The highly competitive and eagerly awaited 2018 Bethpage Best of Long Island contest results were released Wednesday, Feb. 28, the organizers announced.
The contest, now in its 13th year, highlights winners in dozens of categories within the realms of food and drink, health care, arts and entertainment, automotive, clothing, education, home and garden, nightlife and spirits, pets, services, shopping, sports and activities and weddings. The list of winners can be found at bestoflongisland.com.
“Being the best at whatever talent you have, that’s what stimulates life,” legendary NFL coach Tom Landry famously said. But oftentimes whatever people say is “the best” can be open to debate. That’s where the Bethpage Best of Long Island contest comes in.
After 75 days of voting, the polls closed on Dec. 15 and we spent the past two months tallying the results and weeding out any fraudulent voting or obvious abuse that we found. Our independent auditor then reviewed our results before certifying the fairness and accuracy of our findings.
Those that earn 2018 Best of Long Island titles in a wide range of talents can now shout it from the rooftops with confidence that they’re bona fide first rate in their respective fields.
Don’t believe us? Look no further than the numbers that came in for proof that Long Islanders are genuinely enthusiastic about voting for their favorite local businesses, places and people.
More than 909,000 votes were cast in this contest. Not only is that a 16-percent increase over last year, it’s also about a quarter of a million more votes than were cast in the 2016 presidential elections by voters in Nassau or Suffolk counties.
The contest, sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union, also had 83,217 registered voters and 59,258 nominations.
And that’s all before we even get to the dozens of categories the public judged, ranging from restaurants that competed in a long list of cuisine styles to the dozens of other industry categories that were ranked.
Now that the numbers have been crunched, winners can bask in their glory 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 14 at The Inn at Fox Hollow, located at 7725 Jericho Turnpike in Woodbury. Tickets can be purchased at bestoflongisland.com.
In the meantime, while we wait for the celebration to start, just like presidential elections, we started looking ahead to the next contest as soon as the voting ended.
Didn’t see your favorite business, person or place on the ballot this time? Here’s how to fix that: Nominate them in the 2019 Best of Long Island contest. Take your time. Nominations opened Jan. 1 and close Aug. 31.
And then don’t forget to vote early and often next fall when the polls open again Oct. 1 through Dec. 15. Voters are allowed one vote per email address per day for each category. All these details and more can be found at bestoflongisland.com.
Remember, we couldn’t have called any of the winners “the best” without the hundreds of thousands of votes we received. When it’s all over, it was you, not us, that awarded these honors to the local businesses that call Long Island home. And for that, we thank you.
