Long Island News

Long Beach enters beach season with a compact dining strip built for people who just came off the water or are heading back to it: beachfront cocktails and seafood at Five Ocean Bar and Grill, handmade loaves and good espresso along Park Avenue, and a craft brewery expected to open this fall.

Alex Rossi, founder of the Springs Tavern and Grill, is opening Lion's Nook Bar and Grill at 10 Main Street in East Hampton Village this June, stepping into the space that Rowdy Hall occupied for years and building an American menu anchored in local fish, meats, and produce from East End farms.

Nassau County's north shore fills its June calendar with free outdoor concerts at North Hempstead Beach Park, the 52nd annual Long Island Bavarian Festival in Franklin Square, a three-day international food festival in Deer Park, a traveling carnival at Suffolk County Community College, and the Empire State Fair opening in Uniondale the last weekend of the month.

The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency approved $1.64 million in tax breaks for the Southampton Inn's $29 million expansion at 71 Hill Street, demolishing two commercial structures to add 40 hotel rooms and convert a third building into eight workforce housing units aimed at hospitality workers priced out of the village.

The North Fork wine corridor opens its full summer season this week, with a mix of waterfront restaurants, winery dining rooms, and local institutions that draw visitors from the South Fork and the city. From Claudio's rebuilt beach club in Greenport to new seasonal menus at The Halyard and a year-round supper club for locals, here is where to eat on the North Fork in 2026.

Namiro Sushi reopened May 8 at 76C Jobs Lane in Southampton Village, rebuilt from the ground up after an October fire destroyed the restaurant during its first season. Owner Gary Spangler staged a First Responders Appreciation Night on May 7 before the official reopening, and the restaurant is now open year-round for the first time.

June arrives on Long Island with a tightly stacked calendar: a Juneteenth festival in Hicksville with 60-plus vendors, a Star Trek convention in Hauppauge, an 18-and-over night market in Syosset, a North Fork wine week, Long Island Pride in Huntington Village, and a three-day strawberry festival in Mattituck. Here is what is worth planning for.

The Huntington Manor Fire Department hosts a memorial blood drive today from 2 to 8 p.m. at 1650 New York Ave. in Huntington Station, honoring volunteer firefighter Mason Kraese, who died at 27 last August. Organized with the New York Blood Center and timed one week after what would have been his 28th birthday, the event also accepts toiletry donations for local veterans.

Voters in Three Village Central School District rejected the proposed $244.98 million budget for 2026-27 on May 19, with 53.3 percent voting no, leaving the district choosing between a second vote or adopting a contingency budget that would cut approximately $8.1 million from next year's programs. A companion $500,000 levy for the Long Island Museum also failed with 68.6 percent opposed.

Babe's Diner, billed as a "finer diner," opened at 51 Division Street in Sag Harbor in mid-May, occupying the former Nikki's Not Dogs stand site on the south end of the village. Owners Julian Cavin, Martine Langatta and music executive Jonny Shipes are serving all-day American classics from locally sourced ingredients, with chef Anthony Petty running the kitchen and pop-up supper clubs planned for peak summer weekend nights.

From a massive pet adoption and pickle festival at Southaven County Park to free summer concert series kicking off across Nassau and Suffolk, five upcoming Long Island events are worth blocking off now. The stretch from Memorial Day through July 4 packs festivals, outdoor music, and a global food fair into five active weeks.

Smithtown highway crews are in the final stretch of a multi-year Edgewood Avenue corridor rebuild, completing milling and beginning final paving from Route 25A to River Road backed by $5 million in federal funding secured by Congressman Nick LaLota through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, with concurrent work on Landing Avenue as the town's full 2026 road season gets underway.

The median sale price for a Nassau County single-family home reached $852,000 in April 2026, a 7.8 percent jump from a year earlier, and buyers are now closing deals in an average of 44 days, down more than 21 percent year over year. Inventory sits at 2,252 homes, down 4.7 percent, and houses routinely sell above the list price.

Mama's of Copiague opened a second location at 231 Old Country Road in Carle Place on May 24, taking over the former Passione restaurant space near Roosevelt Field. The Sala siblings, whose family has run Italian restaurants on Long Island for more than 40 years, rebuilt the interior from scratch to create a 280-seat spot with a main dining room, a banquet hall, and an outdoor patio bar.

The Famous Food Festival returns to Tanger Outlets in Deer Park on June 19, anchoring a month that also brings free outdoor concerts in Ronkonkoma, twin Dreamland carnivals in Selden and Lake Grove, and the Empire State Fair at Nassau Coliseum. Memorial Day is behind us and June is filling up fast.

Crescent Beach in Glen Cove opened to swimmers on May 15, ending a 17-year closure that began when Nassau County health officials ordered the beach shut in June 2009 after coliform bacteria levels exceeded safe limits. Families who remember the North Shore beach from childhood are returning this summer after the city spent years installing filtration systems and the county secured nearly $1 million in remediation bonds.