Beth Whitehouse

1 week ago | newsday.com | Beth Whitehouse

The word mall should be jettisoned from the description of American Dream — the venue in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is more like a Disney World-esque entertainment center. Go there only to shop at the more than 250 stores and miss the point entirely. Go to ski or snowboard on a snow-covered indoor mountain, and now we’re talking. Swim in the DreamWorks Water Park with multiple tube slides to choose from. Ride one of the indoor amusement park roller coasters that soar into the rafters’ duct work.

1 week ago | newsday.com | Beth Whitehouse

As temperatures outdoors hover in the 40s, Melonie Cunningham sits at a sewing machine to attach a white ribbon to the inside of a canvas beach umbrella so that once temperatures hit the 80s families visiting Jones Beach can sit in the shade. That umbrella is one of about 500 that Cunningham, a New York State Parks employee, is helping to repair — the white ribbon ties the canvas to the metal spokes of the umbrella.

1 week ago | newsday.com | Beth Whitehouse

Nicole Proto, 17, a senior at Valley Stream Central High School, says she hopes she and her date will make their entrance to their senior prom this June in a rented white Porsche or vintage Cadillac that matches her dress. "To me, prom is the most important event — it’s like a runner-up from your wedding almost," Proto says. "Everything has to be perfect."But, you know, no pressure. So, how to make the prom "perfect" from promposal to after party?

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Beth Whitehouse

As the cost of living on Long Island has mushroomed, so has Kelsey Stanya’s family. She has three children under age 4. And that has created a question for her family that many Long Island parents with young children ask: How can we afford to have one of us stay home full time? The answer is not easy, Long Island stay-at-home parents say. Getting by on two incomes on Long Island these days is challenging enough.

3 weeks ago | newsday.com | Beth Whitehouse

Taniesha Russell drove more than three hours each way to bring her daughter, Teighan, 4, from Maryland to Wyandanch to see Buster Bunny — an Easter Bunny with brown fur meant to give families options beyond Easter Bunnies with white fur. "I’ve been searching for a brown bunny for a few years," says Russell, 40, who works for the federal government. She saw Buster Bunny featured on TikTok and says she decided it was worth the trip.