Lawrence, Nassau County, New York
| Lawrence, New York | |
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| — Village — | |
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| Coordinates: 40°36′34″N 73°43′36″W / 40.60944°N 73.72667°WCoordinates: 40°36′34″N 73°43′36″W / 40.60944°N 73.72667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Nassau |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.7 sq mi (12.2 km2) |
| • Land | 3.8 sq mi (10.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.8 sq mi (2.2 km2) |
| Elevation | 20 ft (6 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 6,483 |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 11559 |
| Area code(s) | 516 |
| FIPS code | 36-41553 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0955101 |
Lawrence is a village in Nassau County, New York in the USA. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 6,483.
The Village of Lawrence is in the southwest corner of the Town of Hempstead, adjoining the border with the New York City borough of Queens to the west and near the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Lawrence is one of the "Five Towns", which consists of the villages of Lawrence and Cedarhurst, the hamlets (unincorporated areas) of Woodmere and Inwood, and "The Hewletts", which is made up of the hamlet of Hewlett together with the villages of Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor and Hewlett Neck, along with Woodsburgh.[1]
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[edit] Back Lawrence/Old Lawrence
Old Lawrence or Back Lawrence is a part of the Village of Lawrence, comprising many large homes, beachside villas and former plantations with very large property, a few dating back to the time of the American Revolution. An interesting pre-Revolutionary home on Long Island, Rock Hall, was home to two prominent families, the Martins and Hewletts, and is now an active museum.
During the second half of the 19th century, it was a main vacation spot for the rich families until the 1890s. A series of hurricanes and nor'easters altered the coastline considerably and destroyed a large beachfront hotel. Lawrence could no longer boast direct access to the sands along the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, Lawrence began to become more like a modern suburb, a village with schools, public facilities, better roads and a large town area that expanded into what is now today.
Lawrence, or most notably Old Lawrence, was formerly home to a large upper class of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant families that lived there since the time of the American Revolution. From the 1940s to 1980s, it became a center of Reform and Conservative Jewish life that included the largest Reform synagogue on Long Island (Temple Israel). Many noteworthy residents grew up in Lawrence during this period.
In the late 1980s, it saw a large migration of Modern Orthodox Jews. The Orthodox Jewish communities are close to the more Haredi nearby center of Far Rockaway which has more yeshivas for the children and younger members as well as a variety of kosher restaurants and communal organizations. Central Avenue in Lawrence (and its continuation in Cedarhurst) has a large and growing number of kosher restaurants and other business catering to the Orthodox community.
[edit] Geography
Lawrence is located at 40°36′34″N 73°43′36″W / 40.609566°N 73.726543°W.[2]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12.1 km2), of which, 3.8 square miles (10.0 km2) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.2 km2) of it (17.91%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 6,522 people, 2,113 households, and 1,629 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,694.6 people per square mile (654.1/km2). There were 2,287 housing units at an average density of 594.2 per square mile (229.4/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 95.19% White, 1.13% African American, 0.02% Native American, 1.73% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.00% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.42% of the population.
There were 2,113 households out of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.7% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.9% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.09 and the average family size was 3.62.
In the village the population was spread out with 32.6% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 20.3% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $104,845, and the median income for a family was $129,779. Males had a median income of $99,841 versus $41,094 for females. The per capita income for the village was $51,602. About 4.3% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
The Village of Lawrence is governed by an elected Mayor and Board of Trustees. The present Mayor is Martin Oliner, elected in 2010. The Board of Trustees consists of 5 members including the Mayor. Members of the Board of Trustees are as follows[4]:
- Martin Oliner - Mayor
- Joel A. Mael - Deputy Mayor
- Edward I. Klar - Trustee
- Michael A. Fragin - Trustee
- C. Simon Felder - Trustee
[edit] Representation within wider government
- Township - Town of Hempstead, Kate Murray, Town Supervisor
- County - Nassau County, Ed Mangano, County Executive
- New York State Legislature - Senate, 9th District, Dean Skelos, Senator
- New York State Legislature - Assembly, 20th District, Harvey Weisenberg, Assemblyman
- United States Congress - New York's 4th district, Carolyn McCarthy, Representative
[edit] Education
The Lawrence Public Schools, School District 15, serve the communities of Atlantic Beach, Cedarhurst, Inwood, Lawrence, and sections of Woodmere and North Woodmere.
The Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, is a K-12 Modern Orthodox school where students study Jewish and secular subjects in a dual curriculum. The Pre-School, Kindergarten and Elementary schools are located on one campus on Frost Lane and Washington Avenue.
The Brandeis School is a conservative Jewish Day School located in Lawrence.
Mesivta Ateres Yaakov is a yeshiva located in Lawrence.
Rambam Mesivta is also located in Lawrence on Frost ave. It is for grades 9-12 where students learn a dual curriculum of Jewish and Secular studies.
Lawrence is also home to the Shor Yoshuv Institute , a Rabbinical College with several hundred students.
[edit] Transportation
The Lawrence station provides Long Island Rail Road service on the Far Rockaway Branch to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn with connections at Jamaica to other parts of Long Island.
The n31 and n32 buses of Nassau Inter-County Express run down Central Avenue extending southwest into Far Rockaway (with a connection to the A Line of the New York City Subway) and northeast to the Hempstead Transit Center in central Nassau County with connections to other parts of Long Island.
A short drive (about 5 miles) up Rockaway Turnpike takes you to the Belt Parkway, the Van Wyck Expressway, the Cross Island Parkway, Southern State Parkway and John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Lawrence is connected to Atlantic Beach to the south, across Reynolds Channel via the Atlantic Beach Bridge.
[edit] Emergency services
The Nassau County Police Department provides police services in Lawrence and most of Nassau County. Lawrence is part of the force's Fourth Precinct.[5]
Lawrence is served by the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department. The LCFD consists of 85 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians[6] and provides fire protection to the villages of Lawrence and Cedarhurst, as well as the North Lawrence Fire District and East Lawrence Fire District. The LCFD also responds to alarms such as car accidents and aided cases on the Atlantic Beach Bridge.
[edit] Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Lawrence include:
- Benjamin Brafman, prominent criminal defense attorney
- Norman Braun, investor and philanthropist
- Karen Burstein, politician and former judge who was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for New York State Attorney General in 1994[7]
- Mark Dreier
- Henry Hill and his wife, Karen (the subjects of the film Goodfellas) moved in with Karen's parents when the Hills were newlyweds
- Donna Karan (born 1948), fashion designer[8]
- Peggy Lipton (born 1946), actress best known for her role in The Mod Squad[9]
- Steve Madden (born 1958), shoe designer[10]
- Alana Newhouse, editor of Tablet Magazine
- Peter Shulman, Well known artist (born 1937 Lawrence)[11]
- Israel Singer, a rabbi and professor who has held leadership posts in several international Jewish organizations
- Spencer Suderman (born 1966), renowned air show pilot currently living in Los Angeles and performing at air shows in the western United States.
- Rob Weiss, director/producer of Amongst Friends and Entourage[12]
- Leslie West (born 1945), of the hard rock group Mountain[13]
[edit] References
- ^ Barron, James. "IF YOU'RE THINKING OF LIVING IN: FIVE TOWNS", The New York Times, July 10, 1983. Accessed May 20, 2008. "The basic five are Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett and Inwood. But the area also includes some unincorporated communities and two tiny villages, Hewlett Bay Park and Woodsburgh, that are not added to the final total."
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Village of Lawrence Website
- ^ 4th Precinct, Nassau County Police Department. Accessed August 20, 2007.
- ^ Lawrence Cedarhurst Fire Department, FireDepartments.net. Accessed March 9, 2008.
- ^ Fisher, Ian. "Burstein Brings an Edge to Attorney General's Race", The New York Times, August 7, 1994. Accessed May 3, 2008.
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence. "INTERVIEW; Her Winning Way With Fashion", The New York Times, October 16, 1977. Accessed September 15, 2008. "And suddenly, at the age of 29, Donna Karan, who grew up in Woodmere, Who lied about her age to begin selling women's clothes at 14 in Cedarhurst, and who now lives in Lawrence, was at the top of her fashion world."
- ^ Berkvist, Robert. "'Bored? Creatively I'm Bored, But...'", The New York Times, March 19, 1972. Accessed September 15, 2008. "The girl from uptight Lawrence, L. I., was now cool, worldly; Peggy Lipton had become, in the stone-age language of the sixties, a groovy chick, and Mod Squad had found its Julie."
- ^ Dominguez, Robert. "BRINGING IT BACK HOME. Steve Madden's new ad campaign focuses on his fashion center - Queens", Daily News (New York), October 19, 2006. Accessed September 15, 2008. "He grew up in Lawrence, L.I., where he worked in shoe stores from his high-school days until he started his own business in 1990, at 33, with an investment of just $1,100."
- ^ Gaye Anne Himmelsbach. Peter Shulman grew up in Lawrence, his paintings are owned by museums, corporations and in prized private collections around the world,http://petershulman.com
- ^ Lyall, Sarah. "FILM; 'Amongst Friends' Tops Off a Journey Of Self-Discovery", The New York Times, July 18, 1993. Accessed September 18, 2008. "Born in Baldwin, near the Five Towns, Mr. Weiss dropped out of the Parsons School of Design, where he studied fashion, then film. He found himself out of work and living goallessly back at his divorced father's house in Lawrence, smack in the Five Towns."
- ^ Fischler, Marcelle S. "Nascent Hall of Fame to Welcome First Honorees", The New York Times , October 15, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2007. "Dee Snider of Stony Brook, the shock-rocker from the 1980's heavy metal band Twisted Sister, known for his defiant metal anthem We're Not Gonna Take It, and Leslie West of the band Mountain, who grew up in East Meadow, Lawrence and Forest Hills, are also being inducted..."
