Long Island Rail Road foreman John Cerulli arrived at work for a weekend overtime shift wearing a swim shirt, bathing suit and flip-flops, a co-worker told investigators. He swiped his employee ID card at a time clock at the Ronkonkoma facility and allegedly announced: "Don’t bother looking for me. I'll be next to my pool with a margarita."

Using cloned identification badges hidden in refrigerators and lockers, and coordinating with co-workers through group chats, some LIRR workers left work early nearly every day for weeks at a time, according to a three-year investigation by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's inspector general. Others hit the gym, ate meals at home and worked second jobs while on the clock. Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that the 65-page report, released last month, lays out the brazenness of the LIRR’s latest employee time-fraud scandal, according to investigators and MTA officials. The probe implicated three dozen LIRR workers — seven of them supervisors — in a scheme to create and distribute counterfeit employee badges sold for $5-$40 and used to cover up absences, like Cerulli’s alleged on-the-clock pool day. The workers exploited COVID-era health precautions that suspended biometric time clocks — which had been implemented after the last timecard scandal, according to the report.

Several LIRR workers admitted their involvement and implicated others to investigators. Others denied any involvement. Some refused to answer investigators' questions.

"It was the ‘culture,’ " at the LIRR's Maintenance of Equipment department to have a cloned card, one employee told investigators.

Most have been disciplined by the LIRR, but have not faced any criminal charges.

Cerulli was forced to pay back $3,196 to the LIRR after he was caught on surveillance skipping out of work on 14 days over three months.

Although most of the implicated employees are facing what the MTA calls "severe" consequences — including lengthy unpaid suspensions and, potentially, termination — others avoided punishment by retiring before the investigators' findings were released. None have faced criminal charges. Several, including those who were consistently among the railroad's highest overtime earners in recent years, remain on the LIRR’s payroll.

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With the end of the federal government shutdown, New York has issued November SNAP benefits providing food assistance to low-income families. But the resumption of the benefit program doesn’t eliminate food insecurity altogether. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the maximum monthly benefit varies by household size, from $298 for a single person to $994 for a family of four. To be eligible for SNAP, gross household incomes cannot exceed $23,484 per year for a single person and $48,228 per year for a family of four (where all members of the household are under age 60.)

With food prices rising higher than overall inflation, more families are struggling to put food on the table, and more people are turning to food pantries to fill the gaps. More people were seeking food assistance at food pantries even before the shutdown and the delay in November SNAP payments.

The uncertainty about whether or when SNAP benefits would be paid increased anxiety and demand at food pantries in November, said Michael Haynes of Long Island Cares-The Harry Chapin Food Bank, which distributes food to 330 food pantries and soup kitchens in Suffolk and Nassau.

But that’s only part of the story.

‘We saw a 20% increase in demand for our services in October of 2025, compared to September of 2025,” Haynes said. “It’s not just due to the shutdown. It’s affordability, it’s everything else.”

All pantries are in need of donations of food and/or monetary contributions to help them buy food.

In Riverhead, St. John Parish Outreach will host a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the parish cafeteria. And it will distribute turkeys on Monday, Nov. 24 from 10 a.m. to noon, on a first-come, first-serve basis, while supplies last, Ruiz said. (Photo ID or pantry card required for the turkey distribution.) That’s at St. John the Evangelist Parish Outreach – 546 St. John’s Place, Riverhead, 631-369-4601.

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Burning Days, the Life and Work of James Salter with Keith Reddin is being presented this coming Friday, November 21st from 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM at The Nathaniel Rogers House, 2539 Montauk Hwy in Bridgehampton. Salter, a longtime Bridgehampton resident, was a decorated Air Force fighter pilot in the Korean War, and had a distinguished career as novelist, short story writer, essayist and screenwriter. The program’s presenter - Keith Reddin – is a playwright and educator, who has a decades long connection with the East End arts scene. Mr. Reddin has a deep love of contemporary American literature and a special devotion to the works of James Salter. That’s this Friday at 5 p.m. at The Nathaniel Rogers House, on Montauk Hwy in Bridgehampton.

To RSVP and for further info visit www.bridgehamptonmuseum.org

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The announcement over the weekend that the weight limit on the Smith Point Bridge had been lowered is the latest chapter in the span’s demise, as construction on a new bridge is set to begin in 2026. Ted Phillips reports in NEWSDAY that on Sunday, Suffolk County announced that a 3-ton weight limit on trucks using the bridge in Shirley was imposed following a state inspection. Suffolk County spokesman Michael Martino said yesterday that the NYS Department of Transportation informed the county of the new limit on Saturday. State DOT data on weight restrictions for bridges, last updated in 2022, listed a 15-ton weight restriction on the drawbridge over Narrow Bay. Newsday previously reported that weight restrictions had been imposed in the past, including a 10-ton weight limit in 2009. An Oct. 27, 2024, state inspection rated the bridge as “poor.”

The state uses federal ratings to assess the condition of bridges, according to the DOT website.

“The fact that a bridge is in poor condition does not imply that it is unsafe or likely to collapse,” according to the DOT website. Weight limits are posted to bridges rated as “poor,” and bridges with that rating generally require “significant maintenance and repair to stay in service,” but unsafe bridges are closed to traffic, according to the website.

The Smith Point Bridge, which opened in 1959, is supposed to remain in service until the new bridge opens, with an expected completion in 2029, according to the county website.

The bridge is the sole access point to Smith Point Park, which sees about 1 million visitors annually and has the most popular county-owned beach, according to the county website.

The span connects Shirley to the eastern end of Fire Island via William Floyd Parkway.

The design of the bridge has been the subject of controversy over the years. In 2016, Newsday reported that a hearing on the proposal brought criticism over its height as being too difficult for seniors and cyclists.

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A 20-year veteran Long Island Rail Road worker was fired and at least five others could be cut loose following a bombshell MTA investigation into widespread employee fraud at the railroad. A scathing 65-page report by MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort found that 36 railroad employees used cloned ID cards to claim they were on the job while moonlighting or just blowing off work — with one alleged cheater, road car inspector Richard Bovell, losing his job. Eight railroad employees cited in the report quit the LIRR before the findings were released, while 28 others were or will be disciplined, including suspensions, demotions and other actions, the report said. Jorge Fitz-Gibbon reports in THE NY POST that at issue are “cloned,” or copied employee ID cards — including blank cards purchased on Amazon — that allowed coworkers to check pals in and out of the job while they were elsewhere, according to the report.

The IG said the cards were sold to railroad employees for as much as $40. The scam exploited a railroad policy that allowed workers and swiping in and out of work with their ID cards after ceasing fingerprint scans and other hands-on methods during the COVID-19 pandemic. That allowed some workers to exploit the system, particularly at the Ronkonkoma, Richmond Hill and West Side Yard facilities, the report said.

LIRR President Rob Free said corruption won’t be tolerated at LIRR. “Employees who steal from taxpayers forfeit their right to public jobs,” Free said in a statement.

Thus far no LIRR employees involved in this scheme have faced criminal charges.

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The East Hampton Food Pantry will hold its annual Harvest Food Drive at East Hampton Middle School on Newtown Lane this coming Saturday, November 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The East Hampton Food Pantry opened in 1989. The number of households seeking their services catapulted from 2,180 in 1989 to 15,661 in 2010 and getting bigger every year. Per the E.H. Food Pantry website, "Numbers rise and fall, annually, but over time, the need for food continues to increase and the East Hampton Food Pantry remains active and essential to the community, especially seniors and especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas week."

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As the Trump administration seeks to remake the immigration system and deports tens of thousands of people, many immigrants are more scared about living in the United States, and yet their resolve to remain here is largely unchanged.

Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Ruth Igielnik and Ana Ley report in THE NY TIMES that a new national survey of immigrants in the country — both documented and undocumented, and varying widely in how and when they arrived — found that about half of all immigrants say they feel less safe since President Trump took office. The survey was done by The New York Times and KFF, a nonprofit that conducts polling and research about health policy.

Among the immigrants surveyed — whether they are here legally or not, or have been naturalized as citizens — concern that they or a family member could be detained or deported has risen significantly since before President Trump’s return to power. Still, large majorities also say their own future, and that of their children, remains bright, with the concept of the American dream retaining its powerful appeal. About 70 percent said that if they could go back in time, they would still make the choice to migrate to the United States.

The survey was conducted among 1,805 adult immigrants nationwide from Aug. 28 to Oct. 20.

The survey captured a snapshot of immigrant life against a backdrop of enormous change in the United States, with many people standing by their choice to come — sometimes illegally — even as their image of the country as a welcoming place has been shaken. Immigrants feel that, across every measure, they are better off in the United States compared with the living conditions that propelled them to leave their homelands.

This recent survey of 1,805 immigrants across the country, is a broad look at a group for which there is often very little data to understand their views and experiences, given that the U.S. Census Bureau does not ask specifics about immigration status. The group is also a small share of the population and too difficult to reach to be measured with accuracy by most surveys.

The New York Times/KFF survey of immigrants can be viewed here.