Long Island

Thursday

Fred Wilkinson

Off-season fun in Montauk

At the very end of Long Island you’ll find Montauk, the end of the line on the Long Island Rail Road; the train station might be familiar if you’re a fan of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In recent years, Montauk’s popularity has boomed, becoming an extension of the Hamptons in the summer. But in the off-season, it remains a secluded and mysterious town. I have come here every year for the last five years — Montauk is famed for its incredible striped bass and largely untouched natural beauty.

Montauk

Friday

Cockburn

Barstool Sports’s Billy Football runs for Santos’s old seat

There’s something in the water in New York’s 3rd district, which continues to pump out interesting candidates for Congress. Of course, we had George Santos. Enough said there. Then after the colorful Santos was expelled from Congress in a historic vote, Republicans nominated Mazi Pilip, an IDF veteran and Ethiopian immigrant, who lost in a special election to Democrat Tom Suozzi, who is... vastly less interesting than his GOP counterparts. But now, Suozzi could face another colorful Republican — Bill Cotter, formerly known as Barstool Sports’s Billy Football, who joined the race a few weeks ago, and has been gathering the requisite number of signatures to appear on the primary ballot in June.

billy football bill cotter barstool sports

Monday

Jacqueline Sweet

GOP favorite for Santos seat settling lawsuits after accusations of not paying workers

A leading Republican candidate hoping to be selected for the special election to fill George Santos’s seat is currently settling a class-action lawsuit in California for unpaid wages — at least the second lawsuit for wage violations brought against his company in recent years. Mike Sapraicone, the owner of international security company Squad Security, was accused by two men of violating wage and other laws, according to a 2022 lawsuit. The lawsuit, not previously reported, is the latest revelation to emerge about Long Island’s Sapraicone, amid national scrutiny over how well candidates will be vetted by the Nassau GOP in the district, on the heels of Santos’s year-long scandal and criminal allegations.

mike sapraicone

Monday

Daniel M. Bring

The race to replace Pete King

Last Monday, Rep. Peter T. King announced his retirement at the end of this, his 14th term. The candidates now running to succeed him will have more than just a congressional seat to fill. You see, Pete King is a New York legend. With his rip-roaring rhetoric and unabashed Irish Catholicism, and without airbrushing or a filter, King has been an enduring holdout of old school New York politics. Moreover, his commitment to national security and justice for 9/11 victims made him a powerful, if controversial, advocate for his Long Island constituency. The 2018 midterms, not great for House Republicans, still saw King returned with a firm six percent majority. His past victory margins ranged up to 45 percent (in 2002).

pete king