The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) auctioned 150 Long Island residential properties on May 19 and 20 as part of the NY Rising Acquisition Program. More than 300 people bid on all of the properties, which will enter closing in the summer of 2015. more

Hurricane Sandy was our worst nightmare realized. This monster storm packed as much energy as two World War II era atomic bombs, causing massive destruction, the likes of which had not been seen since the Long Island Express of 1938, a now legendary Category III hurricane. Trapped on an island jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, we were front and center when Sandy attacked with a vengeance. Thousands of homes were inundated with seawater and sewage. Hundreds were left uninhabitable. Two and a half years later, we continue to rebuild our tattered shoreline. In this series we will look in the coming months at the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery’s ongoing effort to reconstruct worst-case homes, businesses and communities that Sandy ravaged on Oct. 29, 2012 — and the myriad issues that residents and officials face as they piece together our shredded infrastructure. At the same time, we will look at state and local officials’ efforts to reinforce Long Island in the hope that we might be able to withstand nature’s fury better when the next monster storm hits. —Scott Brinton, senior editor more

The auction to sell the lease to the devastated Middle Bay Country Club in Oceanside did not have the intended result. “There was no successful bidder,” said attorney Kenneth Kirschenbaum, … more

Healing through art. That’s the motto of Splashes of Hope, which holds its annual Gala/Art Auction, on Friday, April 9. more