Long Island

(Newser) - Officials on Long Island have initiated a study on the economic feasibility of its secession from New York state, Newsday reports. While acknowledging the difficulties of establishing a 51st state, Suffolk County Comptroller Joseph Sawicki said the proposal is really about examining what Long Island contributes to greater New York,...

(Newser) - Amid outrage over recent racial remarks, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson is retiring as chancellor of Long Island’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the New York Times reports. Watson, 79, said his departure was overdue but admitted this wasn’t how he’d wanted to leave. The lab suspended Watson...

(Newser) - As much as half a million dollars is missing from Long Island town bingo game operated three times a week by a charity for the disabled, Newsday reports. An investigation was launched after two charity workers accused each other of skimming $10,000 from the games. That's when investigators discovered...

(Newser) - And you thought your Halloween costume was scary: A pillowcase found wriggling in a Long Island parking lot early yesterday turned out to contain a 2½-foot male alligator. An official from the town of Babylon found the creature near a beach, Newsday reports, with a message on the pillowcase:...