Brentwood, New York

Brentwood, New York
—  Hamlet, CDP  —
Nickname(s): The Jewel of Long Island
U.S. Census map
Brentwood, New York Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 40°46′54″N 73°14′39″W
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Suffolk
Area
• Total	11.0 sq mi (28.4 km2)
• Land	11.0 sq mi (28.4 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	79 ft (24 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	60,664
• Density	Bad rounding here5,500/sq mi (Bad rounding here2,100/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	11717
Area code(s)	631
FIPS code	36-08026
GNIS feature ID	0944688

Brentwood is a hamlet in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population of Brentwood was 60,664.

History

Brentwood was initially founded as a socialist community named Modern Times. The colony was established on March 21, 1851, on 750 acres (300 ha) of land on Long Island by Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews. In 1864, it was renamed Brentwood after the town of Brentwood, Essex, in England.

By contract, all the land in the colony was bought and sold at cost, with 3 acres (12,000 m²) being the maximum allowable lot size. The community was said to be based on the idea of individual sovereignty and individual responsibility. Individuals were encouraged to pursue their self-interest as they saw fit. All products of labor were considered private property. The community had a local private currency based upon labor exchange in order to trade goods and services (see Mutualism (economic theory)). All land was private property, with the exception of alleys which were initially considered common property but later converted to private property. Initially, no system of authority existed in the colony; there were no courts, jails or police. This appears to have given some credence to Warren's theories that the most significant cause of violence in society was most attributable to policies and law which did not allow complete individuality in person and property. However, the modest population of the colony might be considered a factor in this characteristic. The Civil War, as well as new residents that did not share the colony's philosophy, are said to have contributed to its eventual dissolution. Almost all of the original buildings that existed in Modern Times have been destroyed, aside from two Octagon houses, the original schoolhouse and a residence.^{[citation needed]}

During the first half of the 20th century, Brentwood was home to the Ross Health Resort Onehtah. Managed by Dr. William H. Ross, Onehtah was a place where a person could escape the pollution of the city. It was thought that the smell of pine needles brought a person good health.

Brentwood is the site of Pilgrim State Hospital, now known as Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, one of the world's largest psychiatric institutions.

Though Brentwood was founded in 1851, the 150th anniversary of the community was commemorated on May 9–11, 2007.

Geography

Brentwood is located at 40°46′54″N 73°14′39″W (40.781805, -73.244060).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26.1 km²).^{[citation needed]}

Demographics for the CDP

As of the census of 2000, there were 53,917 people, 12,580 households, and 10,894 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 5,357.3 per square mile (2,069.3/km²). There were 13,039 housing units at an average density of 1,295.6/sq mi (500.4/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 15% White, 20.06% African American, 0.57% Native American, 2.01% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 25.44% from other races, and 6.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 54.25% of the population. Brentwood over the years has become an ethnic enclave especially of/for Salvadoran Americans.^{[citation needed]}

There were 12,580 households, out of which 46.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 13.4% were non-families. 9.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.23 and the average family size was 4.19.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $59,208, and the median income for a family was $57,047. Males had a median income of $31,022 versus $25,946 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $15,833. About 7.5% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.7% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

• Richard M. Dolan (1962-), UFO historian and television personality
• EPMD, hip-hop pioneers, raised in Brentwood
• Reggie Fils-Aime (1961-), President and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America
• Robert Gallucci (1946-), former US Ambassador at Large (1994–1996), currently Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (graduated Brentwood HS in 1962)He is currently the President of the John D & Catherine MacArthur Foundation
• Andrew Jean-Baptiste (1992-), player for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer
• Mitch Kupchak (1954-), athlete and general manager of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers
• Craig Mack (1971-), hip-hop musician
• Buddy McGirt (1964-), boxing champion and trainer
• Jef Raskin (Jeffrey Frank Raskin, 1943-2005), widely acknowledged as the "Father of the Macintosh", noted computer scientist and expert on the human/computer interface, inventor, conductor, artist, writer and businessman (graduated Brentwood HS 1960)
• Jai Rodriguez (1979-), actor and musician, born in Brentwood
• Leonard H. Tower, Jr. (1949-), free software activist, software hacker, and founding member of the Board of Directors of the Free Software Foundation (graduated Brentwood HS in 1967)

Churches

• Christ Episcopal Church, circa 1850, Third Ave
• Church of the Nazarene, Madison Ave
• First Baptist Church of Brentwood, Suffolk Ave
• Hope Baptist Church
• Independent Fundamental Baptist Church of Bayshore
• New Jerusalem Baptish Church, MacArthur Avenue
• Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Candlewood Road
• St. Anne's R.C. Church, Second Avenue
• St. Beach's BA. 1st Church of Beachism
• St. Luke's R.C. Church, Wicks Rd.
• Spanish Church of God, Brentwood Rd.

See also

• Academy of Saint Joseph
• Brentwood Fire Department
• Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York)
• Maslow-Toffler School of Futuristic Education
• Brentwood Chamber of Commerce

Further reading

• Dyson, Verne. A Century of Brentwood. Brentwood Village Press, 1950.
  • Brentwood History Collection Photo and Brentwood History Collection Photo
• Dyson, Verne. Supplement and Index: An After-piece to A Century of Brentwood. Brentwood Village Press, 1953. Brentwood History Collection Photo
• Freeman, Christian. 1852. Letter from Rev. B. F. Bowles. Brentwood History Collection Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
• Spurlock, John Calvin. “Anarchy and Community at Modern Times, 1851-1863,” Communal Societies 3 (1983), 29-47.
• Wunderlich, Roger. Low Living and High Thinking at Modern Times, N.Y. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8156-2554-5

External links

• Brentwood Historical Society
• Long Island History: Brentwood
• "A History of Modern Times". Brentwood Public Library. 
• Elizabeth Moore. "An Experiment in Anarchy: Modern Times, the notorious and short-lived utopian village that preceded Brentwood". 
• Carol Strickland (June 30, 1989). "Legacy of Modern Times, an L.I. Utopia". New York Times.