Apartment Choice

A Long Island research group is urging local governments to consider allowing more rental apartments in private homes, to help cash-strapped homeowners and provide more housing for renters. In a report released Saturday , the Long Island Index outlines the vast differences in the ways Long Island ’s towns, cities and villages deal with so- called accessory apartments , or small units within owner-occupied homes. Most Popular The approaches range from fairly accepting — as in the Town of Babylon, where homeowners can get permits to rent out apartments if they meet certain conditions — to strict, as in the Town of North Hempstead , where such units can only be occupied by the homeowner’s parent or child. Long Island has a patchwork of rules for accessory apartments , which vary so widely that many homeowners fear getting penalized, so they don’t even try to create apartments, even if they want to and might be allowed, said Nancy Rauch Douzinas , publisher of the Index. The Index is a...

“Nocturne,” a podcast that’s “peering into the dusty corners of the night,” as its tagline tells us, is hosted and produced by the independent Bay Area producer Vanessa Lowe . Lowe co-created the show with her husband, Kent Sparling , who works in film sound and who composes much of the show’s evocative music. Episodes begin with the chirping of crickets, the hooting of an owl, and a bit of music by Sparling that makes you want to wander out into a shadowy wood and explore. The show has a nocturnal mood, atmospheric and occasionally mysterious, that feels just right between the hours of eleven and deepest dark. Lowe has described the show as “essay radio”; most episodes tell stories. She plays with form from episode to episode. A few are impressionistic, like “ A Catalogue of Nights ,” featuring recordings of night sounds from across the world. Some are rather funny, like “(This Is Not) A Love Song ,” about people’s love for and loathing of mockingbirds. We hear intensive longer storie...