WCBS to sign off 880 AM as of August 26

Long Island Morning Edition

WCBS/880 AM, the all-news radio station New Yorkers have known for decades by the trademark "Traffic and weather together on the 8’s" will sign off Aug. 26, parent company Audacy announced yesterday.

In a twist to an enduring sports talk radio battle, Audacy will license the 880 frequency to ESPN New York, rival to its own WFAN sports radio talk station. ESPN New York carries Knicks and Rangers games. The Mets will continue to be heard on 880 AM. As reported in NEWSDAY, dozens of staffers, including some of the best-known names on New York radio, will be laid off in the move, according to the union representing them.

In an on-air interview Monday on WCBS / 880 AM, morning anchor Wayne Cabot called the news a "gut punch."

Radio and podcast giant Audacy said In a news release that it would now focus its news efforts in the New York City metropolitan area on its other marquee New York station, 1010 WINS, which it called the most-listened to news station in the United States.

Adam Jacobson, editor-in-chief of Radio and Television Business Report, which covers the broadcasting industry, said Audacy, which received court approval for a plan to exit bankruptcy earlier this year, "needed to focus on its resources in a way that was most efficient and fiscally prudent in one of its most important marketplaces ... Having two all-news stations in the same market, under the same ownership in 2024 doesn’t make sense."

Staffing for news gathering can be costly, and news radio faces competition from unregulated digital media, Jacobson said. Also this year, Congress failed to pass a law that would have required automakers to include AM broadcast radio installed as standard equipment in new motor vehicles.

The signoff will come amid a yearslong retrenchment for the news business, said George Bodarky, a journalism professor and community partnerships and training editor at the city’s public radio station, WNYC. "It’s sad to see the shrinking of local journalism," he said. "Having local journalism and journalists on the ground is critically important to democracy."

Roughly two dozen staffers will be laid off because of Audacy’s decision, according to their union, the Writers Guild of America East.

1010 WINS and WCBS — or simply "880" to generations of listeners — battled for local radio news supremacy dating back to the mid-60s, with the launch of their all-news formats (1965, for 1010, and 1967, for 880). 1010 has long been a traditionally stronger station in New York City, while 880's stronghold has been Long Island, Connecticut, and suburbs north and especially east. The WCBS antenna, based on a small rock outcrop off City Island, directs much of its firepower due east, and can be heard clearly as far as Rhode Island.

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A June audit revealed a problem with Suffolk County’s school bus camera program.

Between May 2021, when Suffolk County began ticketing drivers caught on camera passing stopped school buses, and December 2022, more than one-quarter of school bus camera tickets had gone unpaid, leaving nearly $13 million in fines uncollected. Payton Guion reports in NEWSDAY that the Suffolk County comptroller’s office, which published the audit, wrote that BusPatrol America, the Virginia-based company that installed cameras on school buses and manages the enforcement program for the county, "should establish processes for collecting past-due amounts."

It turns out BusPatrol had been trying to do so for months before the audit was released.

In a letter responding to the county audit, BusPatrol CEO Karoon Monfared wrote that the company "has already taken steps to contract with a debt collection agency to collect outstanding fines" and was waiting to hear back from Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine on how to proceed.

For BusPatrol to contract with a debt collector, the company would need to amend its contract with Suffolk County, according to Romaine spokesman Mike Martino.

But the collection of unpaid school bus camera tickets won't begin anytime soon, as Romaine has not signed off on the contractual change that would allow BusPatrol to hire a debt collector, as the county continues to deliberate on how to recoup the fines.

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The Town of Riverhead is in talks to lease the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall to The Jazz Loft, a nonprofit performing arts organization in Stony Brook, according to town officials. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that officials from The Jazz Loft toured the Vail-Leavitt and are “very interested in making this work, as are we,” Supervisor Tim Hubbard said Friday. Riverhead Town is working out the particulars of a contract with the organization, which has operated a museum and music venue out of a historic building in Stony Brook Village since 2016.

Supervisor Hubbard said The Jazz Loft would run programs out of the historic building, which the town recently took back from a nonprofit organization that had owned and operated the theater for more than 40 years.

The Jazz Loft would also work on the building’s restoration, said Deputy Town Attorney Danielle Hurley.

“The Jazz Loft performed a very similar feat in Stony Brook wherein a historical building was restored and managed into a very popular venue. We are hoping they can do the same thing here,” said Hurley.

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When Murray Braverman bought a Leisurama home in Montauk in 1964 for $16,000, his wife Laura said he was crazy. But he had toured the residence being displayed on the ninth floor of Macy's department store in Manhattan and — noting that it came equipped with everything from furniture to kitchenware — considered it a bargain.

Time proved him correct. But even he was shocked when one of his neighbors' homes sold for $1 million last summer. Another recently went for $2.1 million.

"Can you believe that?" said the 94-year-old retired dentist, who still visits his acquisition in the summer. "I can't believe it myself." James Kindall reports on Newsday.com that just over 200 Leisurama homes were built on Long Island and scooped up by early believers like Braverman. Now, as Montauk has made the transition from a remote blue collar community to a trendy real estate hot spot, these quirky, mid-20th century creations are commanding extraordinary prices and being appreciated anew for their carefree practicality.

"They are being well received again," said John D'Agostino, a broker with Martha Greene Real Estate in Montauk who has sold dozens over the years. Similar Montauk residences also near the water with beach rights have jumped in price, too, but the Leisurama models have the historical appeal of the swinging Sixties, he added. "They have that 'Mad Men' retro vibe and there's always a niche of people who love to buy them."

Anyone who wants to experience the vibe for themselves can visit the Montauk Historical Society, which is hosting a Leisurama interactive exhibition sponsored by the Gardiner Foundation through Labor Day. The society has created a furnished Leisurama replica inside its own headquarters.

"The marketing campaign was so brilliant, we thought it would work for us, too," said the director, Mia Certic, who owns one of the homes and spent summers as a child in Montauk. Most are only 1,000 square feet inside, but she marvels at their cunning design.

"There is not an inch of space that is not utilized," she said.

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The Riverhead Free Library is offering a free English class for beginners starting on Thursday, Sept. 5. The class, led by a certified teacher, is designed to help participants build confidence in speaking, reading, and understanding English. As reported on Riverheadlocal.com, the course aims to expand vocabulary and improve pronunciation. The class provides a welcoming and supportive environment for adults just starting out or looking to strengthen their language skills.

Key details of the event are as follows:

– The class starts at 4:30 p.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m.

– Interested adults are encouraged to visit the library and complete a registration form before Sept. 3 to secure a spot.

– The class is completely free.

In addition, there is a Spanish version of the class available. Registrations for this class also need to be done in person at the Riverhead Library before Sept. 3.

For more information, contact the library at 631-727-3228 or email [e-mail].

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Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to overhaul the fraud-ridden $9 billion Medicaid home care program — which allows New Yorkers to get paid to take care of elderly adults — is facing a legal challenge from the “middlemen” companies who work as a payroll agent between Medicaid and the caregivers. Vaughn Golden in THE NY POST reports that the governor included a measure during state budget negotiations earlier this year to replace the hundreds of financial intermediaries that pay caregivers in the popular Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, with a singular firm to be picked by the NYS Department of Health. A group representing the “middlemen” firms she is trying to cut out is now suing to halt the proposal. “This sweeping change to an eight billion dollar per year program was quietly adopted in the final days of the State budget process without public dialogue, discussion, or debate, let alone input from stakeholders and participants in the Program,” lawyers for Save Our Consumer Directed Home Care Program wrote in the lawsuit. “It will have the effect of putting hundreds of New York state companies out of business, costing thousands of jobs, and significantly disrupting services and/or fully depriving Consumers of services within their homes, forcing them to be institutionalized,” it continues.

Under CDPAP, New Yorkers can be paid around $38,000 a year to provide care for family members or close acquaintances. Hochul’s proposal was floated as a way of ensuring oversight — and to cut down on the rapidly ballooning costs. According to the latest Department of Health figures, spending on the program was just over $9 billion last year. Almost 250,000 New Yorkers received care through the program in 2023 compared with around 13,000 in 2015. However, the lawsuit argues the changes specifically target the fiscal intermediaries and violate their ability to do business under the state constitution, US constitution and federal Medicaid laws. The contract to replace the hundreds of middlemen firms with a sole firm is currently set to be awarded by Oct. 1.