2025 Long Island preview: NY congestion pricing, Wegmans, Gilgo and more big things happening

Buckle up, Long Island: The year ahead is about to bring many changes.

Starting in early 2025, new laws will take effect including paid prenatal leave and an expansion of overtime pay eligibility. New York will roll out a first-of-its-kind congestion pricing program, and new leaders will be sworn in, including President-elect Donald Trump while the legal cases against him remain in flux.

There's also a new ride coming to Adventureland.

There are several business openings planned in 2025 too, including the much-anticipated first Wegmans supermarket on Long Island and one town's first cannabis dispensary.

Some of Long Island's biggest shopping centers, from what was once called Broadway Commons to the former Sun Vet mall, will undergo major transformations.

Newsday reporters have pored over their notes, consulted with their sources and looked into their crystal balls to come up with this year's list of what's ahead for Long Island.

Beyond the business openings, new leaders and legislation, there are highlights of some of the major sports and entertainment events on the calendar and key criminal cases that will be heading to trial.

So hop on and take a ride with us to the future.

January: NYS minimum wage, NYC congestion pricing

Congestion pricing takes effect. After decades of debate and planning, New York’s first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan is set to take effect at midnight on Jan. 5. Most vehicles will have to pay $9 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan during daytime hours. The Central Business District Tolling Program, as it’s formally known, aims to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and generate funding for transit investments. —Alfonso Castillo

Minimum wage hikes.  On Jan. 1, Long Island, New York City and Westchester’s minimum wage is set to increase by 50 cents to $16.50 an hour. The increase is part of a multiyear plan that will see the minimum wage increase to $17 per hour in 2026 before it is pegged to the measure of inflation at the start of 2027. The minimum wage for home health workers is scheduled to increase to $19.10 per hour from its current $18.55. The scheduled increases are part of an effort at the state level to attract and retain desperately needed home health aide workers as New Yorkers increasingly choose to age in place. —Victor Ocasio

New members of Congress sworn in. On Jan. 3, the 119th Session of Congress will be sworn into office. Democrat Laura Gillen will be the newest member of the Long Island delegation sworn-in after defeating incumbent Rep. Anthony D'Esposito for the 4th Congressional District in Nassau County. Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Tom Suozzi (D- Glen Cove) will return to their seats after winning re-election in November. Republicans will control both the House and Senate, providing President-elect Donald Trump with the ability to pass some of his policy priorities. —Laura Figueroa Hernandez

Election results certified. The newly sworn-in Congress will gather on Jan. 6 to certify the 2024 presidential election results. Security will be heightened on Capitol Hill in the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the building in protest of Trump's 2020 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden. —Laura Figueroa Hernandez

State Legislature returns with new members. The legislature’s first day of session is tentatively planned for Jan. 8. New senators and Assembly members who won their seats in November are expected to be sworn in then. The new members will include Democrat Siela Bynoe, of the 6th Senate District, who will become Long Island’s first Black woman to serve in the State Senate. Bynoe, 57, of Westbury, served in the GOP-controlled Nassau County Legislature for 10 years. The legislative session will continue into June. —Michael Gormley

Trump returns to power. Republican Donald Trump will return to the Oval Office officially on Jan. 20 following his inauguration on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance are slated to take the oath of office before kicking off a series of other ceremonial events that day, including a luncheon with members of Congress, and the signing of first day executive orders in the President's Room just outside of the U.S. Senate Chamber. Information on Inauguration Day events can be found online. —Laura Figueroa Hernandez

Fed meets on interest rates. The Federal Reserve will meet for the first time in 2025 on Jan. 28 and 29 and make its policy decision on the federal funds rate — a key rate at which commercial banks borrow from one another. If the Fed opts to lower this rate again, as it did in September and November, borrowing money will be cheaper for consumers and businesses. As this benchmark rate falls, so do interest rates on credit cards and auto loans. The Fed had raised the benchmark rate in 2023 to its highest level in two decades and held it there for 14 months to tame inflation before beginning to lower the rate in September. The Fed aims to maximize employment and promote stable prices. —Jonathan LaMantia

Funding for LI schools. In mid-January, Gov. Kathy Hochul is due to propose a 2025-26 school aid package as part of the state’s annual budget. Most school superintendents on Long Island and statewide are pessimistic over future financing for their districts as they brace for the next academic year and beyond, a recent survey found.

Statewide, 82% of school chiefs responding to a questionnaire said they were pessimistic that they could fund services and programs adequate to meet student needs over the next three years. On the Island, 75% of superintendents were pessimistic. Representatives of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, which sponsored the survey, said levels of pessimism were the highest since they began using questionnaires in 2016. One key reason for concern, those officials added, was uncertainty over future levels of state fiscal aid.

“While student enrollment statewide has declined, the needs of students have grown,” said Lars Clemensen, superintendent of Hampton Bays schools and the council’s current president. Growth areas cited included mental health counseling for students, food assistance and health care.

The governor has contended that declining enrollments may require the state to make controversial changes in its aid distribution formula, so that cash allotments among districts are more equitable. Current aid totals more than $35 billion statewide. —John Hildebrand

OT pay eligibility expands. On Jan. 1, salaried, managerial-level workers on Long Island, New York City, and Westchester who make $64,350 a year ($1,237.50 a week) or less, will become eligible for overtime pay. Currently, workers in that category who make $62,400 or less are eligible for overtime. —Victor Ocasio

Broadway mall redevelopment. Demolition and other site work is expected to take place next year as part of the $100 million redevelopment planned for The Shops on Broadway in Hicksville, according to the ownership group.

The 12-screen movie theater, Showcase Cinema de Lux Broadway, at the mall will close Jan. 5 because Showcase Cinemas decided not to renew the lease, according to the theater chain. The mall’s owner is in talks with several other theater operators to take over the theater, said Kenneth Schuckman, a co-founder of BTF Capital, a Rockville Centre-based entity that is one of the partners in K/BTF Broadway. If a new operator is selected, the movie theater will be part of an entertainment hub called The District, but it might be downsized, he said.

K/BTF Broadway LLC, the real estate partnership that bought the property in February and changed the name from Broadway Commons, plans to transform the enclosed mall into an open-air shopping center. The project would add a 105,000-square-foot, freestanding BJ’s Wholesale Club and The District, which would include the current Round1 Bowling & Amusement and a new 70,000-square-foot, three-story building for restaurants, according to building plans K/BTF Broadway submitted to the Town of Oyster Bay in October for approvals.

“Our development process will extend through calendar year 2025 and we do not anticipate any new construction beginning until 2026. However, some pre-construction, demolition, earthwork, utility work and clean up/maintenance will be ongoing and pick up towards the latter part of the calendar year,” said Scott Burman, founder of Jericho-based Burman Real Estate, which is a member of the mall’s ownership group. The mall’s redevelopment is expected to be finished by the winter holidays in 2027, Schuckman said. —Tory N. Parrish

New requirement for boaters. Starting Jan. 1, all powerboat operators will be required to complete a safety course and carry a safe boating certificate while aboard. This completes the phasing-in of requirements after the 2019 passage of Brianna's Law, named for 11-year-old Brianna Lieneck, of Deer Park, who was killed in a boating accident in 2005. In 2024, a certificate was required for any operator age 46 or below. In the new year, the requirement will apply to everyone, regardless of age. Boaters can register for the required 8-hour in-person course online. —Peter Gill

Medicare premiums rise. Medicare Part D premiums will increase by as much as $35 a month for some recipients, but that will be balanced for some Medicare recipients by a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket spending. Many people with low out-of-pocket medical costs will end up paying more overall, while many people with high out-of-pocket costs will pay less. Some plans will continue to charge nothing for premiums. Yet only some medications are covered by Part D; those that aren’t covered do not count toward the $2,000 cap. —David Olson

LI teacher, police officer accused in prostitution ring. George F. Trimigliozzi, an 18-year veteran of the Suffolk County Police Department accused of operating a prostitution ring with brothels in Holbrook and West Babylon, is scheduled to return to court in Riverhead on Jan. 15, while co-defendant Steven Arey — an Islip physical education teacher — was ordered to return to court on Jan. 8.

Suffolk prosecutors said Trimigliozzi and Arey, along with two other defendants, operated a prostitution ring that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit and employed dozens of sex workers from 2019 to 2024. Co-defendants Frank Saggio, 60, and Dana Ciardullo were ordered to return to court on Jan. 27. Prosecutors have said Saggio, a West Islip resident with a lengthy police record who wrote a book boasting about his ties to the Mafia, was the leader of the prostitution ring. Ciardullo, 32, of North Bellmore, was Saggio’s girlfriend and the manager of a West Babylon brothel, authorities said.

Trimigliozzi, 55, of Islip, who was suspended without pay from the police department in August on allegations unrelated to his criminal charges, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. His defense attorney, William Keahon, said in court that the prosecution would not be able to prove its case and said his client was a decorated officer, earning "cop of the month" six times. He declined to comment further, saying he'd argue the case in court.

Investigators from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, with help from the FBI and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, used surveillance, informants and undercover police officers to build a case, which went before a special grand jury.

Saggio, who prosecutors said oversaw the operations, was charged with 51 counts of third-degree promoting prostitution, two counts of sex trafficking and one count of enterprise corruption. Saggio allegedly had the sex workers — many of whom could not read or speak in English — sign purported leases that required them to pay $6,000 per month to work at the Holbrook brothel and $12,000 per month at Tunnel of Love. —Michael O'Keeffe

New wetland protections. New rules strengthening the state’s protections for wetlands are due to go into effect on Jan. 1. Now, after years of planning, drafting and public comment, there are calls from developers and others for delaying or loosening these rules. Local conservationists argue the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA last year, which stripped many freshwater wetlands of federal protection, and the threat of weakened environmental regulations under the new administration, means state protections are the last line of defense for Long Island’s remaining freshwater and coastal marshes. —Tracy Tullis

State of the State address. Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to make her annual State of the State address in early January. The speech will include her plans for the 2025 legislative session and state budget. —Michael Gormley

Landfill turning away trash. Jan. 1 is the first day that Brookhaven's landfill will stop accepting trash from construction and demolition sites. The town is beginning a multiyear effort to close the dump. The landfill will still accept ash from trash incinerators operated by New Jersey-based Reworld, formerly Covanta, which operates four incinerators on Long Island. Brookhaven plans to close the landfill permanently by 2028, when it is expected to run out of capacity. —Carl MacGowan

Court of Appeals reconvenes. The state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, begins its 2025 session with court days on Jan. 7-9. The court will continue to hear cases monthly into June, then resume court sessions in October. The court has the final say on issues that include interpretation of laws and the state constitution. —Michael Gormley

Paid prenatal leave. Starting Jan. 1, employers must begin providing employees at least 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave each year. Eligible employees can take the paid-time off in hourly increments to receive pregnancy related health care. —Victor Ocasio

Early 2025: Cannabis in Medford, more Aldi grocery stores

Town's first legal cannabis dispensary. Brookhaven's first legal cannabis dispensary is expected to open in Medford. As of December, Beleaf Medford was the only pot store the town had approved. Several recreational marijuana stores operate at Mastic’s Unkechaug Nation reservation, which is not subject to town zoning laws. —Carl MacGowan

Nassau's armed provisional deputy program. President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory will continue to fuel concerns about Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s armed provisional deputy program. Blakeman said on social media recently that Nassau police will team up with federal agencies to return criminals to their native countries. The nonpartisan Nassau Residents for Good Government issued a statement on Nov. 25 that express concerns that the provisional deputies will be used for mass deportations. 

Nassau’s Democratic legislators and community activists say Blakeman has not responded to questions about why the 75-deputy program is needed in a county with one of the nation’s largest police departments and historically low crime rates in recent years. He has refused to say who will be liable if the deputies assault or kill someone while on duty, they said, and created the program without lawmakers’ authorization.

“This raises the specter of Blakeman’s activating his secretive, inadequately trained militia,” the statement from Nassau Residents for Good Government said. “Although Blakeman said he would activate his militia only for emergencies, residents’ concerns were exacerbated when Trump announced that he would declare an emergency on Day One to carry out mass deportations.” —Michael O'Keeffe

Bankrupt retirement community's sale. Management of The Harborside, a bankrupt retirement community in Port Washington, hopes to win approval from a federal judge to close on a sale agreement. The facility, home to 181 people whose average age is 90, had to find a new buyer after a regulatory dispute led to the collapse of a $104 million sale agreement in March. Without a sale, the residents fear they will lose their homes and life savings if The Harborside closes. —James T. Madore

More Aldis opening. Fast-growing discount grocer Aldi will open three more stores next year on Long Island — in Medford, Bethpage and Lake Ronkonkoma — bringing its total number on the Island to 18.

In the first quarter of 2025, the chain’s Medford Crossings store will open in a 22,000-square-foot space on Rte. 112, said Chris Daniels, vice president of Aldi Inc.’s South Windsor Division. The space was vacated by arts and crafts store Michaels, which relocated to a smaller space in the shopping center. The other two stores will open during the summer.

Aldi’s 22,000-square-foot Lake Ronkonkoma store on Ronkonkoma Avenue takes over most of the space vacated in 2019 by a King Kullen supermarket, Daniels said. Aldi’s 21,000-square-foot Bethpage store on Hempstead Turnpike fills most of the space vacated by an A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts store, he said. The German discount chain announced in March that it would spend more than $9 billion to add 800 stores across the United States by the end of 2028, including nearly 330 in the Northeast and Midwest.—Tory N. Parrish

Milestone for Bethpage clean-up. Thermal remediation at Bethpage Community Park, the former dumping ground of Grumman Aerospace, is expected to reach its target temperature of 100 degrees Celsius in early 2025. That phase of treatment should be completed in mid-2025. Thermal equipment is slated to be removed later in the year. —Joseph Ostapiuk

Salad chain expands. Fast-growing chain Just Salad, which has nearly doubled its number of stores since 2022, will open three more Long Island eateries next year. The three shops will open in Plainview, on S. Oyster Bay Road, in early 2025; East Meadow, on Hempstead Turnpike, in the second quarter of 2025; and Lake Grove,  on Nesconset Highway, in the fourth quarter of 2025, spokeswoman Nicole Natoli said.

A Manhattan-based, fast-casual chain that entered the Long Island market in January 2023 with a Commack shop, Just Salad opened its sixth eatery on the Island in early November, in Port Washington. Just Salad was founded in 2006 and has more than 90 corporate-owned shops in seven states. —Tory N. Parrish

February: Wegmans; Santos sentencing

Trial for man accused in crash that killed two teens. The Roslyn man accused in the drunken driving wrong-way crash that killed two 14-year-old tennis prodigies could go to trial in February. Amandeep Singh, a construction company owner, pleaded not guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and drunken driving. Prosecutors say he drove his truck into an Alfa Romeo carrying Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, who had just celebrated winning a tennis tournament for Roslyn High School.

Nassau County police body camera footage shows Singh moments after the crash hiding by a dumpster in a loading bay behind a mall in Jericho. Portions of the video have been suppressed by a judge, but most of the footage, including a portion in which he appears to confess to the crime will be heard by the jury. He faces up to 32 years in prison if convicted. —Janon Fisher

LI's first Wegmans. Wegmans will open its first supermarket on Long Island in February, the Rochester-based grocer said. The highly anticipated 101,000-square-foot store will open at 3270 Middle Country Rd. in a shopping center called DSW Plaza at Lake Grove.

In October 2023, Wegmans Food Markets Inc. bought 8½ acres of the shopping center from Prestige Properties and Development, which owns and operates the remaining approximately 20 acres of the shopping center. The Wegmans in Lake Grove will employ 500 people, most of whom will be hired locally, and feature “delicious restaurant foods (sushi, pizza, chef-made salads, and sandwiches), an abundant produce department with hundreds of different fruits and vegetables, and a wide variety of seafood, meat, bakery, deli, and cheese options,” Wegmans said.

A regional supermarket chain with 111 stores located along the East Coast, Wegmans entered New York City with a Brooklyn store in 2019. It now has two more stores in the metropolitan area — in Manhattan and Westchester. —Tory N. Parrish

Santos sentencing. Former Long Island Congressman George Santos is set to be sentenced in February after he pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a series of schemes.

Santos, who represented parts of Nassau County and Queens for about 11 months before he was expelled from Congress in a historic vote, engaged in several schemes as he ran for Congress, including submitting fraudulent campaign finance reports and stealing from his donors, according to prosecutors.

Santos, whose short Congressional tenure was controversy-laden after The New York Times reported on several lies Santos had told about his personal and professional biography, faces a minimum of two 2 years on the identity theft charge and a maximum of 20 years on the wire fraud. But Santos is among the criminal defendants in the federal system who could potentially receive a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, who takes office for the second time on Jan. 20. Santos’ attorneys have not said whether they plan to seek clemency from Trump. —Nicole Fuller

Moratorium ends on battery storage. The future of battery energy storage systems in Southampton Town will come into focus as a moratorium on the facilities ends in February. The town first implemented a moratorium in 2023 to reevaluate the town code following community pushback on a proposal for one in Hampton Bays. A committee formed in March to review the code is expected to guide the town board on changes and a series of recommendations. —Joe Werkmeister

Bookstore reopens. Barnes & Noble’s relocated, downsized bookstore will open in South Huntington in February, after being delayed about five months because of a septic issue, a spokeswoman said. The new bookstore will be in an approximately 14,000-square-foot space at 301 Walt Whitman Rd., part of the retail-heavy Route 110 corridor, in a small shopping center whose only other tenant is a Men’s Wearhouse. The bookstore will be a relocation of a Barnes & Noble that was 6 miles away in East Northport. The former bookstore, which closed Jan. 21, had occupied 27,911 square feet in the Huntington Square shopping center since 2008. —Tory N. Parrish

March: New workplace protections; The Farm Italy expands

Top Italian eatery gets 2nd location. The Farm Italy in Huntington, one of Long Island’s most sumptuous Italian restaurants, is getting a sibling. Owner John Tunney said the second Farm will open next year on Merrick Avenue in Westbury. The new location will have 150 seats inside, plus more outside and on a covered terrace; all told, it will have nearly twice the capacity of Huntington. The menu will be identical as will the decor. Tunney is hoping to open by March or April. —Erica Marcus

Maniscalco brings comedy to LI. After selling out five shows in September at Madison Square Garden, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is returning to the New York area in 2025, this time conquering Long Island. He will headline UBS Arena 15 with his “It Ain’t Right Tour” on March 15. Fellow comic and podcast partner Pete Correale, who grew up in Oakdale, will open the show. —David J. Criblez

New workplace protections. Effective March 4, non-restaurant-type retail employers throughout the state with at least 10 employees must implement a workplace violence prevention policy and training program under the Retail Worker Safety Act signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in September. Under the act, retailers must train workers in de-escalation and provide active shooter emergency training. —Victor Ocasio 

Lockdown anniversary. March 7 is the fifth anniversary of then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declaring a state of emergency, which locked down the economy until late June to slow the spread of the coronavirus. —James T. Madore

Spring: Gilgo hearings, Louie's in Port Washington

Hearings in Gilgo serial killer case.Hearings will be held in the case of Rex A. Heuermann, the Massapequa Park architect charged with the killings of seven women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach and in Manorville and North Sea more than a decade ago.

Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei has said he intends to hold a Frye Hearing in the spring, where the defense will test the admissibility of the DNA methods used to charge Heuermann. District Attorney Ray Tierney conceded a Frye hearing is necessary because the nuclear DNA methods used by the outside laboratory have not been presented in New York State courts.

Defense Attorney Michael J. Brown, of Central Islip, has also said the defense may file a motion for a change of venue in 2025 and Mazzei has indicated he intends to set a tentative trial date in the coming months.

Heuermann, 61, of Massapequa Park, has been charged in the killings of seven women: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and Sandra Costilla.

He has pleaded not guilty to all seven killings and Tierney said the investigations into other killings for which Heuermann is a suspect is ongoing. —Grant Parpan

New ride at Adventureland. Adventureland will be launching Phase 2 of its five-phase plan to create Legacy Corner. Adventureland is planning to debut the Wave Twister ride in the spring, a thrill ride for families in the shape of a boomerang. It’s supposed to simulate the feel of riding on ocean waves (but it’s not a water ride). They’ll also be installing a concession stand, restrooms and games in that area. —Beth Whitehouse

NYC mayor's corruption case. The federal public corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is scheduled to go to trial in the spring next year. According to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, Adams has been soliciting donations from Turkish businesspeople and a Turkish government official since 2018 when he was still the Brooklyn borough president.

The mayor allegedly hid the illegal foreign contributions with straw donors and garnered $10 million in matching public funds based in part on the fake donor certifications. Federal prosecutors also allege that Adams solicited luxury air travel, hotel and vacation accommodations through Turkish airlines, hotel owners and public officials.

Adams allegedly pressured FDNY officials to open the Turkish consulate ahead of a visit from the country’s president as a payback for the largesse he had received. The mayor, who is running for re-election against at least five Democratic challengers, pleaded not guilty to the charges and has asked to go to trial as quickly as possible so that he can then focus on his campaign. —Janon Fisher

Historic LI restaurant reopens with new look. Since October, the team at Louie’s Prime Steak & Seafood in Port Washington has been busy with a renovation that will update and upgrade this historic waterfront restaurant. Jerry Sbarro and Jorge Madruga bought the property in 2022 and Sbarro, who also owns Rothmann’s Steakhouse in East Norwich as well as Matteo’s in Huntington and Roslyn Heights, promises “something really special on the water. We are giving it a completely different look — warm, inviting, more glass." The capacity will not change; the restaurant will still seat more than 300 people, in multiple dining rooms inside and on a deck that projects into Manhasset Bay. He hopes to reopen in May. —Erica Marcus

Pilot ferry program. Glen Cove plans to launch a pilot ferry program in late spring, Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck said. The city unsuccessfully attempted to run a ferry pilot in 2024. Uniondale-based developer RXR said it would not provide some of the nearly $1 million funding it previously pledged to subsidize the ferry unless the city incurred losses from the program first. —Joseph Ostapiuk

EV fleet expands. Officials in Huntington plan to add six new EV cars to the town fleet and install multiple charging ports throughout the town for community use. Town officials expect delivery and the installation of the charging stations by the spring. —Deborah S. Morris

State budget is due. The 2025-26 state budget is due by April 1. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic legislative leaders negotiate the state budget, which details spending by state government for purposes including aid to schools and usually includes major policy issues. The current budget that will expire March 31 spends more than $237 billion. —Michael Gormley

June: NYS school mascot change deadline

Mascot change deadline. Schools across New York State have until the end of this school year to comply with a state regulation passed in 2023 that bans the use of Native American team names, logos and mascots. The regulation affected 13 school districts on Long Island. As of press time, four districts  —  Connetquot, Massapequa, Wantagh and Wyandanch — were continuing legal challenges to the mandate.

Apartment building to open. The Langdon, a 201-unit apartment building across from the Lynbrook train station, is slated to open to tenants by late June, said David Orwasher, chief development officer at Garden City-based Breslin Realty Development Corp. The building is one of the latest examples of transit-oriented development, which aims to create walkable communities. One-bedroom units are expected to start in the mid-$3,000 range, Breslin Realty said in May. —Jonathan LaMantia

Belmont Stakes. For the second straight year, the final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown will be run in Saratoga as the reconstruction of Belmont Park continues. The race takes place June 7. The racetrack in Elmont is expected to again host the Belmont Stakes in 2026.

Summer: Jones Beach concerts, FIFA Club World Cup soccer 

Jones Beach concerts. Jones Beach Theater’s 2025 summer roster is already starting to build. Thomas Rhett is bringing his “Better in Boots Tour” to the amphitheater on July 12 with support acts Tucker Wetmore and DASHA. The Goo Goo Dolls co-headline with Dashboard Confessional on the “Summer Anthem Tour” on Aug. 2. Papa Roach brings its “Rise of the Roach Tour” on Sept. 13 with special guests Rise Against and Underoath. More to come. —David J. Criblez

FIFA Club World Cup. From June 15 through July 13, MetLife Stadium, home of the Jets and Giants, will host several matches in the FIFA Club World Cup, including the tournament final. Among the 32 teams who qualified are Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-German, Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders. This international soccer tournament is a test run for 2026 when North America hosts the World Cup. 

Multimillion-dollar project breaks ground. Officials plan to break ground on a multimillion-dollar town square project in Riverhead in late summer 2025. Construction on a hotel, playground, splash pad and public greenspace is expected to start in August and September, according to a timeline provided by the town. Before that can happen, the town must ink an agreement with the master developer for the project, J. Petrocelli Development Associates, and finalize site plans and permits, Thomas said. —Tara Smith

Warm, wet summer predicted. Long Island could be in store for a warm and wet summer next year with above-average temperatures forecast by the Nation Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. There is about a 50 to 60% chance of warmer temperatures next summer and a nearly equal chance in favor of increased precipitation during that time, according to the center.

Meteorologists said La Nina conditions forecast at the beginning of the year are expected to return to neutral by the spring. La Nina conditions in the Northeast generally produce less snow in regions like Long Island because it produces less Nor’Easters, forecasters said. But it can also mean quick cold, blasts of arctic air that can mix with precipitation and still bring sudden snowstorms.

Climate Prediction meteorologists said the La Nina conditions should subside by the summer. In an active La Nina summer, conditions can increase the number of hurricanes that develop or encourage stronger storms.—John Asbury

New Ulta stores. Ulta Beauty’s plan to open 200 more stores over the next three years includes adding at least two more stores on Long Island — in Oceanside and Selden — next spring or summer, the cosmetics retailer said. The Ulta in Oceanside, which will be located on Long Beach Road in Oceanside Plaza, will occupy 7,500 square feet of the 12,000-square-foot space that Rite Aid vacated, said Robert Goldfeder, director of leasing at Basser Kaufman, the Woodmere-based real estate company that owns the shopping center. 

The Selden store, which will be located on Middle Country Road in College Plaza, will occupy 7,662 square feet. Ulta has 15 stores on the Island. —Tory N. Parrish

Park renovation wraps up. North Hempstead Town officials expect the $1 million renovation of Broadway Town Park in New Hyde Park to be completed by the middle of the year. The renovation, funded by the MTA’s T3 program, will include a new playground with updated spray pads, safety surfaces, equipment, walkways, benches and more. —Joshua Needelman

COVID leave ends. Starting July 3, New York State will end COVID-19 paid leave, a type of sick leave born out of the state’s Emergency Leave Law. Employees can still use regular sick leave for COVID-19 infections. —Victor Ocasio

Realtors’ settlement changes hits 1-year mark. It will be one year since OneKey MLS, the multiple listing service that includes Long Island, implemented rule changes to comply with a national settlement. It will be clearer, what effects, if any, the changes have had on the Long Island housing market.

The National Association of Realtors had previously settled antitrust allegations that it conspired to inflate commissions. OneKey MLS, owned by the Long Island Board of Realtors and Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, prohibited listing brokers from disclosing on its platform how much a homeowner is willing to pay a buyer’s broker in commissions to comply with the settlement. Sellers can still offer such compensation but may not advertise it on the MLS. Realtors participating in the MLS also are required to have clients sign agreements before they take them to tour homes. The changes aimed to provide more transparency to buyers and sellers into commissions. —Jonathan LaMantia

Late 2025: Ryder Cup golf at Bethpage Black, SunVet mall revamp

Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. The biannual golf tournament between Team USA and Team Europe brings its patriotic and rowdy crowds to Bethpage Black for the three-day tournament in September featuring some of the best golfers in the world in various types of match play.

Casino expansion. Work on the Jake’s 58 casino expansion in Islandia will continue through 2025 as Suffolk OTB officials intend to lobby for a change in state laws to allow the casino to host a sportsbook, CEO Phil Boyle said. The sportsbook, Boyle said, would be set up as a separate room in the casino with sports games and “a ticker or video monitors displaying the odds on a given game.” If laws are changed, individuals could place bets at a window or kiosk in the sportsbook.

"Importantly, the cage or kiosk where sports bets are made would have to be completely separate from our other Jake’s 58 casino cages,” Boyle said. “The two pots of money must remain separate.” —Brianne Ledda

SunVet Mall's redevelopment. Most of the major construction work to redevelop the property formerly known as Sun Vet Mall will be done by late 2025, according to an executive with the company leading the project. Located at 5801 Sunrise Hwy. in Holbrook, the property, which was renamed The Shops at SunVet last year, is undergoing an $87 million redevelopment to convert the struggling mall to an open-air shopping center with a more upscale mix of tenants.

The Shops at SunVet is now about 70% leased, and all but one of the tenants will be new, said Rebecca Wing, vice president of investments at Regency Centers Corp., a Jacksonville, Florida-based real estate investment trust that is the lead partner in the project.

Starbucks, Aspen Dental and Citibank, all of which have freestanding buildings under construction, will be the shopping center’s first new tenants when they open by spring 2025, she said. Citibank, which was the only remaining tenant in the mall before the redevelopment started, will relocate to a new 3,800-square-foot, freestanding building. Also, a freestanding Wells Fargo Bank is expected to open in 2025, Wing said. A Whole Foods Market, Nordstrom Rack and other stores will open in 2026. —Tory Parrish

Progress at Wyandanch Rising. Babylon Town’s Wyandanch Rising redevelopment will continue to advance, with a mixed-use building south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks expected to be finished later in the year. The next phase of development in the northeast section is expected to begin at the end of the year. —Denise Bonilla

New payment system comes to NICE. Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE Bus, expects to complete installation of the MTA’s new OMNY fare payment system by the end of 2025, NICE officials have said. The new system will allow riders to pay for their trips with a tap of their phone or fare card. OMNY aims to eventually replace the MTA’s 30-year-old MetroCard system, and give perks to customers, including free transfers to MTA buses and subways. —Alfonso Castillo

MTA Budget vote. At its final monthly meeting of the year, the MTA Board is scheduled to vote on its 2026 operating budget, which is expected to surpass $20 billion. The spending plan pays for daily expenses in operating the transit system, including payroll and overtime for Long Island Rail Road workers. —Alfonso Castillo

More Uncle Giuseppe's stores. Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace's growth push into new communities will include a new grocery store in Bohemia in late 2025.

The high-end Italian specialty grocer will open the 39,000-square-foot store in Sayville Plaza, said Carl DelPrete, chief executive officer of the Melville-headquartered chain of 11 stores in New York and New Jersey. Uncle Giuseppe’s Bohemia store will be located on Sunrise Highway in a former Babies R Us space.

A family-owned chain, Uncle Giuseppe’s opened its first store in East Meadow in 1998. The grocer has been pushing faster expansion recently, having opened four stores in the last five years.

Uncle Giuseppe’s plans to open one or two new stores annually to reach 20 supermarkets by 2029, DelPrete said. —Tory Parrish

Sometime in 2025: MTA toll hikes, Grand Central Madison additions

State and Local Tax changes. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is set to expire by the end of 2025. The law capped state and local tax deductions, known as SALT, at $10,000, hitting taxpayers with high incomes and high property values particularly hard, especially on Long Island. But it also helped many who weren't strongly impacted by the SALT cap by reducing tax rates, boosting the child tax credit aimed at cutting taxes for families, and doubling the "standard deduction," which changed the way the majority of taxpayers filed their taxes and thus reduced the number of people itemizing.

Democrats in high-tax states like New York have been pushing to revive the deduction. President-elect Trump, while campaigning at the Nassau Coliseum in September, pledged to alter the cap he helped create. But most Republicans, who now have a majority in Congress, have been opposed to restoring the SALT deductions. —Keshia Clukey

The case against Trump. President-elect Trump's criminal case in Manhattan has been put on ice indefinitely. Trump was convicted in May 2024 of 34 counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to conceal his affair with an adult film actress from the American electorate as he ran for president in 2016, prosecutors have said. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on his conviction — the first for any former American president — in late November, but after he was re-elected president on Nov. 5, Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan adjourned the sentencing without setting a new date.

Trump’s legal team has filed a 69-page motion seeking to compel the judge to set aside the jury’s verdicts and dismiss the indictment on several grounds. The prosecution has said it opposes any attempt to undue the jury’s verdicts, but has signaled a willingness to delay Trump’s sentencing for four years — until he’s out of the White House. —Nicole Fuller

Farmingdale bus crash. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the Sept. 2023 crash of a bus carrying Farmingdale High School students and chaperones is ongoing, as are dozens of lawsuits filed by families of the passengers. Experts have said the suits, most in Nassau County Supreme Court naming defendants including the bus company, its driver, the school district and the company that made the bus company tires, could take years to resolve. —Nicholas Spangler

Recreational marijuana in the Hamptons. The recreational marijuana industry will likely continue to grow in the Hamptons in 2025 as more companies await approval for state licenses. The first dispensary in Southampton outside of the Shinnecock Reservation opened in October with curbside pickup and delivery. Brown Budda New York is seeking Southampton planning board approval to open their retail space. Another proposed dispensary in Bridgehampton called Budhampton is seeking planning board approval. —Joe Werkmeister

New stores at Belmont. More off-price versions of luxury stores will be opening next year in the new retail portion of the $1.5 billion redevelopment project aimed at turning Belmont Park into a shopping, entertainment and hospitality destination.

Located at 2601 Hempstead Tpke. in Elmont, the new retail site, called Belmont Park Village, is part of the redevelopment plan that included the construction of UBS Arena, which was finished in 2021. Belmont Park Village is a 340,000-square-foot open-air shopping center with outlets of high-end European and American boutiques that was developed by Value Retail, a London-based company. Stores that will open at the village in 2025 include Valentino, Vivienne Westwood, Aquazzura, Fusalp, Charles Tyrwhitt, Solaris, Kurt Geiger, The North Face, Lacoste, L’Occitane, Tumi and Samsonite, said Leah Salovey, a spokeswoman for Value Retail.

Restaurants that will open at the village next year include Le Botaniste, which is a fast-casual, plant-based organic food and natural wine bar; Hundredfold, an American brasserie flagship restaurant by Patina Restaurant Group that will open in the spring; and Frost & Fry, a new culinary brand serving “posh chicken nuggets and proper gelato,” Salovey said. —Tory N. Parrish

Fare and toll increase. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to increase fare and toll revenues by 4% in 2025, following its usual schedule of raising rates every other year. It’s not clear when the new rates would take effect, as the MTA would first have to hold public hearings on a plan and then put it up for a vote by the MTA Board. The last time the MTA adjusted fares and tolls in 2023, the new rates took effect around Labor Day. —Alfonso Castillo

Nursing home's fate. The future of Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation, Long Island’s second-largest nursing home, remains in flux. A potential buyer for the financially troubled facility has asked the New York State Department of Health to be appointed as a receiver, managing and operating the facility for an indefinite period of time.

The health department is expected to make a decision on that request in the coming weeks and months. It remains unclear if such a receiver, who has not been publicly identified, would purchase the property. The current nursing home ownership has said the facility could shut its doors if a new owner is not found. —Robert Brodsky

New Grand Central Madison dining and shopping. Two years after the long-awaited opening of Grand Central Madison, Long Island Rail Road commuters can expect to finally be able to shop and dine in the new Manhattan rail terminal in the new year. MTA officials have said they will soon award a contract for a “master tenant” that will oversee retail properties at Grand Central Madison. MTA real estate chief David Florio has said commuters should “see some stores slowly ramp up through the course of 2025,” beginning with Tracks Raw Bar & Grill, located near the LIRR ticket windows. —Alfonso Castillo

More warehouses to open. Fifty-six warehouse projects have been put forward to town planning boards, about half of them in the past two years. Together, the warehouses would cost more than $3 billion to construct, according to data compiled by Newsday from visits to the building sites and government documents. Some of the projects are being converted to cold storage in response to demand from tenants. Others are being downsized because tenants want 10,000 to 50,000 square feet of space, not 100,000s, developers said. —James T. Madore

COVID relief fraud cases. Expect more sentencings throughout the year of people accused of stealing from pandemic business-relief programs. At least 24 residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties have been arrested for bilking the federal government’s marquee business-relief programs, according to a Newsday analysis of federal court cases. More than $51 million was fleeced from the Paycheck Project Program loans and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program in 2020 and 2021, the analysis shows. —James T. Madore