Spring leaf buds popped early on Long Island. What that means for birds, plants and insects.
A warming planet puts migrating birds and their hatchlings out of synch with important food sources.
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Long Island frog tunnel saving spring amphibians hopping between vernal pools
Hundreds of frogs were getting crushed as they tried to cross a road. The town built a frog-sized tunnel and the number of casualties plummeted.
After Long Island wildfires, controlled burns needed, ecologists say
Ecologists argue the region's pine barrens have burned too little in recent years.
Former Holtsville zoo workers describe 'abysmal' animal enclosures, unlicensed procedures
A local animal welfare group would like to see the facility shut down and all its animals moved to true sanctuaries.
Long Island's river otter population faces deadly obstacles in comeback
Otters are getting struck by cars as they attempt to circumvent dams blocking their path to choice habitat.
Rising seas endanger Long Island marsh bird habitats
As seas rise, the wetlands where the sparrows nest are becoming inundated by higher tides and storm surges, which are flooding their nests.
Long Islanders consider ways to mitigate fatal crashes of birds into buildings
Hundreds of millions of birds in the U.S. die when they collide with windows--a significant cause of drastic population declines.
Navajo people poisoned by uranium mining have been fighting for decades for restitution
Thousands of Navajos took jobs in the mines, starting in the 1940s. They were never told the rocks they were handling were deadly.
Amid rising seas, Mastic Beach buying homes in flood-prone areas
Climate experts advise that moving people away from some shorelines will eventually be the only sensible choice.
Whale harassment off Long Island a concern as more visit region
Crowding, following, and getting too close to whales is dangerous for the whales--and it's illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Mega CAFOs on the Chesapeake
Chicken farms housing millions of animals threaten a fragile ecosystem.
New York State law could protect Long Island wetlands from federal restrictions
Just a short hike into a 200-acre woodland in Manhasset lie a series of shallow basins in the forest floor left behind by retreating glaciers. After a dry August, the basins are empty, but in spring they will fill with snowmelt and rain and teem with wildlife: spotted salamanders and wood frogs, waterthrushes and rusty blackbirds, woodland bats and a resident pair of coyotes. Small freshwater wetlands like this provide habitat for dozens of species, offer protection against flooding and help cle
Environmentalists name the 'dirty dozen' plant species damaging Long Island
Invasive plants are undermining the health of Long Island's forests. Home gardeners can help control them.
An accidental experiment during COVID suggests too many children are removed to foster care
In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, some experts worried that children confined at home would be vulnerable to abuse.
Brookings Institution scholars wrote in April 2020 that COVID had created “a perfect storm” of isolation and economic stress that would “almost certainly lead to a sharp increase in unreported cases of child abuse and neglect,” and a New York Times op-ed headline the same month warned of a coming “child abuse epidemic.”
But the evidence suggests that in some parts of
Brookings Institution scholars wrote in April 2020 that COVID had created “a perfect storm” of isolation and economic stress that would “almost certainly lead to a sharp increase in unreported cases of child abuse and neglect,” and a New York Times op-ed headline the same month warned of a coming “child abuse epidemic.”
But the evidence suggests that in some parts of
A plan tackling segregated middle schools in Brooklyn shows some patterns are hard to break
An ambitious project to mix things up yielded dramatic results in some schools, and smaller shifts in others.
‘Ghosts of capitalism’: the push to dismantle America’s decrepit dams
On a muggy day in late August, George Jackman, an aquatic ecologist who works on habitat restoration, stood at the edge of Quassaick Creek in upstate New York.
The Quassaick, which flows through the small city of Newburgh, New York, and spills into the Hudson River, was unusually shallow after a summer with little rain. “It looks bucolic now,” Jackman said. “But it can be a raging torrent.”
For 300 years, that torrent had been contained by a small dam that once powered a nearby mill, where the
The Quassaick, which flows through the small city of Newburgh, New York, and spills into the Hudson River, was unusually shallow after a summer with little rain. “It looks bucolic now,” Jackman said. “But it can be a raging torrent.”
For 300 years, that torrent had been contained by a small dam that once powered a nearby mill, where the
Big Oil Wants New York’s Cow Manure
Biogas credits are incentivizing the expansion of factory farming in New York—and might end up increasing carbon emissions.
Hochul, Plastics Industry and Green Groups Battle Over Recycling Proposal
Rather than try to improve Hochul’s proposal, some environmentalists want to scrap it.
Rural Counties See Dramatic Declines in Family Lawyers
In six of eight rural counties, panels of children’s attorneys have lost more than half their lawyers over the past decade.
A Multimillion-Dollar Payday, at the Carwash
Wage-theft cases almost never pay out. For some of the most marginalized laborers in the city, justice was served.
This Simple Solution Keeps Kids in School, out of Handcuffs
Telling kids they can never make a mistake was at the root of the problem.
The Proven Way to Keep More Innocent Teens From Confessing to Murder (and Why Police Won't Adopt It)
Standard interrogation methods amount to psychological torture for the young and mentally frail. Now there's a better way.
The Bronx Zoo’s Loneliest Elephant
The plight of one elephant raises the question: it is inhumane to keep highly social, intelligent animals in zoos?
How Game Theory Helped Improve New York City’s High School Application Process
Tuesday was the deadline for eighth graders in New York City to submit applications to secure a spot at one of 426 public high schools. After months of school tours and tests, auditions and interviews, 75,000 students have entrusted their choices to a computer program that will arrange their school assignments for the coming year. The weeks of research and deliberation will be reduced to a fraction of
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