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Which Trump ties have ties to Russia, too?

As the House and Senate take on separate investigations into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, details of meetings and other connections between Russia and those within Trump’s circle continue to surface.

Here’s a breakdown of those connections.

Mike Flynn

Photo credit: AP

Trump ties:

Former national security adviser

Russian ties:

Had contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak

In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, becoming the first Trump White House official to face criminal charges and admit guilt so far in the wide-ranging investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Flynn also agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s probe, which focuses on Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible coordination between Russia and Trump’s team in the campaign that sent the Republican businessman to the White House.

Court papers make clear that Flynn knows the identities of at least two members of Trump’s transition team who were intimately aware of his outreach to Russian government officials in the weeks before the inauguration.

Mueller’s prosecutors did not reveal the names of the officials, but indicated they were senior and within Trump’s inner circle.

Flynn resigned from the Trump administration after The Washington Post revealed that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and extent of his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. But the resignation merely opened the door for a deeper look at Flynn’s activities.

In 2015, Flynn was paid $45,000 for participating in a Moscow event honoring RT, Russia’s state-backed TV network, and another $22,000 for making two Russia-related speeches. Last December, Flynn met with Kisylak at Trump Tower and on Dec. 29 made five phone calls to Kislyak – the same day President Obama announced sanctions against Russia. Though he initially denied it, Flynn did discuss sanctions and could be vulnerable to blackmail, according to intelligence officials.

Donald Trump Jr.

Photo credit: AP

Trump ties:

Son, runs Trump businesses

Russian ties:

Met with Russian lawyer who claimed to have intel on Hillary Clinton

The President’s eldest son met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya two weeks after his father won the GOP nomination after an intermediary promised him compromising information on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government.

Trump Jr. originally said the meeting was regarding a ban on American adoptions of Russian children, but later released the entire email exchange that led to the meeting which showed he was offered information. Trump Jr. said he considered the information “Political Opposition Research.” Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort also attended.

Trump Jr. is operating the family business. In a 2008 speech to a real-estate conference about emerging markets, he told attendees he had traveled to Russia six times in an 18-month period, saying that “buyers have been attracted to our projects.” The President himself has claimed he has no investments in Russia, but his son disclosed that Trump properties have Russian investors.

Jared Kushner

Photo credit: Getty images

Trump ties:

Son-in-law, adviser

Russian ties:

Met with Russian ambassador, Russian banker, Russian lawyer; directed Flynn to contact Russian officials in December, sources say

The president’s son-in-law, a key member of the administration’s inner circle, met during the election campaign with the Russian ambassador and a top-level Russian banker to discuss sanctions and a “backdoor channel” to Vladimir Putin, according to several reports.

Kushner has agreed to testify before the Senate investigative committee. A Trump spokesman has said Kushner’s meetings were appropriate, given that he functioned as the person of contact with foreign officials during the campaign.

He also attended the meeting between Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, which emails show was arranged under the premise that Veselnitskaya had compromising information about Hillary Clinton.

He is believed to be the “very senior official” who Michael Flynn said directed him to contact Russian officials around Dec. 22 about a UN resolution regarding Israel, NBC News reported Dec. 1, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Paul Manafort

Photo credit: AP

Trump ties:

Former campaign manager

Russian ties:

Did work for Ukraine, Russian billionaire; met with Russian lawyer

Trump chose the longtime Republican operative to take over his campaign in March 2016 as an effort to broaden and professionalize an operation that was gaining steam. But Manafort resigned in August after reports that he was part of a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Pro-Russia factions in Ukraine without disclosing that work to the U.S. government. The Associated Press reported that Manafort’s firm received at least $1 million for his efforts, with payments coming from a bank in Belize. The U.S. Treasury Department, working with the FBI and CIA, also is looking at financial payments Manafort might have received through banks in Cyprus.

Further, AP reported that Manafort once secretly worked for a Russian billionaire close to Putin on a communications plan to influence politics, business dealings and news reports to Russia’s benefit.

Manafort’s spokesman has contended the work for the Ukrainian faction was “totally open and appropriate.” Manafort confirmed that he worked for Oleg Deripaska, the Russian billionaire, but said the work wasn’t pro-Russia in nature.

He also attended the meeting between Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, which emails show was arranged under the premise that Veselnitskaya had compromising information about Hillary Clinton.

Carter Page

Photo credit: AP

Trump ties:

Former adviser to campaign

Russian ties:

Investigated as Russian agent

A former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, Page traveled to Moscow last summer, giving a Russian-friendly speech and meeting with a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. After Page left the campaign, intelligence officials obtained a warrant to monitor his communications, reportedly on the suspicion that he was a Russian agent. They reportedly cited communications intercepted in 2013 concerning a Russian officer trying to recruit Page, who has vigorously denied any wrongdoing. Page worked in Moscow for three years (2004-7) as a Merrill Lynch executive.

Trump personally announced Page as a member of his campaign’s foreign policy team in March 2016, but has since distanced himself.

Jeff Sessions

Photo credit: AP

Trump ties:

U.S. attorney general

Russian ties:

Met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak

The U.S. attorney general, during testimony under oath at his confirmation hearings, had twice told senators that he had no contact with any representative of the Russian government about the 2016 election before or after Election Day. Then The Washington Post reported that Sessions in fact met with Kisylak in July and September. Sessions recanted his previous statements and said he would recuse himself from any campaign-related investigations.

Rex Tillerson

Photo credit: AP

Trump ties:

Secretary of state

Russian ties:

Developed as CEO of ExxonMobile

The secretary of state is the former CEO of ExxonMobil, where he developed deep ties with Russia. In 2011, his company signed a $500 billion joint venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, to drill for oil on the Arctic shelf and develop oil in Siberia. Soon after, Putin gave Tillerson the Russian “Order of Friendship” medal.

In his first weeks in office, Tillerson reportedly has stood for holding a hard line on the economic sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Crimea. Unlike Trump, Tillerson has said it’s “well-established” that Russians meddled in the 2016 U.S. election. He met with Putin in April; the two reportedly found little agreement on issues such as sanctions and Syria.

Roger Stone

Photo credit: AP

Trump ties:

Friend, adviser

Russian ties:

Communicated with suspected Russian operative

A self-proclaimed political “dirty trickster” going back to the Nixon years, Stone has been a longtime Trump friend and adviser and former associate of Paul Manafort’s. Along with Manafort, Flynn and Page, Stone is one of four people whose calls and contacts with Russian officials are under investigation by U.S. law enforcement, according to The New York Times.

Among other issues, Stone has acknowledged he’s communicated with “Guccifer 2.0,” the online handle that has claimed responsibility for hacking Democratic emails. American officials believe the Guccifer handle is a front for Russian security operatives. But Stone has said the contact was after the hacked emails were released. “It’s only fair that I have a chance to respond 2 any smears or half truths about alleged “Collusion with Russians” from 2day’s Intel Hearing,” Stone wrote on Twitter.

Felix Sater

Photo credit: WireImage/Mark Von Holden

Trump ties:

Works with Trump businesses

Russian ties:

Part of attempts to garner Russian business deals

The Russian-born immigrant (who has a home in Port Washington, records show) once did prison time for stabbing a man in a bar, was convicted in a Mafia-related racketeering scheme in which he later became a witness for the prosecution and has worked as an FBI informant. He also has worked with the Trump organization scouting real-estate deals for more than a decade.

He was part of several attempts by Trump to garner business deals in Russia, starting with a 2005 effort to build a “Trump Tower” in Moscow. In 2006, Sater reportedly accompanied Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump around the city to meet with potential business partners. The tower was never built. But later, Bayrock (which was headquarter in Trump Tower in New York) and Trump partnered to build properties in New York and Florida, financed by Russian and Kazakhstan money, according to a lawsuit, CNN reported.

In February, The New York Times reported that Sater and Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, helped deliver to the Trump administration a Russia-Ukraine peace settlement proposed by a pro-Russia Ukrainian lawmaker. Trump, in a 2013 deposition, reportedly said he barely knew Sater.

Sergey Kisylak

Photo credit: NASA

Trump ties:

Contact with U.S. officials under scrutiny

Russian ties:

Ambassador to U.S.

He has been Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. for 9 years, an uncommonly long tenure. U.S. intelligence officials have called him a spy and a recruiter of spies, according to reports — which Russia denies.

Conversations with Kislyak — prior to Trump taking office — are what led to Flynn’s abrupt resignation and Session’s decision to recuse himself from the various probes of Russian meddling in the U.S. election. His meeting with Trump son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner also is under scrutiny.

George Papadopoulos

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images

Trump ties:

Former Trump campaign adviser

Russian ties:

Had contact with Russians

Before joining Trump’s campaign, Papadopoulos billed himself as an international energy consultant – though he only graduated from DePaul University in 2009 and was largely unknown in foreign policy circles.

However, Trump’s campaign named him as one of eight foreign policy advisers in March 2016, as it scrambled to develop policy positions on key international issues.

In October 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his dealings with several Russians who were offering information on Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

As part of a sworn statement to the court, Papadopoulos said he repeatedly met in 2016 with Russians offering “dirt” on Clinton. Papadopoulos says he then relayed that and other messages from the Russians to senior members of Trump’s GOP campaign.

Trump later downplayed Papadopoulos’s role, calling him a mere campaign volunteer and dismissing him as a “liar.”

100 Facts About President Trump’s First 100 Days

Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on a rainy afternoon in Washington, D.C.

One hundred days later, we reflect on how the businessman and former reality-TV star turned president has held up to his promises, approached his role and affected the world.

Here we look at Trump’s 100 days in 100 facts.

1

President Donald Trump donated $78,333.32 — representing his first-quarter salary — to the National Parks Service.

2

He is also the first billionaire president. Forbes magazine puts his net worth at $3.5 billion.

3

Trump’s 100 days were guided by the “Contract with the American Voter,” an action plan to “Make America Great Again.” It included 38 specific promises Trump pledged to achieve.

4

Nearly half of those promises have not been addressed, according to an AP analysis.

5

Among those promises kept: The Keystone XL pipeline is revived and construction of the Dakota Access is completed. The big trans-Pacific trade deal is toast, climate change action is on the ropes and various regulations from the Obama era have been scrapped.

6

It’s also a safe bet President Donald Trump hasn’t raced a bicycle since Jan. 20, keeping a vow he made after John Kerry broke his femur in May 2015 while riding a bicycle.

7

One page of his 100-day manifesto is devoted to legislation he would fight to pass in 100 days. None of it has been achieved.

8

Trump signed his first executive order the very night he was inaugurated, aimed at “minimizing the economic burden” of Obamacare.

9

His inauguration speech was 16 minutes long. It depicted an America whose best days have gone by.

10

31 million people watched the inauguration on TV, according to the Nielsen Co. (though that does not prove press secretary Sean Spicer’s claims that it was the most viewed in history).

11

He launched his re-election campaign the day after the inauguration and held his first campaign rally in Florida four weeks later.

12

The Dow Jones industrial average closes above 20,000 for the first time ever Jan. 25. The milestone is crossed amid optimism on Wall Street that executive actions and policy goals announced by the new administration will be good for corporate America.

13

He’s made most of his policy impact through executive orders — 28 so far. Obama passed 11 new laws in his first 100 days; George W. Bush passed seven and Bill Clinton passed 24. Harry Truman passed 55.

14

His early and controversial executive orders called for the construction of a border wall with Mexico, an expanded force to find and deport undocumented immigrants and a travel ban on citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

15

The order on the border wall caused a standoff between Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who canceled his January meeting with Trump. The two later spoke by phone and called it productive.

16

Two travel ban executive orders have been blocked by judges. A federal judge in New York blocked part of the first order a day after it was signed.

17

Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she told the Justice Department to stop defending his first travel ban.

18

Trump was successful in getting his Cabinet picks confirmed, including Betsy DeVos (thanks to the historic tie-breaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence).

19

Trump got all of his cabinet secretaries in place just before his 100th day in office. Senators voted to confirm secretary of labor nominee Alexander Acosta on April 27.

20

Below his Cabinet and top posts, many of his administration’s key jobs are unfilled.

21

His Cabinet is worth about $4.5 billion, according to Forbes.

22

Trump held onto ownership of his businesses when he took office, meaning he makes money when his properties do well. This is a break with presidential precedent.

23

He lifted federal protections that allowed transgender students to use school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities.

24

His presidency sparked protests around the nation, including the Women’s March and protests against the travel ban.

25

The signature of the Women’s March was a knitted pink hat with cat ears. The cat theme alludes to comments made by Trump 12 years ago in leaked “Access Hollywood” footage that went viral.

26

Trump’s first budget outline was a $1.1 trillion spending plan that proposed boosting defense funds and deep cuts at other agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency and housing department.

27

Trump has put military generals in several important positions in his administration, such as Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense and H.R. McMaster as National Security Adviser.

28

Despite the fact that Trump said during his campaign he would not allow generals to be interviewed on TV, McMaster, as Trump’s national security adviser, appeared on a Sunday news show. Several senior military officers have done Pentagon news conferences in the past few months that are taped by the networks. Gen. John Nicholson, the top general in Afghanistan, appeared at a news conference.

29

Michael Flynn, Trump’s initial national security adviser, was fired after The Washington Post revealed that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and extent of his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

30

Trump has spent at least seven weekends of his presidency at Mar-a-Lago and met with foreign leaders there. Trump and his aides had begun referring to the private club owned by Trump as the “Winter White House.”

31

Mar-a-Lago doubled its membership fee to $200,000 after he was elected.

32

Trump tops former presidents in golf and private getaways so far, according to a New York Times anaylsis.

33

He has made 17 trips to three of his golf courses (two in Florida and one in Virginia) and twice dined at his new hotel in Washington, just down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

34

Trump ordered 46 prosecutors to resign, including Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney who said he would have to be fired.

35

Trump first named, and later removed, chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council.

36

Two of the president’s relatives work in the White House. Trump made his daughter Ivanka Trump an unpaid White House adviser. She has security clearance and a White House office. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is a top adviser and also unpaid.

37

In February, Nordstrom department stores said it was dropping the Ivanka Trump line because of low sales.

38

Days later, the president lashed out at the company on Twitter. Trump has used Twitter to criticize other companies such as Lockheed Martin, Ford, General Motors and Amazon.

39

On Feb. 28, Trump delivered his first speech to a joint session of Congress, marking a shift in tone from an inaugural address widely considered bleak. It included 24 instances of the word “great,” including “greater,” “greatly” and “greatness.”

40

It costs an average of $127,000 to $146,000 per day to protect first lady Melania Trump and her and the president’s son, Barron, while they continue to live in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue instead of moving into the White House, according to the NYPD.

41

The Trumps are, so far, the first White House family in over a century without a pet.

42

Alec Baldwin continues to impersonate Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” leading the president to tweet that “the Baldwin impersonation just can’t get any worse.” Baldwin responded by tweeting, “Release your tax returns, and I’ll stop. Ha.”

43

Trump paid $38M in taxes on $150M in income in 2005, according to a leaked page of his tax returns obtained by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in March.

44

Trump has not released his tax returns breaking with decades of tradition.

45

House Republican leaders abruptly pulled their healthcare bill — aimed at replacing and repealing President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act — from the House floor in March because they did not have the votes.

46

Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed, filling the ninth Supreme Court seat with a conservative.

47

Gorsuch was confirmed with just 54 votes after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell triggered the “nuclear option,” changing long-standing Senate rules.

48

Trump’s childhood home in Jamaica Estates, Queens, was sold for $2.14M, about half-a-million more than the original listing price.

49

He has traveled to 10 states, none west of the Mississippi River.

50

Trump has made 0 trips abroad.

51

Trump has met with a total of eight foreign leaders.

52

He did not ignore German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s handshake attempt. In fact, he said he shook her hand four times and Trump told The AP they have great chemistry.

53

Trump has revoked nine of President Barack Obama’s executive orders.

54

He also rescinded Obama-era climate change regulations, including the Clean Power Plan; a ban on coal leasing on federal lands; and rules to curb methane emissions from oil and gas production.

55

Trump has switched approaches on several foreign policies.

56

The United States launched 59 cruise missiles on the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who the United States blamed for a chemical weapons attack on civilians. This was contrary to Trump’s tweets in years past that the United States shouldn’t intervene in the Syrian civil war — but generally well received from politicians at home and abroad.

57

Trump said he was moved by images of the dead in the chemical attack on civilians, including “beautiful little babies.”

58

In a second show of force, Trump later ordered an aircraft carrier and several other warships toward the Korean Peninsula after North Korea tested another intermediate-range missile.

59

The number of migrants caught trying to enter the country illegally across the Mexican border hit a 17-year low in March, the head of the Department of Homeland Security said.

60

Trump alarmed U.S. allies during the election campaign by calling NATO “obsolete.” In mid-April he lavished praise on NATO and said it is not obsolete.

61

Trump’s trademark talk is not like anything the United States has come to expect from its presidents, according to linguists who analyzed an AP interview transcript. With Trump, the mold of focus-group-tested, carefully selected words has been broken.

62

His base of supporters is sticking with him.

63

But he continues to stump the pollsters.

64

A Washington Post/ABC News poll showed 96 percent of voters who backed Trump said they would do it again. The same poll placed Trump’s overall job approval rating at 42 percent, the lowest recorded near the 100-day mark of any presidency since Dwight Eisenhower’s.

65

He fires off tweets at odd hours of the morning and night, sending Washington into a stir with just a few words.

66

Among his most popular tweets is this one about the Women’s March on Jan 22. It had about 480,000 likes and retweets combined:

See more of Trump’s noteworthy tweets as president here.

67

MS-13, the gang that has been linked to the recent deaths of at least 11 people on Long Island, is on Trump’s radar, according to his Twitter feed.

68

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed Long Island’s gang violence problem in Central Islip on April 28.

69

Intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian hackers had meddled in last year’s election on President Trump’s behalf, according to reports, though the extent still isn’t clear.

70

The House congressional intelligence committee is expected to begin hearings on Russian meddling on May 2 — just after Trump’s 100-day mark.

71

The actions and words of at least nine people connected to Trump with reported ties to Russia could play a role in the hearings.

72

Trump ordered a review to identify national monuments that can be rescinded or resized as part of a push to open up more federal lands to drilling, mining and other development. Legal challenges are expected.

73

At 70, Trump was the oldest man sworn into the presidency.

74

He’s stopped watching what he perceives as his negative coverage on CNN and MSNBC, he said. “I don’t watch things, and I never thought I had that ability,” he said. “I always thought I’d watch.”

75

Trump called the news media “the enemy of the American people,” and labeled The New York Times, CNN and NBC as fake news.

76

He lamented the end of “The Apprentice.”

77

After trailing Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show” in the ratings for years, Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” has taken over the top spot, which many (including Colbert himself) attribute to the show’s Trump satire.

78

Trump declined the Washington Nationals invitation to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day, citing a scheduling conflict.

79

The United States dropped the “mother of all bombs” on ISIS tunnels in Afghanistan in April. It is the military’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

80

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he does not intend to discuss damage estimates from the bomb.

81

In April, Trump sought funds to build a border wall from a stopgap spending package Congress debated, and he tweeted that U.S. taxpayers will be reimbursed “eventually … in some form.”

82

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said as early in Trump’s presidency as Jan. 25 that Mexico would not pay for the wall under any circumstances.

83

About 21,000 visitors attended Trump’s first Easter Egg Roll, a major White House social event.

84

Press secretary Sean Spicer did not dress up like the Easter Bunny, which he did back when he was an aide in the George W. Bush administration.

85

Trump welcomed the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots to the White House. He is longtime friends with Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

86

He signed legislation that lets states deny federal family planning money to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, erasing a rule finalized shortly before Obama left office.

87

All 100 senators were invited by the administration to a classified briefing on the threat posed by North Korea. A briefing with all of the senators is extremely rare.

88

Trump himself does not consider the 100-day mark significant “It’s an artificial barrier. It’s not very meaningful,” he said.

89

He hasn’t had a major legislative victory in his first 100 days.

90

A federal judge blocked his order to withhold federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, which offer safe harbor to undocumented immigrants.

91

House Republicans continue to try to hash out a compromise on health care.

92

On Day 97, Trump unveiled his tax reform plan, which would cut rates and eliminate deductions used by the rich. It was unveiled without details and in advance of what will be a drawn-out battle in Congress.

93

The investigations into ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn intensified as the Pentagon’s watchdog joined lawmakers in scrutinizing the legality of payments he accepted from foreign sources including a Russian state-sponsored television network.

94

The Trump administration slapped a 20 percent tariff on softwood lumber entering the United States from Canada. In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned the two countries could suffer a “thickening” border.

95

The White House leaked the possibility that the Trump administration would simply abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement rather than start to renegotiate it. The Mexican peso fell against the U.S. dollar. American farm groups, which credit NAFTA with lifting U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico, howled.

96

Hours later, Trump called it all off. He said he would seek to revamp the trade pact with Canada and Mexico.

97

On the 100th day of his presidency, Trump plans to skip the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner and hold a rally in Pennsylvania instead.

98

He will also mark his 100th day in office with the government operating under a short-term spending bill.

99

More than 900 Newsday readers have graded Trump. He’s averaging a D. See all the responses here.

100

He has tweeted 957* times (and counting, of course).

*as of April 27

Photos: AP

Sources: Newsday reporting; AP; The New York Times; AFP; Center for American Politics; RealClearPolitics; The Nielsen Co.; Forbes; The Washington Post

Long Island unemployment levels in March

The overall unemployment rate was down two-tenths of a point to 4 percent in March for Long Island, rising only in Long Beach, where it was recorded at 3.5 percent. The charts show March rates for 2017 and 2016 and the table below gives details. Read more about the Long Island jobless data here. This data posted on April 25, 2017.

MARCH 2017Labor ForceEmployedUnemployedRate (%)
Long Island1,464,6001,406,00058,6004.0
     
Nassau County693,000667,30025,7003.7
  Freeport22,60021,4001,2005.3
  Glen Cove14,10013,4007004.6
  Hempstead Town395,200379,70015,5003.9
  Hempstead Village27,50025,9001,6005.9
  Long Beach19,40018,7007003.5
  N. Hempstead Town111,700107,9003,8003.4
  Oyster Bay Town152,700147,6005,1003.4
  Rockville Centre11,90011,5004003.4
  Valley Stream19,40018,7007003.8
     
Suffolk County771,600738,70032,9004.3
  Babylon Town110,600105,8004,8004.3
  Brookhaven Town251,600241,30010,3004.1
  Huntington Town103,50099,5003,9003.8
  Islip Town177,200169,8007,4004.2
  Lindenhurst Village15,10014,5006003.9
  Riverhead Town16,00015,2008005.3
  Smithtown Town59,30057,3002,0003.4
  Southampton Town29,30027,6001,7005.9
     
New York City4,223,7004,050,400173,3004.1
New York State9,616,6009,196,300420,4004.4
     
MARCH 2017Labor ForceEmployedUnemployedRate (%)
Long Island1,464,6001,406,00058,6004.0
     
Nassau County693,000667,30025,7003.7
  Freeport22,60021,4001,2005.3
  Glen Cove14,10013,4007004.6
  Hempstead Town395,200379,70015,5003.9
  Hempstead Village27,50025,9001,6005.9
  Long Beach19,40018,7007003.5
  N. Hempstead Town111,700107,9003,8003.4
  Oyster Bay Town152,700147,6005,1003.4
  Rockville Centre11,90011,5004003.4
  Valley Stream19,40018,7007003.8
     
Suffolk County771,600738,70032,9004.3
  Babylon Town110,600105,8004,8004.3
  Brookhaven Town251,600241,30010,3004.1
  Huntington Town103,50099,5003,9003.8
  Islip Town177,200169,8007,4004.2
  Lindenhurst Village15,10014,5006003.9
  Riverhead Town16,00015,2008005.3
  Smithtown Town59,30057,3002,0003.4
  Southampton Town29,30027,6001,7005.9
     
New York City4,223,7004,050,400173,3004.1
New York State9,616,6009,196,300420,4004.4
     
MARCH 2016Labor ForceEmployedUnemployedRate (%)
Long Island1,477,7001,414,90062,7004.2
     
Nassau County698,900671,60027,4003.9
  Freeport22,80021,5001,3005.6
  Glen Cove14,20013,5007004.8
  Hempstead Town398,600382,10016,5004.1
  Hempstead Village27,80026,1001,7006.2
  Long Beach19,50018,8006003.3
  N. Hempstead Town112,600108,6004,1003.6
  Oyster Bay Town154,100148,6005,5003.6
  Rockville Centre12,10011,6004003.6
  Valley Stream19,60018,8008004.0
     
Suffolk County778,800743,40035,4004.5
  Babylon Town111,700106,5005,2004.7
  Brookhaven Town253,900242,80011,1004.4
  Huntington Town104,200100,2004,0003.8
  Islip Town179,100170,9008,2004.6
  Lindenhurst Village15,30014,6006004.1
  Riverhead Town16,20015,3009005.8
  Smithtown Town59,80057,6002,1003.6
  Southampton Town29,50027,7001,8006.1
     
New York City4,175,8003,951,300224,5005.4
New York State9,650,2009,161,600488,6005.1
     
FEB 2017Labor ForceEmployedUnemployedRate (%)
Long Island1,454,0001,386,60067,4004.6
     
Nassau County687,500657,90029,6004.3
  Freeport22,50021,1001,4006.0
  Glen Cove14,00013,2008005.5
  Hempstead Town391,900374,40017,5004.5
  Hempstead Village27,30025,5001,8006.4
  Long Beach19,20018,5008004.0
  N. Hempstead Town110,900106,4004,5004.1
  Oyster Bay Town151,500145,5006,0003.9
  Rockville Centre11,80011,4005003.9
  Valley Stream19,30018,4008004.4
     
Suffolk County766,500728,60037,8004.9
  Babylon Town109,800104,4005,5005.0
  Brookhaven Town249,800238,00011,7004.7
  Huntington Town102,70098,2004,5004.4
  Islip Town176,100167,5008,6004.9
  Lindenhurst Village15,00014,3007004.4
  Riverhead Town16,00015,0001,0006.3
  Smithtown Town58,80056,5002,3003.9
  Southampton Town29,20027,2002,0006.9
     
New York City4,184,0003,985,200198,8004.8
New York State9,558,0009,076,300481,7005.0

The Path of LI’s Knifepoint Robber

The man suspected of a string of knifepoint robberies across Long Island since mid-February was caught by police Monday night, cops say. The man is suspected of hitting 18 stores — 10 in Nassau and eight in Suffolk — mainly chain ice cream shops and sandwich restaurants, and demanding cash, according to police. Two of those were attempted robberies. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.

The suspect and two others — a man and a woman — were arrested by Suffolk and Nassau police after a robbery of a Carvel in Huntington Station, Suffolk Assistant Police Commissioner Justin Meyers said.

The two other people are being investigated to determine if they are connected to the robbery spree, Meyers said.

The following robberies or attempted robberies are thought by police to be part of the suspect’s crime spree:

Feb. 13

Carvel, Copiague

Feb. 15

Dunkin’ Donuts, Seaford (attempted)

Feb. 15

Carvel, South Farmingdale

March 20

Subway, Copiague

March 21

Carvel, Bethpage

March 26

Carvel, Westbury

March 28

Subway, Carle Place

April 1

Carvel, Lake Ronkonkoma

April 4

Subway, Plainview

April 8

Subway, Westbury

April 11

The Barn, West Babylon

April 11

GameStop, Merrick

April 15

Subway, North Merrick (attempted)

April 15

TCBY, Lynbrook

April 18

Subway, Ronkonkoma

April 19

Baskin-Robbins, Bohemia

April 30

The Barn, Lake Ronkonkoma

May 1

Carvel, Huntington Station

Fixing LIRR problems means fixing Penn Station, too

The constant major LIRR service disruptions into and out of Penn Station speak to the many challenges facing the century-old rail hub – the busiest in North America.

Although several plans are underway to address Penn Station’s strained capacity and crumbling infrastructure, it could be a long time before commuters see meaningful results. In the meantime, the problem is getting worse by the day, experts said.

The station

New York Pennsylvania Station was built in 1910 and underwent a major reconstruction in the 1960s that included the demolition of most of the original station so that Madison Square Garden could be built on top of it.

Penn Station is the primary Manhattan terminal for three major railroads—the LIRR, NJ Transit and Amtrak. Six MTA subway lines also operate through Penn Station. Burgeoning development on Manhattan’s West Side and increasing ridership continues to put added strain on Penn.

The problem

While use of the station has soared, investments in its infrastructure, including its connecting tunnels across the East River and Hudson River, have not kept up, experts say.

And superstorm Sandy in 2012, which flooded those tunnels with tens of millions of gallons of corrosive saltwater, only hastened the deterioration of the concrete, tracks, switches and electrical components.

The increase in the number of LIRR disruptions caused by problems in and around the East River Tunnels since superstorm Sandy

Complicating matters further is Penn’s management structure. Although it runs the fewest trains and serves the fewest customers of all the railroads there, Amtrak has owned and operated Penn Station since the mid-1970s.

The LIRR has said “third party operations,” including Amtrak, were to blame for about 8 percent, of the LIRR’s 17,951 delays last year.

But while the LIRR, which runs about half of all trains into and out of Pen, covers much of the cost of maintaining and repairing the tracks it uses, only Amtrak is allowed to do the actual maintenance and repair work. The arrangement has led to frequent infighting among the three railroads when something goes wrong.

Long-term solutions

There are some long-term projects in the works that will ease some of the infrastructure problems surrounding Penn Station.

The Gateway Project

The $24 billion Amtrak project includes a series of major upgrades in and around Penn Station including the creation of a second rail tunnel across the Hudson River.

By adding new tracks and station capacity at Penn and modernizing its rail infrastructure, the project would also reap benefits for LIRR rider.

East Side Access

The MTA’s $10.2 billion megaproject will link the LIRR to a new customer concourse at Grand Central Terminal via newly-bored tunnels.

It will provide a second Manhattan station for the LIRR, easing congestion at Penn and providing more alternatives for the railroad and for customers during unplanned service disruptions.

Superstorm Sandy repairs

The MTA plans to make repairs to the two East River Tunnels that sustained the heaviest damage from superstorm Sandy.

When the project does begin, Amtrak plans to take each of the tunnels out of service for a year at a time–reducing capacity into and out of Penn, potentially forcing the LIRR to reduce rush-hour service during the project.

Empire Station/Moynihan Train Hall development

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in September announced a $1.6 billion plan to redevelop and expand Penn Station.

The plan will allow the LIRR to share space with Amtrak in the long-planned Moynihan Train Hall at the Farley Post Office complex across Eighth Avenue.

The project includes a renovation of the LIRR’s existing Penn Station concourse featuring wider walkways, taller ceilings and a digital pseudo-skylight, but would not increase actual track capacity.

A new Penn Station management structure

Some MTA officials, advocates and elected leaders have pushed for the MTA to take over Penn.

They reason the MTA has more resources to run the station and would make it a higher priority than Amtrak, which operates in 45 other states.

As an alternative, some have called for the LIRR and NJ Transit to take a more active role in the operation of Penn Station, including potentially as part of a separate management agency representing all three railroads.

Shorter-term solutions

Although most of the major projects planned to improve Penn Station are still years away from completion, some observers have pointed to nearer-term changes that could reduce the frequency and severity of service disruptions.

They include overhauled maintenance practices and more pre-planned service shutdowns to perform work on tracks.

Some have also called on the LIRR to improve its customer communications so that riders get more accurate, timely and helpful information during service problems, including about travel alternatives.

It’s going to get better. . . But you’re always going to have a system that was built in the 18- and 1900s and was not designed for the number of people who want to go to the same place at the same time as we have now.
– MTA Board member Mitchell Pally

However, with the LIRR on pace to break its modern ridership record for the third-straight year and growing use of Penn Station, things may get considerably worse before they improve, experts say.

How is Donald Trump doing in his first 100 days?

More than 800 Newsday readers have graded Donald Trump as the president reached his 100th day in the Oval Office. Overall, the evaluations were typical of the recent national polling and what you know from talking with your colleagues and neighbors — the country remains highly polarized. The majority gave Trump either straight As or Fs.

There was some variation, however. So far, Trump has received the most As for his foreign policy and the most Fs for his role in the failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The graphs below show the full distribution of grades and where there are some nuanced views on his performance.

You can also click here to submit your progress report.

Long Island job levels in March

The total, non-farm sector job count on Long Island rose by 19,800 to 1.320 million in March 2017 compared to a year earlier, according to the state’s Labor Department. Leading the increases were the private educational and health services sector, which rose by 8,600, and trade, transportation and utilities, which increased by 7,800. The financial sector declined by 1,100 jobs and manufacturing was down 1,000. Click on the trend lines below for details on the 10 sectors going back to 1990. The table below gives details for the 2017 and 2016 levels. Read more about the Long Island jobs data here.

How Long Island’s 10 sectors have done in March

How the 10 sectors break down year over year


Industry            (job levels in thousands)March 2017March 2016Pct Year
TOTAL NONFARM1,320.31,300.51.5%
TOTAL PRIVATE1,120.71,104.31.5%
Total Goods Producing 143.7145.2-1.0%
   Construction, Natural Resources, Mining 73.173.6-0.7%
         Specialty Trade Contractors 53.351.33.9%
   Manufacturing70.671.6-1.4%
      Durable Goods 39.240.2-2.5%
      Non-Durable Goods 31.431.40.0%
Total Service Providing1,176.61,155.31.8%
Total Private Service-Providing977.0959.11.9%
   Trade, Transportation, and Utilities276.4268.62.9%
      Wholesale Trade 71.969.23.9%
         Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods 34.334.4-0.3%
         Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods 26.525.92.3%
      Retail Trade 160.6157.42.0%
         Building Material and Garden Equipment 12.412.7-2.4%
         Food and Beverage Stores 36.335.62.0%
            Grocery Stores 30.129.90.7%
         Health and Personal Care Stores 13.312.74.7%
         Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores 19.018.24.4%
         General Merchandise Stores 25.825.60.8%
            Department Stores 19.619.7-0.5%
      Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities 43.942.04.5%
         Utilities 4.84.72.1%
         Transportation and Warehousing 39.137.34.8%
            Couriers and Messengers 5.15.4-5.6%
   Information19.119.3-1.0%
         Broadcasting (except Internet) 1.11.010.0%
         Telecommunications 8.68.60.0%
   Financial Activities70.671.7-1.5%
      Finance and Insurance 53.054.5-2.8%
         Credit Intermediation and Related Activities 20.320.4-0.5%
            Depository Credit Intermediation 11.511.6-0.9%
         Insurance Carriers and Related Activities 26.527.5-3.6%
      Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 17.617.22.3%
         Real Estate 13.813.70.7%
   Professional and Business Services 172.8169.71.8%
      Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 82.880.72.6%
            Legal Services 18.218.8-3.2%
            Accounting, Tax Prep., Bookkpng., & Payroll Svcs. 15.314.55.5%
      Management of Companies and Enterprises 16.516.40.6%
      Admin. & Supp. and Waste Manage. & Remed. Svcs. 73.572.61.2%
   Education and Health Services268.1259.53.3%
      Educational Services 43.044.6-3.6%
      Health Care and Social Assistance 225.1214.94.7%
         Ambulatory Health Care Services 88.485.43.5%
         Hospitals 64.860.96.4%
         Nursing and Residential Care Facilities 34.233.03.6%
         Social Assistance 37.735.65.9%
   Leisure and Hospitality112.2112.10.1%
      Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 16.718.2-8.2%
         Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries 12.813.5-5.2%
      Accommodation and Food Services 95.593.91.7%
         Food Services and Drinking Places 91.589.12.7%
   Other Services 57.858.2-0.7%
         Personal and Laundry Services 22.822.70.4%
Government 199.6196.21.7%
   Federal Government 16.616.60.0%
   State Government 25.324.91.6%
      State Government Education 13.913.34.5%
      State Government Hospitals 1.41.5-6.7%
   Local Government 157.7154.71.9%
      Local Government Education 106.3103.82.4%
      Local Government Hospitals 2.92.83.6%

Derek Jeter: The Captain’s most memorable moments for the Yankees

The defining moments of Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is set to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Photo Credit: Getty Images / Al Bello

The First Hit

May 30, 1995

With shortstop Tony Fernandez injured, the Yankees called up highly touted prospect Derek Jeter for a cup of coffee.

The 20-year-old went hitless in five at-bats in his major league debut. In his second career game on May 30, Jeter earned his first major league hit, a single through the left side of the infield off Mariners pitcher Tim Belcher. After 13 games in “The Show,” Jeter was sent back down to Triple-A when Fernandez returned.

Photo Credit: AP / Gary Stewart Read more

Opening Strong

April 2, 1996

Jeter was slated to begin the 1996 season as the Yankees’ starting shortstop by new manager Joe Torre despite initial hesitation from owner George Steinbrenner.

Batting ninth on Opening Day, Jeter smacked his first career home run off Cleveland’s Dennis Martinez in the fifth inning of a 7-1 Yankees victory. The dinger ended any doubt that Jeter was ready, setting the tone for his 1996 Rookie of the Year campaign.

Photo Credit: AP / Tony Dejak Read more

The Maier Catch

Oct. 9, 1996

In Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees trailed by one run in the bottom of the eighth with Jeter at the plate.

The shortstop swung at the first pitch from Armando Benitez, sending rightfielder Tony Tarasco back to the wall. As Tarasco reached up, soon-to-be folk hero Jeffrey Maier reached out, pulling the ball out of play and into the stands. Tarasco contested that 12-year-old Maier interfered, but rightfield umpire Richie Garcia ruled it a home run for Jeter. The Yankees won the game, the series, their first AL pennant since 1981 and the World Series, kickstarting a dynasty that produced four titles in five seasons.

Photo Credit: AP / Ron Frehm Read more

All-Star MVP

July 11, 2000

Jeter lost in fan voting to Alex Rodriguez for AL starting shortstop ahead of the 2000 All-Star Game, but with Rodriguez unable to play Jeter took full advantage.

In the 71st midsummer classic, Jeter became the first Yankee to win the game’s MVP award after going 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. He picked up hits off Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown and Al Leiter, including a two-run single off Leiter in the fourth inning to give the AL the lead.

Photo Credit: AP / Ed Reinke Read more

Subway Series

October 2000

In his fourth World Series, Jeter had his most outstanding performance.

The Yankees shortstop was key to the Pinstripes’ Subway Series victory over the Mets in 2000, especially with his performance in Game 4. Jeter went deep on the first pitch of the game off Mets starter Bobby Jones, later adding a triple. In the series-clinching Game 5 win, Jeter smacked another home run to even the score in the sixth inning. He was named series MVP, becoming the first player to win both All-Star and World Series MVPs in the same season.

Photo Credit: AP / Amy Sancetta Read more

The flip

Oct. 13, 2001

The Yankees were down 2-0 in the 2001 ALDS, but held to a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning.

With Jeremy Giambi on first, Terrence Long hit a Mike Mussina pitch to rightfield for a double. As Shane Spencer played the ball in right, Giambi rounded third. Spencer’s throw missed the cutoff man along the first-base line, but along came Jeter — from shortstop! — to save the day, gathering the ball and making a backhand flip to catcher Jorge Posada, who swiped Giambi for the final out of the inning. The Yankees won the series in five games.

Photo Credit: AP / Eric Risberg Read more

Mr. November

Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2001

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks forced the entire baseball calendar to be pushed back in 2001, Jeter and the Yankees were only up to Game 4 of the World Series against the Diamondbacks when the final day of October came around.

The game reached extra innings, and as Jeter stood at the plate, the clock struck midnight, marking the first World Series moment ever in the month of November. Moments later, Jeter smashed a fly ball to rightfield for a game-winning homer, tying the series at 2-2. Arizona won the series in seven games, but Jeter picked up a new moniker.

Photo Credit: AP / Bill Kostroun Read more

The Dive

July 1, 2004

As the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry reached its peak in 2004, the clubs battled into extra innings on July 1 at Yankee Stadium.

In the top of 12th with two outs and runners on second and third, Boston’s Trot Nixon hit a popup along the third base line. Jeter gave chase and made the catch along the line at full speed. Unable to stop, Jeter dove over the wall, tumbling over the photographers’ well and into the first row of seats. Jeter arose from the crowd with some marks and bruises to show for it and left the game the next inning, but his teammates picked him up, winning the game in the 13th inning.

Photo Credit: AP / Frank Franklin II Read more

Hit No. 2,722

Sept. 11, 2009

The Yankees’ all-time hit list is littered with legendary names – DiMaggio, Mantle, Ruth. For 72 years, Lou Gehrig sat atop the list with no one coming within sniffing distance of his 2,721-hit mark.

But in 2009, it became inevitable that Jeter would make the record his own. On Sept. 11, Jeter stepped to the plate in the third inning, smacking a ball down the line past a diving first baseman for career hit No. 2,722.

Photo Credit: AP / Bill Kostroun Read more

Hit No. 3,000

July 9, 2011

The Captain singled in his first at bat of the day, earning hit No. 2,999.

In his next at-bat, Jeter crushed a ball almost halfway up the Yankee Stadium bleachers in leftfield off Tampa Bay’s David Price, becoming just the second player ever to hit No. 3,000 with a home run after Wade Boggs. Jeter wasn’t done. He went 5-for-5 that day with two RBIs and a stolen base.

Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac Read more

Walking off

Sept. 25, 2014

Derek Jeter reached on an error in the top of the seventh inning in his final game in the Bronx. That would have been his final at bat at the Stadium, but a ninth-inning Orioles rally tied the game and forced the Yankees to the plate once more with Jeter due up third.

Jose Pirela led off with a single and Antoan Richardson came in to pinch run. After Brett Gardner bunted Richardson over to second, Jeter came to the plate for his final at-bat in the Bronx. The Captain went with the first pitch he saw, driving a single to rightfield, scoring Richardson from second base and sending Yankee Stadium into a frenzy one last time with the walk-off win.

Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac Read more
Derek Jeter career hits database

Take a closer look at each of Derek Jeter’s 3,465 career hits.

Numbers retired in Monument Park

Derek Jeter joins these Yankees to have their number retired by the club.

Derek Jeter: Salute to the Captain

Newsday’s 2014 documentary tells the story of what Jeter meant to Major League Baseball, its players and fans during his 20 seasons.

The ‘Mother Of All Bombs’

U.S. forces in Afghanistan on Thursday struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan with “the mother of all bombs,” the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military, Pentagon officials said.

The bomb, known officially as a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast weapon, unleashes 11 tons of explosives. When it was developed in the early 2000s, the Pentagon did a formal review of legal justification for its combat use.

The Pentagon said it had no early estimate of deaths or damage caused by its attack, which President Donald Trump called a “very, very successful mission.”

The U.S. military headquarters in Kabul said in a statement that the bomb was dropped at 7:32 p.m. local time Thursday on a tunnel complex in Achin district of Nangarhar province, where the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State group has been operating. The target was close to the Pakistani border.

Newsday/Rod Eyer

The U.S. estimates 600 to 800 IS fighters are present in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar. The U.S. has concentrated heavily on combatting them while also supporting Afghan forces battling the Taliban. Just last week a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, 37, of Edgewood, Maryland, was killed in action in Nangarhar.

The MOAB is a custom-made Air Force weapon that has been in the arsenal for more than a decade but never used on the battlefield, although it was available throughout the Iraq war. It is designed to hit softer targets such as surface facilities, tunnel entrances and troop concentrations. It is pushed out the rear of the launching aircraft, guided to its target by GPS and slowed by a parachute.

A separate non-nuclear weapon known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, which is larger in its physical dimensions but carries a smaller load of conventional explosives, is designed to take out deeply buried targets like reinforced bunkers. The MOP has never been used in combat.

Washington Post video

In its 2003 review of the legality of using the MOAB, the Pentagon concluded that it could not be called an indiscriminate killer under the Law of Armed Conflict.

“Although the MOAB weapon leaves a large footprint, it is discriminate and requires a deliberate launching toward the target,” the review said. It added: “It is expected that the weapon will have a substantial psychological effect on those who witness its use.”

Adam Stump, a Pentagon spokesman, said the bomb was dropped from a U.S. MC-130 special operations transport. He said the bomb had been brought to Afghanistan “some time ago” for potential use.

A plume of smoke from a GBU-43B test in May 2004. The cloud from the weapon can be seen up to 20 miles away. Northwest Florida Daily News photo via AP

Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a written statement that the strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. forces conducting clearing operations in the Achin area “while maximizing the destruction” of IS fighters and facilities. He said IS has been using improvised explosive devices, bunkers and tunnels to strengthen its defenses.

“This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K,” he added, using the U.S. military’s acronym for the IS affiliate. Ismail Shinwari, the governor of Achin district, said the U.S. attack was carried out in a remote mountainous area with no civilian homes nearby and that there had been no reports of injured civilians. He said there has been heavy fighting in the area in recent weeks between Afghan forces and IS militants.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said IS fighters had used the tunnels and caves in Achin to maneuver freely.

“The United States takes the fight against ISIS very seriously and in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space, which we did,” Spicer said.