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Long Island Press •

Nassau County Museum of Art presents landmark exhibition “Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist of the Gilded Age”

Louis Comfort Tiffany, American artist and designer, is best remembered for his luminous stained-glass windows and jewel-toned lamps, but before becoming one of America’s most celebrated decorative arts designers, he was a painter. That lesser-known foundation of his career is at the center of the Nassau County Museum of Art’s latest exhibition, “Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist of the Gilded Age,” on view from July 25 through Nov. 8 at the museum’s historic Frick Estate in Roslyn Harbor.
Featuring...
Long Island Press •

Long Island International Film Expo returns for its 29th year

When the Long Island International Film Expo began nearly three decades ago, its organizers screened approximately 45 films in formats ranging from 35mm and 16mm film to VHS.This July, the festival will return to Bellmore with 113 films from Long Island and countries including Spain, Hong Kong, Ghana, Wales, Singapore, Gibraltar and Nigeria. 
The Long Island International Film Expo will hold its 29th anniversary edition from July 7 through July 12 at the historic Bellmore Movies, featuring six d...
Long Island Press •

Oyster Bay Music Festival returns to North Shore for its 15th season

For its 15th season, the Oyster Bay Music Festival returns to the North Shore, bringing together artists and audiences who have made the eight-day celebration an annual reunion. Running from Friday, June 26, through Friday, July 3, the festival will present 11 concerts at nine venues. The programs will feature 25 prize-winning musicians performing classical music, opera, Broadway, jazz, folk music and improvisation.
“There’s a certain pride of making it 15 years; it’s hard for any arts organizat...
Long Island Press •

Candidates for New York’s 3rd, 4th Congressional Districts

Long Island voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, June 23, to elect Democratic and Republican nominees for New York’s 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts.Early voting began Saturday, June 13, and continues through Sunday, June 21. On Primary Day, polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m, and voters must be enrolled in a political party to participate.
In the 3rd Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi faces public defender Danielle Welch, while Republicans Greg Hach and former...
Long Island Press •

Westbury native Gerald Elias and his recently published book

Growing up on Long Island in the 1950s, professional violinist and mystery author Gerald Elias once pictured himself playing first base for the New York Yankees. As a child, he spent as much time playing sports as he did studying the violin, but music eventually carried him to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and, decades later, into a second creative career as a writer.On May 27, White City Press, led by Jay Hartman, published Elias’ latest book, “Murder on Vacation: Stories from the Case Files of...
LI Press •

Barry Fisch photo exhibit at the Long Island Music Hall

For nearly 50 years, Barry Fisch’s concert photographs lived mostly out of sight: 4-by-6 prints slipped back into photo-lab envelopes and stored away in a box after being occasionally shown to friends and family.They began as souvenirs from nights spent close to the stage at Nassau Coliseum, Madison Square Garden, My Father’s Place and other venues, where Fisch watched some of the biggest names in music perform through the lens of a 35mm camera.
Those memories, captured at concerts since the 197...
Long Island Press •

Nassau County’s former film commissioner Debra Markowitz brings ‘Wait List’ to Prime Video

Filmmaker Debra Markowitz has spent more than three decades bringing stories to life across Long Island, shaping the region’s film industry as Nassau County’s former film commissioner.Now, she’s continuing that work from behind the camera, telling one of her own stories against the same backdrop. Her latest feature,
“Wait List: A Love-ish Story” premiered on April 2 on Amazon Prime Video and will soon be available on YouTube, Google Play, Tubi, and other streaming platforms.
The Long Island-shot...
Newcity •

Ceninye Harris' Abstraction as a Space for Agency

Ceninye Harris did not arrive at abstraction as a matter of style. In “Configurations of the Mutable Self,” figures recede into shadow, bodies fragment at the edge of the frame and visibility itself becomes unstable. Moving between portraiture and abstraction, the work treats identity not as fixed, but as something continually in flux.On view at Caira Moreira Projects from April 9-18, the exhibition comprises seventeen works drawn from Harris’ photographic practice, spanning early images made in...
Newcity •

Zsofia Ötvös, “The Bear”’s Makeup Artist, Paints Like a Weaver

By 4am, Zsofia Ötvös is in the makeup trailer on the set of “The Bear,” massaging enzyme treatments into actors’ skin, recreating burns and blemishes and sculpting beards by hand to age a character or transport them back in time.For more than two decades, Ötvös, fifty-two, has worked across fine art, film and theater, dividing her time between productions and her painting studio in Wicker Park. Between call times and twelve-hour shoot days, she quietly observes and stores away details until a fi...
Long Island Press •

Port Washington Board of Educations begins 2026–27 budget planning

The Port Washington Board of Education met Jan. 20 to discuss early-stage planning for the district’s 2026–27 budget, starting a months-long process that will end with a public vote on May 19.Board President Adam Smith described the process as “fluid and iterative,” stressing that all proposals remain in draft form until a final budget is adopted in April. A preliminary budget is expected in March.One of the largest challenges to the district’s finances is a projected 9% increase in health insur...
Long Island Press •

Jericho’s Mason Pimsler had his own day proclaimed by former NYC Mayor Eric Adams

Most mornings by 8 a.m., Mason Blake Pimsler is already treating patients at Lincoln Medical Center. As an internal medicine and geriatric medicine physician, he provides primary care, preventive services and long-term treatment to patients from across the Bronx.Mayor Eric Adams proclaimed Nov. 7, 2025, as “Dr. Mason Blake Pimsler MD Day,” recognizing the Jericho resident’s decades-long service in HIV/AIDS care, women’s health and to individuals experiencing homelessness. The designation honored...
Long Island Press •

Oyster Bay–East Norwich Chamber President Ryan Schlotter expands programming

When Ryan Schlotter first stepped into his role as president of the Oyster Bay–East Norwich Chamber of Commerce in 2019, he brought with him the perspective of a small business owner.The 44-year-old co-founder of Oyster Bay Brewing Company is known locally for craft beers like Barn Rocker Ale and for the taproom that has become a fixture on Audrey Avenue since 2012. But for the past seven years, he has worked to expand the Chamber’s role into a year-round engine for local commerce. 
From large-s...
Medill Reports •

This brandy bottles 500 years of Bolivian history: A growing number of trendy Chicago bars are pouring Singani, the spirit director Steven Soderbergh brought to the U.S.

Down an alleyway on Palmer Street, past a nondescript door and centuries-old brick façade, a 500-year-old type of brandy, until recently little known beyond its homeland of Bolivia, is starring in one of the city’s most high-concept cocktail lineups.
At The Meadowlark, a Logan Square speakeasy renowned for its rotating themed menus, beverage director Abe Vucekovich debuted a collection of 17 solar system-inspired drinks. Among them is Quaoar, an arom...
Long Island Press •

Great Neck school board adopts safety plan, highlights anti-vaping funding

Student safety was the primary focus of the Great Neck Board of Education meeting Wednesday, Dec. 10, as trustees formally adopted an updated districtwide school safety plan and recognized new funding aimed at addressing vaping among adolescents.District officials recognized Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip for securing grant funding to support anti-vaping efforts in district schools. Board of Education President Grant Torch said the district received $200,000 to invest in equipment and progr...
Long Island Press •

U.S. citizenship interviews canceled on Long Island following USCIS pause

Immigration attorneys on Long Island report that their clients have recently had U.S. citizenship and green card interviews canceled without explanation.One of those cases involves a man who has been a lawful permanent resident for 30 years and had his naturalization interview canceled just a week before he was scheduled to appear at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Holtsville, according to his attorney, Andrea Rodriguez-Tarazi, who is based in Bohemia.“He’s renewed his gr...
Long Island Press •

North Shore board reviews business program, hears student concerns on privacy

The North Shore Schools Board of Education reviewed North Shore High School’s expanding business program as trustees heard student concerns about technology privacy and traffic safety at its Thursday, Nov. 20, meeting.Secondary Social Studies Director Seth Gordon opened with an overview of the department’s expansion, with 353 student requests for business courses last year.Gordon outlined how the department plans to respond to a new state requirement that all students receive instruction in fina...
Long Island Press •

Center for Developmental Disabilities opens renovated group homes in Woodbury

The Center for Developmental Disabilities has reopened three renovated group homes on Southwoods Road in Woodbury, upgrading accessibility and first-floor living so aging residents can remain in their homes, according to Executive Director Jay Silverstein.“The needs of the individuals had changed as they aged, so we redesigned the houses to be compatible with those needs,” he said. “More first floor living space, better layout and houses that were now compatible with the needs of the people livi...
Long Island Press •

Locust Valley students win filmmaking award

With just 72 hours to write, shoot and edit a three- to seven-minute short, three Locust Valley High School filmmakers –– Raffaele Giannattasio, Justin Kwok and Dean Wolfe –– turned a weekend challenge into an award-winning film. Working under the name Piejinks Productions, their project  —“Chronicle of a Boy Displaced” — earned Best Use of Character at the Long Island 72-Hour Film Festival held Oct. 24 at Five Towns College.“We’ve all made films independently and this presented a challenge to t...
Long Island Press •

Jericho senior wins National Future Business Leaders of America Journalism title

When Dev Lakhani was in middle school, he started selling $2 bills for $5 in the school hallway, a small hustle that gave him what he called his “first taste of entrepreneurship.”That early curiosity about business eventually led him to become a member of the Future Business Leaders of America, a national nonprofit that prepares students for careers in business and leadership.Now as a senior at Jericho High School, Lakhani earned first place in the journalism event at this year’s FBLA National L...
Chicago Reader •

Reader Bites: The communal climate of Casa Cactus

Chicago has no shortage of coffee shops, but few invite you to linger like Casa Cactus, where café de olla is served in terracotta mugs, and cafe walls easily become impromptu photo exhibits. Tucked behind a brick facade on North Elston in Albany Park, Casa Cactus’s white-lettered sign is easy to miss. But inside, the former storage space transforms into a greenhouse-style cafe, where rustic tables sit among dozens of cacti and succulents crowding every surface, some even cascading from old pain...
Meanwhile at the Museum •

The Socializer, Art Lover, and Reflector: Design Corps & Student Engagement

For three consecutive terms, Hood Museum staff worked with a Design Corps student team to revitalize student engagement with the museum. Through a comprehensive research and creative problem-solving process, Kiera Bernet ’23, Mallory Barnes ’22, Loane Bougennec ’25, and Danielle Lu ’25 used human-centered design principles and strategies to enhance campus engagement opportunities and ultimately propose a student-led project called “The Museum Journal: Pause, Pass It On,” which launched on April...
Hood Museum of Art •

Social Surrealism and the Exploration of Identity (Solo Exhibition)

The visual aesthetics of Surrealism, from dreamlike scenes to unexpected juxtapositions, allow
artists to discuss sociopolitical issues and present
aspects of identity and culture from a new
perspective. Traditionally, surrealist works evoke
a dreamlike and hallucinatory state dictated by
the unconscious––presenting audiences with an
insight into the artist’s personal interpretations of
the world around them. How could imagery that
draws from the irrational and the unconscious
convey social criticism? Latin American artists
Mika Rottenberg and Luis Gispert explore this
question, and others, through their photography
and video installations, which push beyond
traditional boundaries and conventional
narratives of Latinx communities to examine
contemporary society.
Meanwhile at the Museum •

Art as Activism: The Impact of Oree Originol’s “Justice for Our Lives” – Meanwhile at the Museum

The Hood Museum of Art’s exhibition current exhibition, ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, traces the history of printmaking and the vital role Chicano graphics played in early social movements. The exhibition, originally organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, focuses on the power of printmaking as a tool to channel social and political activism, featuring works from a range of time periods and artists. Hood Museum curators Michael Hartman,...
Meanwhile at the Museum •

Art as Activism: The Impact of Oree Originol’s “Justice for Our Lives”

The Hood Museum of Art’s exhibition current exhibition, ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, traces the history of printmaking and the vital role Chicano graphics played in early social movements. The exhibition, originally organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, focuses on the power of printmaking as a tool to channel social and political activism, featuring works from a range of time periods and artists. Hood Museum curators Michael Hartman,...
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