records. He already has been named offensive rookie of the year. Now he’s trying to cap one of the most phenomenal first years with a Super Bowl victory. 
If he has a big enough game, Chase also has the opportunity to do something that no rookie has ever accomplished: win Super Bowl MVP. 
What he has done already seems plenty, though. Certainly it’s enough to put him atop the pantheon of his position in his franchise’s history. 
Even Chad Johnson, the Bengals’ all-time leading receiver, has ceded that. 
Yes, Ochocinco says Chase is Numero Uno. 
"He’s probably the best Bengals receiver to don the damn stripes," Johnson said in a radio interview this week. "He had a stellar rookie season that’s never been done. He’s playing in a Super Bowl. I had a decade to help my team achieve and get to. I didn’t do that. 
" . . . I might have been the most entertaining receiver — maybe player — to ever play this game. But what Ja’Marr has done in just a year’s time would identify him as the best Bengal to ever play, especially at the receiver position." 
Another former Bengals receiver echoed that sentiment . . . and likely will on Sunday. 
Cris Collinsworth, who will call the game for NBC, noted the contributions of Johnson, Isaac Curtis and others. 
"Ja’Marr Chase, in my estimation, is already the best receiver that I’ve ever seen play with a Cincinnati Bengals uniform on, and I don’t say that lightly," he said. "The number of times I’ve seen Ja’Marr Chase catch the football 5 or 10 yards down the field and score a touchdown without anybody touching him, his catch-and-run skills have just been so much fun to watch this season." 
Even Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. — who once stormed into the NFL from LSU — is impressed. 
"He’s someone I watched closely at LSU and just the things he was able to do, it wasn’t just like because of the offense or the coordinator that these guys were going crazy," Beckham said. "He’s an elite guy. It truly is amazing what he’s done as a rookie . . . I’m just very happy for him." 
There is a good chance that the Bengals’ chance to beat the Rams hinges on Chase. Irvin said we’ll quickly be able to tell whether that will happen based on how Joe Burrow reacts to the expected matchup of Chase and All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey. 
Irvin harkened back to Troy Aikman’s recent criticism of Dak Prescott not getting the ball to CeeDee Lamb in the Cowboys’ playoff loss to the 49ers. 
"Troy said, ‘If I was with Michael right now, he would have 18 catches because once I see one-on-one on that back side, that’s the throw,’ " Irvin said. "Joe Burrow and Chase do that. One-on-one, you put the book down, there is no more reading the defense, I’m going over here with the ball. 
"And I can’t wait to see if he holds on to that when it’s one-on-one with Ramsey. That’s the psychological game. When he sees one-on-one, does he go right to Chase or does he start looking around doing what he didn’t do all year long?" 
It’s important for Burrow to keep feeding Chase, Irvin said, because of the message it sends. 
"This will be a mental wrestling moment right here to watch," he said. "Norv Turner would always say to me, ‘Michael, I cannot let a guy take you out of our offense. I can’t even let our offense perceive that he is taking you out. I have to work you in early because if I don’t work you in early, then in their minds, they’re going to be like, oh, man, they’re taking out our best weapon.’ That takes a little hope away from them, and I always say hope will dictate everything."

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Super Bowl 2022: Bengals rookie WR Ja'Marr Chase is complete package

Bengals rookie WR Chase is complete package

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Gene Morris

The last time there was a Suffolk Division II wrestling championship in February 2020, Max Gallagher and Joe Sparacio wrestled back-to-back, clinching county titles. 
It’s been two years and a lot has changed in the world — including Sparacio moving from Bayport-Blue Point and now wrestling for Mattituck, which hosted the meet. 
But not much has changed once the former teammates and childhood friends get on the mat. BBP junior Gallagher pinned Liam Rogers of Port Jefferson in 2:35 in the 126-pound final and Sparacio followed at 132 with a fall in 3:54 over Tristan Petretti of Shoreham-Wading River as both clinched a spot at the state championship tournament in Albany beginning Feb. 25. 
It was the fourth county title for Sparacio, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler, and the third for Gallagher. 
"We’ve been wrestling together since kindergarten and it was great to be able to warm up with him," Sparacio said. "It brings back memories of being on the same team." 
Now they’ll be teammates again on the Suffolk team that travels to Albany hoping to bring home a state title. 
"I feel like it’s definitely my time and I belong more than I ever have," Gallagher said. He finished second in the state in 2020 as a freshman and third in 2019. "I feel like this is my weight class and I’m the guy to beat." 
"I’m still working on some stuff," Sparacio said, "but it’s definitely time for me to clutch up and win it." 
Gallagher’s Bayport teammate Kyle Barber will be joining them on the trip upstate after upsetting 2020 county champion Craig Jablonski of SWR in the 138-pound final. 
"I knew I had to make something happen," Barber said. "I was down and I wasn’t supposed to win but I came through and locked it up and got the pin." 
Barber trailed 10-6 in the second period before he secured the pin at 3:22. 
"It was amazing," Gallagher said. "I knew all year he could do it, he’s funky like that and catches a lot of kids. I was impressed but I also expected it." 
They’ll all be joined upstate by the five champions from Glenn, which took home the team title with 277 points. SWR was second with 189.5 and BBP finished third with 182. 
"I always dreamed of this moment," Glenn’s Joe Lacorte said. "I remember being a freshman and sitting in the crowd and saying ‘when I’m a senior this is going to be me.’ It almost didn’t feel real stepping onto the big mat." 
Lacorte won 5-2 over Port Jefferson’s Anthony Pipia to win at 160-pounds. 
"We work hard everyday and put in the hours and it paid off," Colin Presti, the 170-pound champion said. "It goes to show what the Glenn name and program is all about."

High School

Wrestling

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Nothing's changed for wrestlers Max Gallagher and Joe Sparacio

Nothing's changed for wrestlers Gallagher, Sparacio

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Colin Stephenson

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Adam Fox was back on the ice when the Rangers returned to practice Friday, but Kaapo Kakko was not, and coach Gerard Gallant said it will be some time before Kakko is seen in uniform again. 
"He's gonna be out for a while,’’ Gallant said after the Rangers’ first practice since they played their last game Feb. 1. "Probably at least a month.’’ 
The Finnish forward, who will turn 21 on Sunday, last played on Jan. 21 in the Rangers’ 6-3 road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He took warmups the next night, when the Rangers faced the Arizona Coyotes at Madison Square Garden, but he was a late scratch and did not play. 
After the game, Gallant announced that Kakko would be out on a day-to-day basis with an upper-body injury. He was placed on the injured reserve list the next day and missed the team’s last six games before the All-Star break. 
Gallant would not answer the question of whether Kakko either has had or will need any type of surgery, and he completely dodged the question of whether the injury is at all related to the upper-body injury the 6-3, 205-pounder suffered in an Oct. 16 game in Montreal that caused him to miss four games. 
The coach did say the injury was something that had been nagging Kakko for about a week before he was scratched from the Arizona game. 
Kakko’s absence for an extended period likely means Alexis Lafreniere, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, will continue to get a chance to play on the top forward line with center Mika Zibanejad and All-Star left wing Chris Kreider, whose 33 goals this season were tied with the Oilers' Leon Draisaitl for the league lead entering play Friday. 
Kakko, a right wing, had been on that line. Lafreniere, a natural left wing, had played with Kreider and Zibanejad in the last two games before the break and scored a goal in each game. 
<h3>Fox likely to play</h3> 
Fox, who was taken off injured reserve Thursday (he was out with an upper-body injury), practiced wearing orange socks rather than blue ones that would have matched his jersey. That indicated he was practicing in a no-contact situation. The entire practice was all about skating and drills, however, and there was no contact at all. Gallant said Fox looked good and "we expect him to be ready to play.’’ The Rangers’ next game is Tuesday against Boston. 
<h3>Blue chips</h3> 
Forward Filip Chytil, who missed the last five games before the break with a lower-body injury, also practiced. 
"He's just coming back, and hopefully he's at full strength,’’ Gallant said. "He skated really good today and we'll take it one day at a time. But I see him getting real close, if he's not ready now. He skated hard today.’’ . . . D Patrik Nemeth, who missed the last four games before the break because of a personal issue, practiced . . . The Rangers called up F Morgan Barron from AHL Hartford.

New York Rangers

spRANG220212

Rangers' Kaapo Kakko seems likely to be out long-term

Rangers' Kakko seems likely to be out long-term

spRANGERS220103

Steve Popper

PORTLAND, Ore. — When Cam Reddish got the call to enter Thursday night's game against Golden State, it wasn’t accompanied by the chants that have echoed through Madison Square Garden, pleading with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau to insert the newcomer into the game. 
Instead, it came with a shrug and a recognition that Reddish was the player whom the Knicks had traded for a month ago and had spent considerable time and effort to deal away ahead of the NBA trade deadline. 
Reddish played nearly 20 minutes in the Knicks' surprising 116-114 win over Golden State, compiling 12 points, three assists and two steals. It was a solid contribution off of the bench, but the sort of up-and-down performance that alternately provided hints of his potential and also why Atlanta was more than willing to ship him away midway through his third season. 
He had asked for his exit from Atlanta, hoping to find a new home with a better opportunity. He got his wish but already has found that the grass isn’t greener on the other side, going from more than 23 minutes per game (including seven starts) with the Hawks to six appearances averaging 11.5 minutes with the Knicks. He was inactive for his first four games with his new team and never got off the bench in four others. And he admitted he heard talk that he could have been traded Thursday. 
"It wasn’t tough. It’s a business," Reddish said. "I learned that a few weeks go. Nothing’s going to faze me. It is what it is. I’m ready for pretty much anything. I’m here in New York, happy to be here and hoping to get some more runs." 
What he has learned quickly is that after being a hyped prospect as he entered Duke — with RJ Barrett — potential can be a dirty word when a player doesn’t live up to the talk. 
"Cam has been terrific," Thibodeau said. "We knew when we made the trade there was a logjam, but his attitude has been terrific and that’s what I go by. And he’s going to play based on performance. And so it’s how you practice that’s important. It’s how you conduct yourself that’s important. That’s for everyone. 
"That’s why Quentin [Grimes] is in there. It started off for Quentin by the way he practiced, and when he got his opportunity, he played great for us. He plays tough on every possession. 
"To win in this league, you have to have competitiveness, that’s a big part of it. I don’t buy into the thing about potential and all that. You get what you earn in this league." 
Is it a coincidence that in talking about Reddish, Thibodeau quickly detoured to Grimes, who has met his demanding standards? It almost certainly is a message for Reddish, that if he wants the playing time, that is the model he should follow, no matter the raw tools he possesses. 
The tools are tantalizing. Reddish had four baskets Thursday — a three-point field goal to start it, then two athletic drives and finger rolls at the rim, and finally a smooth midrange jumper. It is a tease for fans, but he knows he is assured of nothing with the Knicks right now. 
"It’s different," Reddish said. "Obviously, it’s a learning experience, a lot I can learn from it. So I’m just trying to stay ready. When my number is called, be ready. That’s pretty much it. 
"I know what I can do on the floor. I’m pretty confident in myself. So I’m not tripping about anything. I know that my time will come, and when it comes, I want to be ready. I’m just trying to stay ready, just be in the gym. I’ve got to get back into game shape, find that game rhythm that comes by shooting the ball, stuff like that. Hopefully that will come in the next few games, whatever, and I’ll go from there." 
There is one more road stop and then it’s back to the Garden, where amid the team’s struggles he is the young player the fans want to see. They have made their point very clear and very loudly with chants and calls for him. 
"It’s unreal. Unbelievable fan support," Reddish said. "It’s really hard to put into words how much love I’ve gotten from the city of New York. I’m just appreciative of it all. It’s been a crazy transition. I’m on the road now trying to get settled back in New York. It’s been a hectic time, but I appreciate the fan love."

Basketball

New York Knicks

spKNIX220212

Knicks' Cam Reddish has good game, hopes for more playing time

Knicks' Reddish has good game, hopes for more playing time

Knicks_Warriors_Basketball_23258

Anthony Rieber

Nets general manager Sean Marks on Friday stopped short of saying he thinks the unvaccinated Kyrie Irving might be able to play in home games during the playoffs. But Marks did say he’s "optimistic" that recent trends loosening COVID-19 rules could be beneficial to the Nets’ hopes of having Irving as a full-time player at some point. 
Marks, speaking on a Zoom conference call to discuss Thursday’s Ben Simmons and James Harden mega-trade, said Irving’s status for the playoffs is not the top thing on his mind. 
"Regarding the playoff situation, I think that’s something we cross — we cross that bridge at that point," he said. "I think the concerns for us are immediate, right? Like it’s right now. What are we doing? How we bring in these new players into our fold here and how we can get the team healthy and back together as quick as possible and trending in the right direction." 
The Nets enter Saturday’s game in Miami having lost 10 in a row. Irving can play against the Heat, but not in the team’s final three games before the All-Star break under New York City’s current COVID rules. 
"The decision on the mandate, that’s obviously far above my pay grade and not something that I’m overly concerned about now," Marks said. "I think we’re always going to be optimistic. I just look around the world and I see things are changing, whether it’s the mask mandates, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and then you’ve got entire countries who are changing their outlook on Omicron and COVID and so forth. So again, far bigger discussion. 
"My hope would be that by the time we roll around to the playoffs, if not sooner. The world looks like a different place and the more people that are vaccinated and so forth, and we’re moving on. Economies have to keep moving, let alone NBA franchises."

Brooklyn Nets

spNSIDE220212

Kyrie Irving a full-time player at some point? Nets GM Sean Marks is 'optimistic' about it

Kyrie a full-time player at some point? Nets GM 'optimistic' about it

1368130962

Nets general manager Sean Marks made clear on Friday what NBA folks had suspected for some time now: that James Harden really wanted out of Brooklyn. 
"James was honest with us and we were honest with him," Marks said on a Zoom call the day after trading Harden 13 months after acquiring him from Houston. 
The Nets sent Harden and Paul Millsap to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks. The Nets will get the 76ers’ unprotected 2022 first-round pick and a protected 2027 first-round pick. 
"We make no bones about it," Marks said. "We went all in getting James Harden and inviting him into the group. These decisions to move on from a player like that, of that caliber, are never easy ones. I just want to be clear that this is not something that you think, ‘Great, let’s just make a swift decision and move on from that.’ 
"I give James a lot of credit for having open dialogue, open discussions with me and with the group . . . over the last 24, 48 hours. 
"I say they’re not easy, but I think that’s something we pride ourselves on is being open and honest. 
I think it’s a move that enables him to have a fresh start and enables this team to have a fresh start without trying to push things to make things work. If we realize this is not going to work, short term or long term, then it’s time to sort of say for both parties involved, this is better off." 
Marks would not divulge much about the conversations he, owner Joe Tsai and coach Steve Nash had with Harden leading up to the deal. 
"I think with this, there’s a lot of those conversations that obviously have to remain private, as you would expect," Marks said. "Everybody understands that, and if James wants to allude to those decisions and speak for himself, obviously totally happy for him to do that. 
"I think it’s just a feeling when you look [that] this is not working, whether it’s on the court, off the court, for a variety of different circumstances. Again, I give James credit for being open, up front and honest, and then again, that’s the way this organization prides itself on. 
"It’s not like neither side did not want this to work. It was more a sense of like, look, this is the right time and it’s the right thing to do is to move on now. 
"James has been up front from day one. The clock is ticking for him. He wants to win a championship and we do, too, and if he feels like this was not the right place to win a championship and we felt like we could continue with our goals of being that last team standing by making a trade, that’s why we made the deal." 
Marks said he doesn’t know when Simmons will make his Nets debut. The 25-year-old has not played this season after asking out of Philadelphia. 
"It’s probably too early to tell exactly when Ben’s going to be on the court since he’s currently doing his MRIs and physicals and getting signed off on that," he said. "So until we’ve seen him and seen the physical shape he’s been in, we’re not going to put him out on the court where it’ll be detrimental to his health and to just the sort of camaraderie that can be built within the team. 
"So we’ve got to get him a few practices and so forth first and just see where he is physically and go from there."

spNETS220212

James Harden wanted out of Brooklyn, Nets GM Sean Marks said

Nets GM: Harden wanted out

spNETS220126

Mike Hilton lives for challenges. There may be none bigger than what the Bengals’ slot cornerback will face in the Super Bowl. 
Hilton’s job on Sunday will be to try to do what few have done this season: contain Cooper Kupp. 
The Rams’ star slot receiver was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year after amassing one of the greatest seasons ever. Kupp caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns, the first receiver triple crown (leading the NFL in all three categories) since 2005. He has been just as unstoppable in the postseason with 25 catches for 386 yards and four touchdowns. 
Hilton looks at this as another opportunity to prove people wrong. 
"I know it’s going to be a big matchup between us both," he said. "Personally, I feel like we’re probably the best two slots in the game. What bigger stage to go out there and prove it? Me against him in the Super Bowl, can’t be a bigger moment." 
Hilton signed a four-year deal with Cincinnati after spending the previous four seasons with AFC North rival Pittsburgh. 
The 5-9 Hilton went undrafted out of Mississippi in 2016. He signed with the Jaguars as a rookie free agent and was cut in August. The Patriots signed Hilton to their practice squad and cut him a week later. 
The Steelers signed him to their practice squad that December, but he didn’t play for them until 2018. 
Hilton eventually established himself as one of the top nickel backs in the league, but he never lost the edge from being overlooked for so long. 
"Always having a chip on my shoulder, always being told I’m too small, going undrafted and not being invited to the Combine," he said. "I might be five years into my career, but I still have that chip on my shoulder like I just walked in the building today. 
"That’s something I thrive off of. I thrive off of proving people wrong, going out there and showing I might not look the part. But if you turn on the tape, I’m going to make plays, I’m going to be a leader, I’m going to be a guy that’s keeping guys energy up." 
That will be critical against the Rams’ talented receiving corps, which also features Odell Beckham Jr. and Van Jefferson. 
"Everyone knows me as a run- stopper and a guy that can get to the quarterback and make plays behind the line of scrimmage," Hilton said. "I’m just as confident in my coverage ability. I’m able to take the ball away, take out teams’ slot receivers and just do my part to help us win. I believe my all-around game is second to none." 
Hilton has made big plays for the Bengals during this unexpected Super Bowl run. 
He held Raiders leading receiver Hunter Renfrow to 58 yards and no touchdowns in the wild-card game. He intercepted Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the red zone on a slot blitz in the divisional round. Then he helped hold Tyreek Hill without a catch after halftime in the Bengals’ overtime win in the AFC Championship Game. 
Hilton’s matchup with Kupp presents a difficult challenge. He’s one of the best route runners and knows how to get separation. Hilton said he notices some tendencies in Kupp’s game, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult trying to limit him. 
"He’s just deceptive," Hilton said. "He’s a guy that knows how to switch tempos in the middle of his routes to slow DBs’ feet down or just make them hesitate for half a second. He can read defenses on the fly and [Matthew] Stafford trusts him. That’s his go-to guy." 
Added Hilton, "I’m confident in what I can do."

spBENG220212

Super Bowl 2022: Mike Hilton ready for super challenge against Cooper Kupp

Hilton ready for super challenge against  Kupp

Bengals Titans Football

LOS ANGELES — Odell Beckham Jr. has spent much of this week glancing at his phone. While he prepares for the biggest game of his life, he is waiting for the biggest call of his life. 
That will be the one that tells him his girlfriend, Lauren Wood, is about to deliver the couple’s first child. 
"I’m on standby," he said Friday, still in the holding pattern that he’s been circling in going back as far as the NFC Championship Game. 
One of these days the phone will buzz the good news. And if it happens to be on Sunday, well, Beckham said there will be another conversation to be had. 
"I’d have to make a call back to him and ask him to wait 36 hours," the Rams receiver said. 
Of course, that’s not how it works. Beckham had been hoping that the new arrival would arrive by now. Earlier in the week, he wasn’t even contemplating the enormity of having a child and playing in a Super Bowl on the same day . . . let alone the logistical conflicts that would ensue. 
He has not said — at least not with a serious answer — what his plans are if there is a confluence of events. 
"I don’t need you to put the energy in the air about the Saturday night or the Sunday thing," he said. "I think God has a different plan. I don’t need it during the Super Bowl. I want to see my child being born, so I’m on watch." 
Among the many benefits of playing a Super Bowl at home is Beckham’s ability to dash to a hospital for the birth and then return without having to fly or create convoluted contingencies. 
With his family in Los Angeles, he has the luxury of not having to travel. He theoretically could be at the hospital on Sunday morning and sprint over to SoFi Stadium in time for kickoff. 
In 2015, the Seahawks’ Richard Sherman faced the possibility of deciding between playing in a Super Bowl and being there for the birth of his child. He never had to make that call — the baby was born the Thursday after Seattle lost to the Patriots in Arizona — but he would have had to fly home for the event had he chosen to be there for a Sunday birth. 
Beckham has been to plenty of Super Bowls in his life. Normally he’s part of the background, a position that certainly does not suit his star power. He spoke about the thrill of having his friends in town to be part of the festivities around the big game while he is preparing to play in the big game. 
The former Giant and Brown, who left each of those teams on unpleasant terms — "I didn’t leave, I got booted," he said earlier this week of his departure from New York — managed to give some fuel to critics who have always considered him a me-first player who craves attention. Asked to whom he is dedicating his Super Bowl performance, he said his family, his new team, "the man above" and . . . himself. 
"I think a lot of times in life, we do so much for other people and we don’t take the time to recognize and appreciate yourself," he said. "I appreciate the resiliency I have had to get to this point. Some of this game is for yourself." 
Beckham’s career was nearly derailed by injuries, a shattered ankle with the Giants and a torn ACL with the Browns. Now he is on the verge of a Super Bowl. 
Assuming, of course, that the pending little one doesn’t have other ideas. 
When it comes down to it, though, football almost certainly will top fatherhood for Beckham if he is forced to make that call. 
"I’m obviously very happy to be in the big game," he said. "Coach always says, ‘Where would you rather be?’ " 
Beckham might have to answer that question in a way few others have had to. 
Notes &amp; quotes: Tyler Higbee’s long-shot chances to play in Super Bowl LVI petered out on Friday when the Rams placed him on injured reserve. The starting tight end, who injured his knee early in the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago, was second on the team in receptions (61) for 560 yards and five touchdowns in the regular season. He caught two passes for 18 yards against the 49ers before suffering the injury. His backup, Kendall Blanton, stepped in and caught five passes for 57 yards in the NFC title game and will be pressed into service again on Sunday . . . The Rams also placed backup offensive lineman Joe Noteboom on IR and activated RB Darrell Henderson and DL Sebastian Joseph-Day from IR.

spRAMS220212

Super Bowl 2022: Oh, baby! Odell Beckham Jr. may have super decision to make

Oh, baby! Odell Beckham Jr. may have super decision to make

1367730831

Mark Harrington

Crews began preliminary work on the roads of Wainscott Friday as a contingent of political and business leaders championed the start of construction of the state’s first offshore wind farm. 
"Long Island, you are the first, it’s always great to be first, congratulations," said Gov. Kathy Hochul to kick off a groundbreaking ceremony in East Hampton Friday morning, saying the work was "just the beginning." 
The South Fork Wind Farm, which would bring up to 130 megawatts of offshore wind to the East End, powering 70,000 homes, is a small part of the state’s goal of 9,000 megawatts of wind by 2035, or around a third of the state’s energy needs, Hochul said. 
Later asked by Newsday about the $2.013 billion cost of the project, one of LIPA’s most expensive, Hochul said, "It’s always more expensive to be the first. Every new form of energy is going to have some initial start-up costs." 
But she added, "You’ll eventually see costs come down. This was an important investment." 
Compared with South Fork Wind’s average 21 cents a kilowatt-hour cost over 25 years, more recently contracted projects are priced at around 8 cents, which is about the same cost for conventional natural gas power plants, which must be retired by 2040. 
LIPA chief Tom Falcone called the 2017-approved wind farm "a great project and a long time coming." Energy from the array, which will be located off the coast of Rhode Island, is expected to arrive in East Hampton and the East End at the end of 2023. 
"We’re establishing, right here, an entirely new form of energy for not just for the East End and New York but this region," he said. 
Customer bills would increase around $1.58 a month when the array is producing power from developers Orsted and EverSource, whose officials praised New York for leading the offshore wind transition. Falcone said LIPA needed to invest in clean new energy to comply with state environmental law and as dirty old fossil fuel plants near retirement. 
"We’re able to leapfrog from the 60-, 70-year old plants to a new form of generation, and we’ll be moderating costs by [capitalizing on the] size and scale and technology that will bring down the cost of offshore wind," he said, as newer arrays get built. 
Added Assemb. Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), "It may be expensive power but this is the future. We must electrify with renewables and get ourselves off dirty fossil-fuel plants." 
Opponents of the land-based cable in Wainscott were not at the event, but a small contingent of commercial fishing interests were outside, including Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, who said the impacts of pile-driving turbines and other factors would offset any benefit. 
"You don’t destroy the environment to save it," she said. She and others oppose the placement of turbines and cables that will reduce access to fishing grounds. 
To residents of Wainscott who have opposed the cable, Hochul, in response to a question said, "It’s a short-term disruption, just like any construction project," she said, "but a long-term benefit of weaning ourselves from fossil fuels … I understand the frustration, but ultimately it’s been planned in a way to [cause] the least amount of disruption." 
Mike McKeon, a spokesman for the Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott, said that while the group supports offshore wind, "we continue to have serious reservations regarding an infrastructure project that runs its cable through residential neighborhoods, and next to a [toxic] Superfund site, particularly when better alternative sites were available. Our focus will continue to be on protecting our community." 
U.S. Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland, who acknowledged the East Hampton event was taking place on the "ancestral homeland of the Shinnecock Indian Nation," called the start of work "a historic milestone" and told attendees the offshore wind onslaught is "really going to get big." The Biden administration has a goal of 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030. 
"This project and others like it will promote the development of a robust domestic U.S. supply chain of offshore wind while ensuring that these projects promote good-paying union jobs," she said. 
Patrick Guidice, business manager of Local 1049 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said his members were already at work on the South Fork cabling and substation project, which envisions up to 100 jobs through contractor, Haugland Energy Group, which is sourcing material locally. 
Environmentalists and officials noted that the start of wind-energy production was a long time coming. 
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, who has been advocating for wind power for decades, said the moment on Friday was "a bit surreal." 
"When you work on something for over 20 years and you finally see it happen, it’s mind blowing, but it’s also gratifying," she said.

Suffolk

poWIND220212

Officials hail start of offshore wind energy work in East Hampton

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday in East Hampton the groundbreaking of New York State's very first offshore wind project.


Gov. Hochul announces Long Island offshore wind project, first in New York

Gov. Hochul announces LI offshore wind project, first in NY

poWIND220212_video

Bart Jones

A federal judge on Friday evening refused to block an imminent mandate for all New York City workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or get fired. 
U.S. District Judge Diane Gujarati rejected a request for a temporary restraining order. The lawsuit argued that the mandate, which was going into effect Friday, is unconstitutionally discriminatory. 
Some of the thousands of unvaccinated city workers have been fighting to avoid getting fired because they refused to comply with the mandate. The lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday, said the mandate violates the workers' "fundamental religious and constitutional rights" and amounts to "religious harassment."<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50507271" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50507271">Story Widget Link</a>
 
Mayor Eric Adams rejected the workers' argument, saying their own actions are causing them to be dismissed. 
"This is the law of the land. People must follow it, and hopefully people will just listen to what we’re saying, hear my voice, and just get vaccinated, protect their families," Adams said Friday before Gujarati's ruling at a hearing on the religious challengers’ suit. 
The workers are required to show proof they have received at least two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or one shot of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine. 
Before Gujarati's ruling, Jonathan R. Nelson, a Manhattan-based attorney representing the workers, said, "Our clients have valid religious objections on the basis of religious exemption requests that the law permits them to make." 
The workers "need to have their requests treated fairly and that isn’t happening," he said. 
The plaintiffs included an NYPD officer, an FDNY rescue medic and employees of other agencies. 
<h3>Suit cites religious grounds</h3> 
The lawsuit was led by a group called New Yorkers for Religious Liberty. 
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio implemented the policy, saying it was needed to help bring under control a pandemic in a city that was once a global hot spot for COVID-19. Adams has continued the policy.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50507295" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50507295">Story Widget Link</a>
 
Many religious leaders, including Pope Francis, have encouraged people to get vaccinated. The workers have been on unpaid leave for months. 
The lawsuit was filed the same day Gov. Kathy Hochul lifted a statewide mandate requiring people to wear a mask or show proof of vaccination to be in indoor public places including restaurants, stores, offices, gyms and theaters. 
COVID-19 indicators released Friday continued a trend of general decline from record highs during the omicron surge, though levels remain higher than lows last spring. 
Long Island registered 582 new confirmed daily cases in test results from Thursday, and a seven-day positivity average of 4.09%. 
Across the state, 77 people died on Thursday of causes linked to the virus, with six fatalities in Nassau and four in Suffolk. 
<h3>NYC drafting list</h3> 
Adams said Friday that the city is drawing up a list, which could be in the thousands, of unvaccinated city workers who could be fired. 
The most recent count disclosed by the Adams administration shows that at the end of January, 4,000 municipal workers face dismissal in two groups: new hires who have not shown proof of a complete vaccination series, and those who went on unpaid leave last fall for failing to prove vaccination and didn’t accept the city’s offer for continued health care coverage. 
"We’re not firing them. People are quitting," Adams said Thursday. "The responsibility is clear. We said it: If you’re hired, if you get this job, you have to be vaccinated. If you are not following the rules, you are making that decision." 
He said the city over the weekend would tally the total number that will be cited. 
"It’s not about termination. It’s about vaccination. We want people to be vaccinated," he said at the opening of a health clinic in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on Friday. 
There are about a dozen FDNY personnel represented by the Uniformed Firefighters Association labor union whose firings are imminent, according to union president Andrew Ansbro. That's in addition to about 500 in the FDNY whose requests for an exemption to the vaccine, for medical or religious purposes, are pending, he said, speaking at a news conference in Manhattan at union headquarters; thousands have already been rejected. About 11 have been approved, he said. 
Adams, asked whether the fired workers would be replaced, said his administration was in the process of "right-sizing government," but that those who need to be replaced would be. 
"We’re going to do an assessment to make sure taxpayers are getting their money’s worth." 
He said that granting an exemption now to those who refused to get vaccinated would send the wrong message. 
"My fear is, if I come in and change that rule, I’m saying to all other New Yorkers who understood we were at a very dangerous place, and they complied — so we get another variant that’s dangerous and we say to New Yorkers, ‘This is what you must do to help us keep the city open and save lives,’ people are not going to take us seriously. That can’t happen," Adams said. 
Sign up to get text alerts about COVID-19 and other topics at <a href="http://newsday.com/text">newsday.com/text.</a>

Health

Coronavirus

liVIRUS220212

Judge refuses to block mandate calling for NYC workers to be vaccinated or be fired

Judge refuses to block mandate calling for NYC workers to be vaccinated

liVIRUS220212_photos

Victor Ocasio

Employees at a Starbucks in Great Neck have joined workers at three locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn to push for unionization, seeking increased pay and more say in workplace decisions. 
Fifteen employees at the Starbucks at 6 Great Neck Rd., near the village LIRR station, have signed union cards in support of a union vote. The store’s employees and those at the city locations have filed for union recognition with the Workers United New York New Jersey Regional Board, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. 
Joselyn Chuquillanqui, 27, a shift manager in Great Neck and one of the organizers of the union effort, said workers feel their voices are not heard. "A lot of the time, when we have concerns, we’re ignored, or they will pretend to listen to us ... but nothing gets fixed," said Chuquillanqui, an Elmont resident who’s worked as a Starbucks barista for seven years at different locations on Long Island. 
"Every time we speak out we’re ignored or vilified," she said. 
The union push, one of dozens at Starbucks around the country, comes amid a severe labor shortage that has left many restaurants and other service businesses desperate for workers, a situation which has given employees more leverage. 
"Because of the labor shortage, they’re not as scared of getting fired because if they do get fired, they will just go and find another day job," said Cathy Creighton, director of Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations office in Buffalo and a former labor attorney. "That is a reason for the moment." 
Creighton said it's "extraordinarily rare" to see lower-wage food and beverage workers seek unionization, especially as the nation's overall private union rate has been in decline for decades. Just over 6% of private-sector workers were represented by unions in 2021, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. 
"We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country," the company said in a statement to Newsday Thursday night. "From the beginning, we’ve been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed." 
Justin Wooster, 22, a Great Neck resident and barista at the Great Neck shop, said, "We’ve had issues throughout the year where we’ve complained" and not been heard. "We’re all looking forward to being able to vote." 
 
A spokeswoman with Workers United said the employees are requesting a union election for March 3. 
The LI and city stores are among 72 Starbucks across 20 states that have filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board to hold votes, Workers United said. The moves come after two Buffalo locations successfully voted to unionize last fall. A third store upstate voted against unionizing. 
Starbucks has about 9,000 stores in the United States.

Business

BZSTARBUCKS220212

Starbucks workers in Great Neck seek to unionize

BZSTARBUCKS220212_photos

Most teams fantasize about playing their best basketball when the end of the season rolls around. For Carey those fantasies have become a reality. 
Carey defeated Garden City, 45-44, in Nassau Conference A-II action at Carey. The Seahawks earned their sixth straight win and finished the regular season at 7-6 in conference play. Caylee De Meo scored 26 points for Carey (9-10). Ellie Pamatat scored 26 for Garden City (13-6, 10-2). 
"The kids have really bought into the team concept and excelled," coach Anthony Turco said. "That concept is what we are about, what Carey athletics is about, and what this community is about." 
The Seahawks found themselves down one with just over 30 seconds remaining. Carey managed to trap Garden City along the baseline on their possession, forcing an errant pass. De Meo stole the pass and converted a tough layup to give Carey the lead. The team then locked in defensively, forcing a missed jumper to seal the win. 
"It was really my team that put me in that position, they forced the pass," De Meo said. "I just tracked the ball and stole it, and hoped to finish on the other end, which I did." 
De Meo went through a scary moment in the first quarter as she got tangled up going for a rebound and her knee was fallen into. She was forced to leave the game but returned moments later. 
"My knee felt weird after the play," De Meo said. "I jogged up and down the hallway and got right back in, because I knew my team needed me." 
Critical halftime adjustments allowed Carey to flip a game that saw them down 28-21, to a tie at 37 entering the fourth. Rose Castronovo had two key plays in the quarter. 
With her team trailing 30-26 she knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing. She then converted a three-point play on Carey’s ensuing possession to give the team its first lead at 32-30. 
"I saw the opening and I knew where we were on the scoreboard," Castronovo said. It’s rare that I hit threes, so I got really excited, and I knew the team needed to get up." 
Now riding a six-game winning streak with a victory against the top team in the conference, Carey will look to make noise in the playoffs. 
"First place at this point means nothing to us," Castronovo said. "Any team can beat anyone."

Girls Basketball

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Carey girls playing best basketball at the right time, defeat Garden City

Carey girls playing best basketball at right time

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Nicholas Spangler

A Farmingdale man who joined the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot pleaded guilty Friday to all 10 counts of a District of Columbia indictment that included felony charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer. 
Greg Rubenacker, 26, also admitted to obstructing Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote. An accompanying stipulation of facts he and his lawyer signed placed Rubenacker in the Capitol building and in the Rotunda at times when officers were trying to remove members of the mob from the building. 
According to that document, he swung a water bottle at an officer and sprayed water at officers who were trying to remove him and others. He also filmed himself smoking marijuana in the Rotunda and posted video on social media with a caption, "Smoke out the Capitol, baby." 
Rubenacker was arrested last February in Farmingdale, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. According to a docket entry for Rubenacker’s plea hearing, he was released on his own recognizance until his May 13 sentencing and his case was referred to the probation office for presentence investigation. 
"By entering his plea today, Mr. Rubenacker has indicated his willingness to accept responsibility as well as his remorse for his actions on Jan. 6," said Rubenacker’s lawyer, Melville-based Michaelangelo Matera, in a phone interview. 
He said Rubenacker rejected a plea agreement that would have dismissed the lower counts in exchange for pleading guilty to the top counts of assault and obstruction because prosecutors had demanded he waive his right to appeal and agree not to dispute their determination of the offense level. 
"We decided to enter a plea to the entire indictment and reject the government’s plea offer because the plea offer sought to deprive us of the right to make certain arguments at the time of sentencing" about sentencing guidelines, Matera said. 
Under the government’s estimation of applicable sentencing guidelines, Rubenacker could serve 41 to 51 months. Matera argued in a filing this week that the government’s calculation was incorrect. His calculations yielded a range of 24 to 30 months, he said, though judges are not bound by federal sentencing guidelines. 
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia declined to comment. 
Rubenacker, a musician, was tipped off to the FBI by an unidentified person who went to school with him and saw the recordings he had posted on Snapchat, according to papers filed last year by officials in federal court in Central Islip. 
According to the Justice Department, by the end of 2021, more than 725 defendants had been arrested in connection with the riot, charged with assault, conspiracy, destruction or theft of government property and other offenses. About 165 people pleaded guilty to federal charges, including 20 who pleaded guilty to felonies. Six of those pleaded guilty to charges related to assaults on law enforcement. Thirty-one people had been sentenced to imprisonment. 
According to a Justice Department database, at least five people have been arrested on Long Island in connection with the riot. They include Justin McAuliffe and Thomas Fee, who pleaded guilty. Also arrested was Eric Gerwatowski, 31, of New Hyde Park. He and his lawyer have not commented.

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LI man pleads guilty to involvement in U.S. Capitol riot

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