HBO Documentary Films is releasing a new documentary about the financial crisis in the United States and how it has affected American families. The new film will debut on July 9 on HBO.

Families featured in “Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” include:

Alan Fromm and his wife Susan, who grew up in Brooklyn, met at Brooklyn College and moved to Plainview, where they raised two children. He has a master’s degree and spent his career in corporate education and training, but lost his job in summer 2009. No stranger to hardships, Alan was struck by lightning at age 15, had just started a new job as at the World Trade Center when it was first bombed and, most recently, was in the World Trade Center when it collapsed. At the time of filming, he has been out of work for more than a year and despairs for his family’s future after falling behind on his mortgage.

Anne and Mel Strauss, who grew up on Long Island, and met commuting on the Long Island Railroad. She works in public relations and was laid off in summer 2008; he has a master’s degree in operations research and worked in finance before moving into the mortgage industry. They separate when his stopgap commission-only mortgage broker job moves him to Albany, three hours away. In 1999, Mel was diagnosed with cancer and had a great support system, but when they both lost their jobs, people were nervous and disappeared. As Anne notes, “Having cancer was easier than being unemployed.”

Nick Puccio, who grew up in Queens, and his wife Regina, who grew up in Brooklyn. They met at Merrill Lynch, where he spent the bulk of his Wall Street career. He was laid off from an asset-management firm owned by Lehman Brothers after Lehman’s collapse and has been unemployed since. Facing foreclosure, Regina considers selling her engagement ring for cash and visits a local food pantry.

Heather and David Hartstein, who were living a fairy-tale life “right down to the white picket fence.” They married right after college, settling back in Long Island, where Heather worked as a teacher and David as a chiropractor. Together, they face a series of job-related crises that jeopardize their home and marriage.

“Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” belies the notion that unemployed people are lazy or complacently collecting unemployment checks. Like Alan Fromm, many wake up every morning and pound the pavement looking for work. “I’m not sitting home and doing nothing,” he says. “A day does not go by that I’m not looking for work.”

Complicating matters is a legislative change that could shorten New York unemployment benefits from the current 99 weeks. For many people in their 50s, prospects are especially dim at a time when out-of-work job seekers are often told by employers not to apply. At a diner where unemployed locals meet to find support, Alan states FedEx turned him down when he applied to drive a truck to deliver holiday packages, saying, “They told me I was overqualified. I just want to drive a truck!”

While they continue to search for jobs, some have been out of work so long that they are no longer eligible to receive benefits and thus aren’t even included in monthly unemployment statistics.

Anne says, “I don’t want to be helped. I want to just help myself, but what we want are jobs.”

“Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” is the third in a series of HBO documentaries by Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson on the human impact of the economy. “Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags” (2009) examined the rise and fall of New York City’s garment industry, while “Triangle: Remembering the Fire” (2011), winner of a duPont-Columbia Award, looked back at one of the worst industrial catastrophes in U.S. history, the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York City. Also winners of several other major awards, Levin and Pinkerson received an Emmy for their 1999 HBO documentary “Thug Life in D.C.”

Image Courtesy of  Hard Times: Lost on Long Island

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Though the recession officially ended in summer 2009, the fallout continues for some 25 million unemployed and underemployed Americans, many of whom worked their way up the corporate ladder, achieving the American Dream, only to see it slip through their fingers.

Directed by Emmy winner Marc Levin and produced by Emmy winner Daphne Pinkerson, “Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” follows four families on Long Island – often labeled the birthplace of the post-war suburban American Dream – as they struggle to find work amidst shrinking finances and declining morale. The timely film debuts Monday, July 9 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

HBO Documentary Films presents another weekly series this summer, debuting provocative new specials every Monday from June 18 through July 30. Other July films include: “Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present” (July 2); “Birders: The Central Park Effect” (July 16); “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” (July 16); “Vito” (July 23); and “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now” (July 30).

Starting in summer 2010, when many hoped an era of recovery would begin, and continuing through the holiday season six months later, “Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” spotlights the challenges facing highly skilled, well-educated Long Islanders who lost their jobs. Public relations professional Anne Strauss notes, “Being unemployed for two years is not just a financial loss. It’s an emotional loss. It’s a loss of friendships. People disappear. You can’t socialize. It changes every facet of your life.”

When both people in a couple suffer economic hardships, it can cause considerable strain on their relationship, as Heather and David Hartstein testify. “Things between Heather and I became really difficult,” admits David.“I didn’t know how to handle and deal and feel emotion.” Compounding their crisis, the bank rejected their application for a loan modification on the same day their son tested positive for Down syndrome. They subsequently filed for bankruptcy. “That was when we decided…we’re done with all this,” explains Heather.

Image Courtesy of  Hard Time: Lost on Long Island

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Wine regions in the United States are synonymous with the West Coast, with some of the most fertile areas in California and Oregon. Although much popularity still resides in the west coast region of the country, the eastern seaboard has a claim to fame in the wine industry as well. New York’s Long Island is an increasingly favorite region of the state that produces world class wines. What started out just a few decades ago with a single vineyard, Long Island’s eastern region is now a much expanding wine connoisseur’s paradise, with over 50 wine producers across thousands of acres of vineyards. With close proximity to the bustling New York City, Long Island has become a popular destination for both the experienced and novice wine lover.

The vineyards across Long Island produce a stunning array of wines for all palates. Jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean provides Long Island with a unique location, where bountiful soil and expert producers create both clean white wines and flavor layered red wines. The region mostly plants vinifera grapes, which create varietals of chardonnay, cabernet franc, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon. While those varietals are the most widely produced, others that are planted include riesling, pinot noir, and sauvignon blanc.

A visit to the North Fork’s Croteaux Vineyards is an excellent way to enjoy this establishment’s production of rose. Croteaux Vineyards makes it their mission to produce only the most stellar pink wines, based on planting and harvesting principles practiced for centuries in the South of France. This vineyard produces rose encompassing fruity undertones as well as dry wines. For a rose that has a solid medium body, The Croteaux Jolie Cabernet Franc Rose is a promising option, with hints of red cherries and dark chocolate truffle flavors. The brightness of the color shines in pink tones and the hand picked grapes assure personalized harvesting for all of Croteaux Vineyard’s wines.

Louglin Vineyards is one of the closest in proximity to New York City, and produces a variety of grapes including merlot, chardonnay, and cabernet sauvignon. The 1999 Louglin Vineyards Merlot is a richly produced red wine that contains its signature ruby red hue. This Merlot is perfectly dry and its tannin inclusion gives this wine an extra hearty dimension. For a more medium bodied wine to pair with a meat entree, the 2000 Louglin Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is an exceptional choice.

The Peconic Bay Winery is one of the oldest on the North Fork of Long Island. With masterful craftsmanship, the Peconic Bay Winery produces some of the most sought out wines in the region. With a wide variety of white, red, rose, and dessert wines, this winery offers an exciting range of flavors from artisanal grape production. The 2010 Polaris is a beautifully layered white wine that allows the palate to explore the fruity flavors of pears, papayas, juicy peaches and apricots. The crispness of this white wine exudes a cooling component as its acerbic characteristics are well balanced with the sweetness of the fruits.

With dozens of wineries to choose from on Long Island, sampling favorites at an ideal, picturesque location is a perfect opportunity to relax away from the busy New York City streets.

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The coveted Quicksilver Pro New York came to Long Beach, Long Island for its first ever stop on the East Coast. With a large fan base of surfers on coastal communities up and down the East Coast, the world tour came to New York with much anticipation. The two week event showcased the talents of professional surfers from around the world, with the likes of ten time world champion Kelly Slater.

Australian surfer Owen Wright came out victorious after numerous rounds of surfing, winning the large prize of $300,000. The Association of Professional Surfers (ASP) is one of the most recognizable names in the surfing industry. The ASP World Championship Tour is an international surfing competition that has eleven stops on its circuit.

The surfers on the tour have been traveling the world since February, where they began the competition on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. From there, the group of surfers have since competed in Bells Beach, Australia, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, Teahupo’o, Tahiti, and now Long Island, New York.

A group of skilled surfers, including Joel Parkinson, Adriano De Souza, and Jordy Smith are among the competitors of the ASP World Championship Tour. Just half way through the competition, Kelly Slater has been a continuous favorite, but was defeated by 21 year old Owen Wright in four days of grueling wave riding.

Currently ranked number one on the 2011 ASP Mens World Title and ASP Mens World Ranking, Kelly Slater was a crowd favorite at the Quicksilver Pro New York. He scored the only 10 throughout the competition in a heat against Taj Burrow, something even winner Owen Wright did not accomplish.

Waves intensified up to six to eight feet during the finals. Offshore hurricane activity gave surfers larger than usual waves in Long Island. In the finals against Slater, Wright managed to score waves of 9.23 and 8.67. Slater was not able to catch up to his competitor as a strong wave sent his surfboard breaking in half. Wright finished the finals with a 17.9, defeating Slater who received a 14.53.

The Quicksilver Pro New York was a great opportunity for surfing fanatics to come out to Long Beach for days of surfing competitions and to be immersed in the surfing culture. Quicksilver and Roxy set up a large retail store directly on the beach that attracted shoppers, while Roxy’s Beach House had interactive activities geared towards youth, including jewelry making stands and a live DJ.

Associated with Quicksilver Pro, legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk presented Vert Jam, a free showcase that was held at Pier 54 in New York City. The ASP World Championship Tour will continue on to locations such as Trestles, California, the South West Coast of France, Peniche, Portugal, and San Francisco California.

The final and most famous stop for the tour will be in the December culmination round at Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Often considered to be the mecca of the surfing world, Pipeline is one of the most dangerous and challenging waves in the world. The ASP World Championship Tour is only half way done and is sure to bring much excitement as it continues its way around the world.

 
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August 1^st will be a decisive day for Long Islanders. A vote will be held regarding the possible rebuilding of the Nassau Coliseum, home of hockey’s New York Islanders, and the general redevelopment of the area.

On May 31^st the Nassau County (New York) Legislature held a meeting to decide whether or not to let county residents vote at all on the proposed $400 million dollar project, a meeting that culminated with a positive decision for residents, putting the choice in their hands.

Rallys had recently been held in support of the referendum. Understandably, residents, union workers and business men and women around the area want the choice to be theirs rather than solely up to the Islanders owner Charles Wang and other county legislators.

However, Wang was the person who first brought this plan to fruition. The proposal offers not only a brand new state of the art arena for the Islanders, but also will include the construction of a minor league baseball field nearby in the same complex. Rumors have also floated around that should this vote pass, a casino will be built in the area as well.

The initial thought is that $400 million dollars is a ton of money to be spending during such a harsh economic climate, especially on a hockey team that hasn’t produced much success, either financially or athletically, in over a decade.

Though this is true, residents should think further into the future, after these arenas are built, and look for the positives in the project.

Thousands upon thousands of jobs will be created both in the construction of these buildings, and the everyday operations of them after they are finished. In such a time when finding jobs is difficult in any place, people should not quickly turn a blind eye to such an investment without serious thought.

The project could prove to be a real boost to the overall economy of the entire county. A new stadium would bring much revenue to business in the surrounding areas. At the very least it would send more traffic through the area, and for the most part, people equal money.

Should this vote fail, the belief is that the Islanders will be forced to move out of Uniondale. Possible rumored locations include Queens, Brooklyn, and possibly out of state destinations such as Kansas City. If the Islanders are gone, the Coliseum will undoubtedly go vacant, and cause not only a loss of jobs and revenue, but create an unused eyesore for the community, a reminder of what once was the pride of Long Island.

August 1^st, 2011 may indeed be a day that goes down in infamy, with the future of Long Island waning in the balance, no matter the outcome of the vote. Residents are urged to take a side on the project in the coming months and go to the polls so they can have their hand in shaping not only the home of one of their beloved sports teams, but their home as well.

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