The winners of the coveted 16th annual Bethpage Best of Long Island contest were announced on Feb. 26 after more than a million votes were tallied for Long Islanders’ favorite businesses, people, and places.
The largest contest of its kind on LI celebrates dozens of categories ranging from a wide range of genres from arts and entertainment to weddings, with food and drink being among the fiercest competitors. The list of winners will be found at bestoflongisland.com
“Epic Escape Rooms LI is grateful, thrilled and blessed to have won for the third year in a row Best Escape Room on Long Island,” the Hempstead-based entertainment company said. “When we opened Epic our dream was to be able to provide our customers with the very best and personalized escape room experience possible. As the saying goes, ‘Dreams do come true.’”
Hundreds of businesses, people, charities, and other entities faced off in the latest round of competition. Upon conclusion of the 75-day voting period on Dec. 15, a third party began tallying the votes, weeding out fraudulent activity, and having an independent auditor certify the fairness and accuracy of the results so the winners could then tout their titles with confidence.
The popularity of the contest, which originated in the Long Island Press and is sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union, continues to grow each year. Nearly 200,000 voters chose among more than 8,000 ballots in dozens of categories, ranging from the long list of restaurant cuisines judged to the wide array of other business sectors the public ranked. Now that the numbers have been crunched, winners can bask in their glory.
And not unlike the presidential elections, voters were already looking ahead to the next contest as soon as the voting ended. Anyone who didn’t see their favorite business, person, or place on the ballot this time can nominate their favorites in the 2022 Best of LI contest. Nominations are accepted through Aug. 31.
Supporters can then cast their votes next fall at the polls from Oct. 1 through Dec. 15. Voters are allowed one vote per email address per day for each category. More information can be found at bestoflongisland.com.
Remember, these winners couldn’t be called “the best” without the voters. When it’s all over, it was Long Islanders, not the contest organizers, who awarded these honors to the local businesses that call Long Island home.
To read more Best of Long Island Spotlights, visit longislandpress.com/category/boli-spotlight
