More than half of drivers surveyed nationally admitted to dangerous or distracted driving, according to a AAA study, and experts say a similar trend can be seen in motorists on Long Island and the region. John Asbury reports on Newsday.com that nearly 60% of drivers in an anonymous national survey to AAA said they engaged in risky behavior including speeding, driving aggressively, distracted driving, including texting behind the wheel, or driving impaired. About 2% of drivers admitted committing all of the listed dangerous behaviors.

More than 20% of drivers admitted driving at least 15 mph over the speed limit on highways and 10 mph over the limit on surface streets, according to the study.

Robert Sinclair, spokesman for AAA Northeast noted that 36% of fatal crashes in New York were speed-related in 2021, but fewer drivers in the study considered speeding as dangerous behavior.

"They know it’s bad and creates problems, yet they continue to engage in it," Sinclair said. "Speeding is always the worst. It is the most upfront and obvious…higher speeds lead to greater damage to the vehicle and the driver."

Janine Logan, a spokeswoman for the New York Coalition of Transportation and Safety in Westbury, said a recent spate of crashes on Long Island and behavior of dangerous drivers was alarming.

“It’s absolutely disturbing and kind of proves what we’ve been observing,” Logan said. “When you look at the statistics, the numbers of those injured and killed are not going down.”

Advocates said drivers need to slow down and follow traffic regulations to have more consideration for other drivers on the road.

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Motorists would pay $15 to trek into Manhattan below 60th Street under recommendations released yesterday for a first-in-the-nation congestion pricingplan that has pitted working drivers and suburban motoring commuters against public transportation advocates and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Alfonso A. Castillo and Lorena Mongelli report on Newsday.com that MTA officials have said they want to implement the plan by spring but have acknowledged that a pair of federal lawsuits by New Jersey officials challenging the legality of the program could delay it.

Though lower than the $23 maximum E-ZPass toll considered by the MTA, the $15 “base toll” arrived at by the Traffic Mobility Review Board was well over the $9 minimum that was also on the table. That amount would have required that almost no drivers be exempt from paying the tolls.

Ultimately, the panel chose to add exemptions only for commuter buses and “specialized government vehicles.” State law already exempted emergency vehicles and vehicles transporting people with disabilities. The MTA is aiming to reduce the number of cars in the toll zone by around 17%, while also generating a $1 billion in revenue from the new tolls that would be dedicated to transit infrastructure investments.

While the MTA and transit advocates praised the recommendation to ease traffic and reduce pollution, Long Island business owners said it'd be another burden on them.

After public hearings, the MTA Board will decide on the recommendations of the panel.

Advisory board chairman Carl Weisbrod said the five-member advisory panel “really made an effort to keep the base toll as low as we possibly could,” while prioritizing transit riders, who make up the majority of commuters. MTA officials have said of the approximately 100,000 people commuting from Long Island to Manhattan each day, only about 20,000 do so by car.

“The guiding principle for us was: How do we satisfy, in the first instance, the many, not the few?” said Weisbrod, who stood by the benefits of the controversial congestion pricing plan. “Absent this, we’re going to be choking on our own traffic for a long time to come.” But critics of the plan — including many Long Island motorists — say the new tolls, compounded by a rising cost of living and transit fares that just went up in August, may push some New Yorkers past the brink, and potentially out of the state.

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So-called “funny money” came into play as part of an investigation involving Victor Marquez, 22, of Brentwood, whom Southampton Town Police allege recently paid $4,000 to a Riverside man to purchase a car - except the cash that exchanged hands was actually prop money used in theatrical or film productions. As reported on 27east.com the caper began with a Facebook posting by the seller in late October offering the vehicle for sale. Marquez, said police, responded to the ad and gave the seller the ersatz cash before driving off in the car. “After [Marquez] had left with the car,” said a police report from the Southampton Town Police Department, “the victim realized the money was movie prop money.” Detectives investigated the alleged theft and identified Marquez as a suspect. He was charged by Southampton Town Police this week with grand larceny in the third degree, a felony.

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Barnes & Noble will hold a grand opening today for its latest store — its first on the South Fork — when it opens the doors to its new location in the Bridgehampton Commons at 10 o'clock this morning. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27East.com that the store is one of three stores that the giant bookseller is opening this week, with openings also scheduled in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Richardson, Texas. Janine Flanigan, the company’s director of store planning and design, said Barnes & Noble is bucking the trend toward online shopping and had already opened more than 30 brick-and-mortar stores this year and planned to open 50 to 60 more in 2024. The company now has 608 stores, she added. The book seller opened a store in Riverhead last year. The company has long eyed Bridgehampton as a potential location for a store, with Leonard Riggio, the company’s founder, owning a home on Ocean Road in Bridgehampton. A Barnes & Noble store had once been proposed as an anchor for mixed-use development planned by Konner Development for a site across Montauk Highway from Bridgehampton Commons, but the project was later dropped in the face of heavy community opposition. Riggio sold his interest in the company in 2019 to Elliot Advisors, an investment firm, which named James Daunt as its chief executive officer. Barnes & Noble Director Flanigan said, “You can always go on Amazon for a quick purchase. But if you are an avid reader, you want to see what’s available. It’s an experiential difference.” The Bridgehampton store will occupy about 9,000 square feet in the space that was formerly occupied by the Collette consignment shop on the southwest side of the Commons.

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The annual East Hampton Santa Parade & Celebration is tomorrow. Santa arrives at 10 a.m. Saturday at Herrick Park via helicopter, followed by an 11 a.m. parade from Guild Hall down Main Street and Newtown Lane, ending at the railroad station. The festivities continue all day with a holiday market on the lawn of East Hampton Village Hall (86 Main Street), free holiday movies at the Regal Theater at 1 p.m., Santa’s visit to the lawn at village hall at 3 p.m., followed by a concert by the Bonnettes and a tree lighting on Sheep Fold (near the Post Office) at 5 p.m. More details at easthamptonvillage.org.

And on the north fork this weekend -

Shellabration returns to Greenport Village this weekend from Noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with local seafood and wine and beer pairings throughout Greenport to raise funds for Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program’s shellfish restoration and community stewardship projects.

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Long Island nonprofit ERASE Racism has created a mapping tool that allows users to identify "high-opportunity" areas that might make prime candidates for affordable housing. The map highlights financially stable areas with strong school districts that have the resources to take on more students, said Laura Harding, president of ERASE Racism. Local leaders in housing and education said the tool will inform the housing debate on Long Island but overlooks certain obstacles, such as zoning rules and environmental concerns. Jonathan LaMantia reports on Newsday.com that the online mapping tool covers all of New York state, enabling users to analyze data by county, town, school district and census tract. ERASE Racism, a Syosset-based civil rights organization, said it hopes the tool will help inform discussions about development as New York faces a housing affordability crisis.

“When affordable housing is built, it’s normally built in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, which increases economic and racial segregation,” said Olivia Ildefonso, a research consultant to ERASE Racism who developed the tool with its president, Laura Harding.

ERASE Racism’s Education Opportunity Index, which is separately broken out by school systems, showed the North Shore, East Williston, Merrick, Cold Spring Harbor, Quogue and Amagansett districts have the highest opportunity for housing. That rating reflects areas with fewer economically disadvantaged students, better performance on standardized tests and higher spending per pupil, among other measures.